Downhaul

[Jocelyn Sawyer]

Hi everyone, a question in regards to sailing downwind, as I understand I should be letting off the downhaul. The problem i seem to be experiencing is when I let the downhaul off, I don’t notice the sail in the mast, move up or release. So in which case, is the (boltrope?) sail getting stuck in the mast and not being effective, or is it releasing the pressure and you just don’t see it?
Regards Liam.

[liamedleston]

Assuming you have rope in the luff instead of shockcord, then the problem is probably the fact that rope is being used. A contributing factor is usually vang tension. Experiment with first letting off the vang before easing the downhaul. Once the luff has eased up pull on the vang again.
Barry Eastgate

[Jocelyn Sawyer]

Barry,
Thanks for your reply. It is a brand new sail with rope in the luff. I will try letting off the vang tension first, and then the downhaul. Thanks again for your help,
Regards Liam.

[alejandroe14]

Hi Liam
Another way of helping is to use some silicon spray on the luff of the sail. This will also make hauling it up easier. Caution though as the stuff has the ability to go everywhere making things slippery when you want them to stick.

Cheers
matt.
1697
Zahir

[Author]

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