Jn18 main sail hoisting question

[Floris van Vugt]

Dear Johnson 18 group,

I hope you do not mind me posting again. I'm very excited about the 1996 Johnson 18 (with modifications) that I just bought second hand, Cayuga NY region.

I have a question about the mainsail hoisting.

The way the boat came, the main halyard (gray in the photo below) comes out of the mast at a downward angle. When I hoist the main sail, I pull this halyard and it mostly works, but it requires a lot of force. I find it difficult to pull efficiently since the distance between where it comes out of the mast and the deck is very short. 

Does anyone know if this is the default rigging? Is there anything I can improve? Or could there be a problem elsewhere that explains why this is so hard?

I tried running the halyard through the block that you can see on the bottom of the mast, but that actually ended up nearly dislodging the block (the screw started coming out and bending).

Many thanks in advance for any advice or thoughts. 

Good winds to y'all!

Floris

[Rick Paullin]

Hi Floris,

The photos aren't showing up, so I can't tell exactly how your boat is rigged.

But it sounds slightly different from the factory rigging (main halyard exits mast approx 4 feet above the deck).

The original halyard was spliced wire and rope, with a hook for a wire bead on the mast.

Here's how I usually raise our mainsail:

• Moored at the dock, I pull the halyard while kneeling in the cockpit (so it's at chest height).
• In order to get enough halyard tension to secure it on the mast, I stand on the foredeck and push down with my foot on a loop in the halyard.
• Then I pull the bitter end down through the port deck bushing and stow the entire halyard behind the spin bag.

One thing to check is whether the spin halyard somehow got wrapped around the main halyard -- that would increase the tension significantly.  By removing the mast's top plate, a flashlight will help you see whether they're twisted.  But it's a lot easier to see inside the mast with an inspection snake camera taped to a long rod.  ($15 Amazon camera)

(One way to check it or fix it is to lay the mast down horizontally with the main halyard up, and pull the rope part of the halyard inside the mast as tight as possible.  Then pull the spin halyard back and forth -- making sure there's very little friction.  If they're twisted, a fish tape can be used to pull a string through the spin halyard block and down through the lower part of the mast.  This should work as long as the main halyard is tight against the top/port side of the mast.)

Hope this helps!

  - Rick

[Floris van Vugt]

Hi Rick,

thank you so much for sending your thoughts. You are right, the rigging is different from the factory default rigging you describe.

The idea that the main halyard may be tangled with the spinnaker one sounds like it might explain the difficulty I'm having. I'll check that and report back.

All the best

Floris