Hoisting mainsail singlehanded

[Stu Jackson]

Kevin and others,

This question of "From where do I raise the main?" has been around since 1986, it really is a very early question that came up in Mainsheet magazine in one of the earliest editions after the C34 began production.

Because of the friction on the halyard from the sheave, the mast base and the deck organizers, some skippers reported back that they found it easier to raise the main from the mast.  Also, please remember, this is back when a 34 foot boat was considered HUGE and was always sailed with crew.

What happened is that some intrepid singlehanders found that the same was true and merely developed techniques and useful hardware to do so with less steps.

No one right way for all.

Your boat, your choice. 

[Noah]

I only use it when RAISING. It gets the main up VERY quickly with no friction without winching. I trim/reef/drop main from cockpit.

[scgunner]

       When soloing raising the main has never been the problem for me, it's dropping it and wrestling it onto the boom and securing it with a few gaskets. Several years ago I saw a great product for this problem in an ad in a magazine, unfortunately I never followed up and don't know the name of the product or what magazine I saw it in.

       The product I thought was really nifty it involved four battens about two feet long, they mounted flat on the boom two per side. Before you dropped the main a quarter turn folded these battens out creating a basket of sorts to catch the main and keep it on the boom where it can be easily pulled out and gasketed, then the battens just folded away. It seemed devilishly simple especially for soloing but I've never seen it since that ad.

[oldcatsailor]

U put a jam cleat about 4' off the deck .pull the lazy jacks on the Doyle stack pack to the cleats on either side ,when finished raising the main( strong track makes job easy ) raise the lazy jacks , take up slack to one of marks on halyard. Just add wind

[Roland Gendreau]

While I have not yet installed a jam or cam cleat, I tested raising the main at the mast today and found the effort doing it there much, much less than doing it from the cockpit.  Adding the cleat gives you the option of doing it at the mast or from the cockpit, your choice.
I will be installing the cleat tomorrow! 

[jmcdonald]

I have a stack pack with lazy jacks. In more than a light breeze, raising the sail from the cockpit, is a slow process. The battens usually get hung up about half way up in the lazy jacks. I also have the tide track.
At the mast, I can raise the sail so fast past the hang up point, the battens never have a chance at getting
hung up. Slip the halyard in the cleat on the mast and finish from the cockpit. I usually raise the sail in the harbor, so no problem going forward. If i'm out in the open water, I still can raise it safely from the cockpit.
Most times I raise the sail in the harbor before heading to open water, so easy and safe to just run forward
give the halyard a couple of pulls, and avoid a tangle in the lazy jacks.
Just what works for me.i find it less effort than moving the lazy jacks around, raising the main, and then
putting the lazy jacks back in place.

[csimmerling]

I didn't see any reply about size cam cleat to use... Any suggestions?

[Roland Gendreau]

I selected and installed a Shaefer medium cam cleat, about 4 feet above the deck.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=54285

It fits the 7/16" halyard well, and the line readily pops out when tensioned from the cockpit.

[Roc]

One turn around the winch, then hand-over-hand from the cockpit.   When it's at the top, wrap halyard around self tailer, pop in the winch handle, then snug it up.  Set the clutch, remove the halyard from the winch, then put main sheet on the winch.  Fall off and away we go....