removing furling main

[starfish]

Greetings and Merry Christmas to all,

Can someone point me in the right direction as to how to remove the furling mainsail? I need to have the UV protection replaced.

Thanks very much and all my best to everyone

Ed
SV Starfish
#333

[LI_Sound_Cat]

Hi Ed,
What I typically do is pull the main all the way out with the Mainsheet slack. I then release the main halyard and slowly pull the main down and off the track. Once it all the way down, there is a shackle you need to unscrew and take the head of the sail off of the furling connection (don’t know name), be careful not to drop the pins etc into the mast. That should do it for you - very easy, better to do on a calm day. I usually tie the furling connection to something at the bottom of the mast (or remove the halyard), so that it doesn’t bang around or go up the mast unexpectedly while the sail is off. I also take pictures of how everything went on and off so that I can replicate in the spring in reverse.

Not the most technical explanation, but let me know if you have any questions.
Dan

[JohnNorton]

one additional suggestion: detach the tack before pulling the main down

[starfish]

Thank you VERY much, that seems to cover it all. I appreciate you taking the time to post.

Merry Christmas

Ed