Ep 20: Learn to Sail: Part 9: Raising the Mainsail 

Welcome aboard! Thanks for the encouraging comment Mike

Wow!! Thank you so much. Very encouraging.

Glad you liked it

Thank you Per. I appreciate it

Glad you like them! Thank you for the kind comment

Glad you like them! Thank you

Awesome Matthew. I'm delighted to hear that you are finding value in my videos. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance. Who are you doing your course with?

Tula sailing out of Victoria.

@@matthewhigginbottom8328 Beautiful boat. Glad to see that it's Sail Canada instruction. Have a great time

So nice of you. Thanks for the kind feedback and support

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you Danger Dan 👍🙏😊

My pleasure!

Essentially the vang is only used downwind when the main sheet is eased. Upwind the main sheet is already pulling in and down.

Well said! I agree completely. I'm delighted that you are enjoying the videos. Thank you for your encouraging support.

My boat is WAAAAY easier to control at the mast. But that adds in some level of danger. Look how much trouble he had raising the main at the dock in zero wind. I dont even need the winch hardly at the mast, just the final 5% to get the tension.

Thanks

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks for sharing

Obrigado

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine ... Thank you

Thanks for the kind comment. 1989 O’Day 322

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine Your welcome. That's a beautiful boat!

Thanks for the question Ian, I was close hauled and if you think about it once close hauled the main sheet is pulling in and down, so no need for the boom vang. Racers are much fussier about boom vang tension and for good reason As a cruiser I use the vang to control leech twist when sailing off the wind.

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine thank you for your response. Yes that makes perfect sense. I love your channel by the way. Such great, clear and concise, easy to understand content! Thanks again.

When the main sheet is eased just prior to raising the sail it should be eased all the way. The point is for the sail to be completely free to rise

Working on it

Hi George, Thanks for watching and for your question. The sail is attached to the mast via slugs or a bolt rope with a line called a halyard attached to the top or the head of the sail. The forward lower corner, the tack, is connected to the boom at the gooseneck with some hardware. The clew (the aft lower corner) is attached to a line called the out haul. The foot of the mainsail is either loose or may ride in a track, once again with a bolt rope or slugs. Hope this answers your question. Check out Ep 4 Parts and Terms I’d you have not already done so. Thanks for following.

I did it myself. Its called a French Spiral Hitch or whipping. It’s just light cord wrapped around Essentially you start with a clove hitch and keep repeating it and pull it as tight as you can. It helps to wear gloves.

Check out this link goodoldboat.com/dress-up-the-steering-wheel/

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine Cheers!

No apologies necessary, you're learning. The whole point of easing the sail is so that it will swing and not catch wind. It can't really swing out too much. Normally it will not swing much but either way (as long as you are paying attention and keeping the boat head to wind) but that is why you stay out of the way of the boom until the sail is all the way up, luff tensioned and then mainsheet hardened

Thank you 🙏

It gives you a better grip and you're set up for wrapping the line around the winch without having to change hand position.

Thank you.

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine Also: "Pinkies are cheaper than thumbs." If your hand gets pulled into the winch, better to have a broken pinkie than a broken thumb. Great video btw.

@@richardwilliams2629 Thank you for your kind comment

I don’t follow. I talk about the topping lift in great detail starting at 9:26

@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine So when you go to raise the sail, you ease (lower) topping lift prior to raising sail correct?

@@bradgradert No. When the sail is up the boom is supported by the sail so the topping lift is not needed. Set your topping lift before lowering the sail. All the topping lift does is hold the boom up when the sail is down. Ease the topping lift once the sail is up

Ok. sorry for my ignorance. So the topping lift is raised prior to raising main. Once main is up, release topping lift so boom is supported by main. Does that sound correct?

@@bradgradert No apologies required, you’re learning. Yes that’s correct. Topping lift on as sail goes up then eased once sail is up. To be clear I set my topping lift just before I lower my main and then it stays on until I next raise it. No need to specifically set before raising the main, it should already be on, holding the boom up.

Do you mean how she puts all the sail ties away at the same tine at the end of the video? If so that was very observant of you and very correct to point it out! Thank you for your feedback.