[quote=erice][quote=cougarmarkIV][quote=erice]mast free to rotate, if it's a rotating mast, head to wind and lift just the sail.
booms, blocks etc only get attached after sail is raised and lockededited by: erice, Jul 25, 2009 - 07:57 AM [/quote]
So, I just leave the bottom of sail pulled tight to boom?
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sorry i don't know anything about the cougar, does it have a loose footed sail, (sail only connects to boom at 1 point) or does the sail have a bolt rope along the bottom that goes into the boom?
it's always going to be harder to raise a sail with a boom fixed to it
next time the mast is down have a very close look at the sail track, if alloy over the years it can easily almost invisible crimps in it from various impacts
try to find a sliver of wood that with just fit into the sail track and then make sure it can slide freely from top to bottom. any area where it binds use a hammer ON THE WOOD to force it past the binding area and so spread the alloy back to where it should be
also try running some sandpaper lightly up and down the track to make sure that's as smooth as possible
other things you could do are run an old candle up and down and all around the the bolt rope to provide a better slide
often on an old boat you there is nothing esp. wrong, you just need to find 5 or so 10% improvements to get it reasonable [/quote]
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