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I am new to dart 15 sailing this year and have an old spark
Boat sails well but I am having big problems dropping the main.
I am doing everything according to the book knot facing aft boat on port tack etc. but it just won?t come down.
No problems however in running up !
I have used sail lub on both the sail and the track but still no luck.
It?s OK after light wind sailing but after being out in a blow it?s an on the side job to free the hook.
Can anyone offer any advise, should the hook be at any specific angle to the mast that I can check or can it really be down to inexperience with this particular boat.
Thanks in advance for any assistance offered.
Rick
Hi Rick
Perhaps the first thing you should check is the hook itself.
This is normally riveted to the left-hand side of the mast, and should have a vertical angle bent into it that keeps the hook end pointing along or even slightly away from the centreline of the mast slot. It may be that the mast has been dropped at some time, and knocked the hook in towards the slot, which certainly would impair easy lowering of the sail, as you would have to twist the mast that much further in a clock-wise direction for the ring to clear it when pulling the sail down, whilst giving no problems when hoisting .
Just to re-cap on the correct method for lowering :-
1 Release the down-haul completely from the mast and pull out the bottom of the sail from the mast slot.
2 Make sure the boat is lying head to wind (most important)
3 Pull hard on the main-sail rope, and you should feel the ring as it comes off the hook. If it still feels stiff, push the bottom two battens up the mast a couple of inches each (use your thumbs on the plastic fittings), and try again .
4 Assuming this works, keep the tension on the rope with one hand whilst rotating the mast clock-wise with the other, so moving the sail away from the hook .
5 Continue to hold the mast as far round as you can, but now let go of the rope and pull down on the foot of the sail or the down-haul if still connected to the sail .
Hopefully this should do the trick .
One last thought - check the condition of the fibre pulley at the top of the mast . If it has become gunged up over the years , it is likely to have stopped rotating , thereby increasing the friction at this point, and will have uneven wear on it, and cease to be round - cheap and easy to replace .
Good luck next time .
Paul Smith (Beaver S.C.)
I have the same problem with my spark 642 I find that turning the boat to wind getting the bow's up, raising the main so that the hook is clear, I then slowley let go of the main halliard and tap the mast this quite often lets the hook fall backwards and allowes you to drop the sail.
I have only had this problem since fitting a new hook , yes it is a Dart15 hook and yes it is on the correct side etc, Perhaps the Old Dart15 hooks are slightly smaller than the New ones, which would actualy raise the hook up the mast a fraction making it more dificult to release the sail. I found that the holes on the new hook and the mast didn't quite line up. Perhaps yours has had a new hook fitted. This might be worth a look into. Have also considered grinding a bit off the top of the hook.
Chris
Shanklin Sailing Club
Why not lay the boat over with the main up and see what's going in at the top. My bet is that the hook is bent slightly towards centreline. On my boat it's at about 15 degrees away on the port side - drops like a good 'un. The headboard still seems to fly straight out of the track even though the ring is obviously slightly off centre (That's from what I can see amongst all the mud since the last time I want spear fishing with my burgee.....no what I mean?).
