Hoisting mainsail singlehanded

[Noah]

I finally got around to following through on a good tip that has been discussed on our website for years—installing a cleat on the mast for my mainsail. This cam cleat allows me to quickly jump/raise the main  at the mast while sailing solo—with no friction—then stop the halyard in the cam cleat, then casually go aft to to the cockpit to take up slack. When slack is pulled out of halyard and it goes taught, it pops out of cleat and I then secure it with the cabin top clutch as usual and clean up the tail.

[lazybone]

Why not nicely raise it from the cockpit and avoid the "quickly jump/raise the main at the mast".
I'm old and I'm always  looking for an alternative to "quickly jump"

[Stu Jackson]

Nice job.  Still on my To Do list.  How does it work out since it seems so low?  IIRC, Rick Allen put his in at like eye height, or maybe shoulder height.

[Ron Hill]

Noah : I agree with Caio. Just leave the halyard on the self tailing winch from the cockpit.
The first thing needed to raise the main - singlehanded is an auto pilot!!

A thought

[Noah]

Having the ability to pull up sail quickly gives me more options. Don't mind going forward to raise it. Usually beats cranking. As far as cleat placement; low placement was to guarantee enough angle to ensure it popped out when pulled.  A bit more bending to jam it but...Higher may have still worked as well. If it turns out to be PIA I will move it up and leave the two #10 bolts I tapped to fill holes. Won't be the first time I've installed something in the wrong place.

[Stu Jackson]

Got it, thanks.

[Jeff Kaplan]

I did the same thing but put my jam cleat about 5 1/2' up, no need to bend down. Works great for single handed at mast.

[britinusa]

We sail on the Ocean out of Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale FL. I use a Winchrite electric winch handle to raise the sail in the cockpit even while Peggy has the helm. Our biggest issue is the sail battens catching on the lazy jacks. Not sure how to handle raising the sail single handed even with the winch - I don't have a remote for the AutoPilot.


I guess I would prep for raising the sail by pulling the lazy jacks down to the boom first. (sail flop everywhere.)

Paul

[Roland Gendreau]

Nice job Noah.  Next time I go out , I will try hoisting the main at the mast to see how much less the effort is than pulling it up in the cockpit. 

What size cam cleat did you use?  JD has Medium and Large Ronstan cam cleats, each of which can handle the 7/16" halyard I use.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search.do?freeText=cam+cleat

[Jon W]

Nice job Noah, looks like a good alternative if needed. Any particular reason for using a cam cleat instead of a jam clear?

[Stu Jackson]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Our biggest issue is the sail battens catching on the lazy jacks. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I guess I would prep for raising the sail by pulling the lazy jacks down to the boom first. (sail flop everywhere.)

Lazy Jack Trick

Many folks complain about full battens getting caught up when raising the mainsail. They then spend a lot of time moving BOTH sides of the lazy jacks to the mast.

We developed an easier way with our lazy jacks.

We have a small cleat on the forward starboard side of the boom. When we put the halyard on the headboard, we move ONLY the starboard side of the lazy jacks forward and snug them under the forward side of the horn of this cleat.

Then, when we raise the mainsail, instead of going exactly head to wind, we bear off a tad to starboard so the wind is coming from the port side of the bow.

We then raise the mainsail and it doesn't get hooked on the lazy jacks even though the port side jacks are still there.

Been working for 20 years.

Yes, we have to go forward again to unhook the starboard lazy jack for dousing the sail if I forget to do it right when the main is raised, but there's never any hurry.  The drill is:  after the main is raised, I unhook that starboard lazy jack, so they're both ready to go when we drop the sails at the end of the day.

So, for those of you with lazy jacks, consider doing only one side.

Your boat, your choice.

[Noah]

My choice of Cam vs Jam/Clam is I believe the cam cleat would release easier with the angle pull/lead to the block on mast collar and under load. Also, I had a spare one "in stock" in my parts kit.

[glennd3]

Noah,
   Happy 4th,  how difficult was drilling and tapping the mast?  It looks like a very nice "Noah work".

[britinusa]

Stu, Brilliant!

[scgunner]

     Noah,

       I don't see the point, back in the early '80s when leading the lines aft became popular the idea was so you could sail the boat from the cockpit minimizing trips to the fore deck(especially when soloing). If you prefer raising the main at the mast why not put a winch on the mast(old school)and eliminate a step.