FreedomYachts.org

We have an 1987 F-30, "Weeble." It has a fully battoned main with a Stackpack and we are having increasing difficulty in raising the main.
I have to grind on the winch after just raising it a dozen feet.

I'm hoping this isn't normal and there is something I haven't considered.
We are thinking maybe it would be lighter if we removed the stackpack and just went with lazy jacks..
We sail on an inland lake on the Tennessee River with lighter winds (5-15) and may never see saltwater again.
should I consider a new.. lighter material Main?
Is there a block at the top of the mast that may need work or replacing?
A special lube I should use on the track?

Has anyone faced the same problem and found a solution(s).

Scott & Marilyn Irwin
Chattanooga,tn
"WEEBLE"

We also have a 1987 F 30. We have found that using Sail Glide lubricant on the plastic and metal sliders seems to work very will.
I hope this helps!
Don

Solitude F 30 Blue Hill, Maine

I agree with lube spray. Use it all the time and it really helps. I lubricate the track directly as far as I can reach then liberally spray all the slides. Sometimes I do this, raise the main at the dock, bring the main down and do it again.

With regard to your question what is at the top of the mast. It is a 3 inch diameter sheave secured in the mast cap. this sheave is pretty bulletproof but you could probably test it by running the halyard up and down with no sail attached. the sheave is jammed or tight I would imagine it would cause discernible resistance to an unloaded halyard. If all is good there is very little resistance. So little resistance in fact that I lost my main halyard up the mast one one occasion. That was fun!!

My guess is the mast track is your culprit. Check your slides too. Maybe one is funkadelic in some way and causing undue resistance.

One final note, the main halyard diameter is supposed to be 7/16. I use 1/2 (but am going down when I next replace). 1/2 seems fine but if I you went up from 1/2 you might be pushing the limit of the sheave a little.

You get the main up a dozen feet without the winch. Ha Ha, you're doing pretty well in my opinion! I maybe get 14 or 15 feet on a good day.

Her's the stuff I use for lube, you can shop for best price this is just the first link I came across. You can use this stuff for all sorts of things aboard and does not stain sails.

http://www.atlanticriggingsupply.com/mcsa1.html

Agree with the above. I changed my sail track to a Tides Marine. You might also check on the jib sheave. I replaced all of mine recently. They were the plastic/nylon kind and probably original, so they were getting chipped, and some were not sliding well.

gamayun wrote:Agree with the above. I changed my sail track to a Tides Marine. You might also check on the jib sheave. I replaced all of mine recently. They were the plastic/nylon kind and probably original, so they were getting chipped, and some were not sliding well.

What did you replace them with? Did you do it yourself?

A friend machined them out of aluminum and then had them annodized. I certainly won't need to worry about them again because they'll likely last much longer than the boat itself. I can find the specs if you know a shop that can do this. The original sheaves and pins were metric.

That reminds me that I still need to post about the jib and spinnaker sheave box that we built and then I had someone do the carbon fiber to install them on the mast. The way Freedom put the jib and spin halyards on top of each other created side friction on the spin halyard (in my case), which I could barely get to move. Now I have them lined up vertically and not touching. I'll try to post pics later this week. I got tax filings to deal with today

That would be great! I haven't inspected mine yet, but I imagine they're due. Same goes for my rudder bearings.

I'll PM you my email address for those specs.

Sounds good. If others will bug me, I'll also post them to the Freedom documentation page (and the rudder pics and masthead crane, too --- I seem to have done it all recently!).

gamayun wrote:Sounds good. If others will bug me, I'll also post them to the Freedom documentation page (and the rudder pics and masthead crane, too --- I seem to have done it all recently!).

Yes please!! I've been dying to see a picture of what my masthead looks like, as I can't make it up there myself at the moment.

Scott & Marilyn;

My Freedom21 is berthed down stream on Lake Guntersville. Give me a shout if you are in the area.

As to your question, keep the track lubed every quarter or so depending on how often you take the boat out.
I had to replace the mast head pulley on my 1985 F21 about 3 years ago (it just fell apart). Recommend you inspect yours annually until yours needs replacement.