Slipping Gooseneck

T

Ted Levinson

New Member
While sailing the gooseneck will often abrubtly slip down the mast hitting the deck. Obviously the sail will come drop as well

I don't have a boom vang or any fancy knots going on.
I don't have a Jens rig or any fancy rigging either.
The sail is fully raised, the halyard is properly cleated

Any ideas?

I have never adjusted or removed the gooseneck. I did remove and re-attach the sail to the spars
 
Ted, it's not the gooseneck that's allowing the rig to drop but halyard stretch. The gooseneck plays no part in holding the rig up, it just maintains the fore/aft position of the rig.
What happens is when you tack the mast rotates slightly, but enough to provide pressure on the halyard and stretch it some allow the rig to sag lower.
It's caused many a fore deck halfmoon scar.
The real fix is to install a mast cleat to tie off the halyard with. Since the cleat rotates with the mast, no added stress is put on the halyard, so no stretching.
Other than that either run the rig higher so the stretch won't drop the rin low enough to hit the deck or what I used to do when racing is sail for about 5 minutes doing multiple tacks/gybes and as the rig sagged retighten the halyard to remove the stretch. Most low stretch halyards will take a set after being strained. But it will return and stretch the next time out.
 
Might the halyard be slipping on the upper spar? If so, use a rolling hitch to attach the halyard to the upper spar.

Fred
 
If the halyard is slipping on the upper spar, just round electrical tape side by side of the halyard, so the the halyard will be blocked.
 
A rolling hitch eliminates the need for tape and allows easy adjustment for wind conditions. I've been using it for years with no slipping problems whatsoever. Tape gets messy and you need tape at multiple point for wind conditions.
Try a rolling hitch, you'll like it!

Fred
 
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