First Day Out.

nate

New Member
I just bought a '74 sunfish and took it out to the lake for the first time last Saturday. When I raised the sail I mistakenly left about a foot of the halyard (side that connects to the upper boom) hanging on the other side of the fairlead. So, every time I tacked I had to lift the boom over me; it was a huge pain with the boom so low.
When I raise the sail, should I bring the upper boom all the way up so that the halyard tie-down rests just under the mast cap? And about how far from the end of the upper boom should I tie the halyard, is there a common spot for regular sailing?
Then when I tack, I should really only have to duck my head, right?
 
Nate, bear with me as I haven't set a fish up for recreational sailing in quite a while. Racing sete is a whole 'nother thing. :rolleyes:

IIRC the halyard goes about the 8th sail clip from the bottom on the upper spar and yes it needs to be pulled tight again the end cap on the mast. You might want to put a couple of turns of duct tape just about where you want the halyard tied off. Even the best tied knots tend to slip up the spar.
Try it just with pulling it all the way up where it's tied off now and see if that makes it easier.
 
I didn't try the duct tape yet but I did raise the upper spar so that it nearly touched the top of the mast. From what I could tell there was alot more headroom. Then the wind blew the boat over, we had about 22-28 mph wind on Saturday. So I didn't get a chance to sail it.
 

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