Removing roller mainsail for winter

[hoppy]

I was walking past a group of about 15 Jeanneau charter boats all from the same company. They were gently rolling around and making an almighty racket. For the life of me I could not figure out what was going on. A little later I passed them again and this time noticed that the roller mains had been removed and I could see the roller moving around inside the mast. Later I noticed other yachts with the main also removed and they had a small lie tied to the roller to stop it banging around.

Thankfully the noisy boats were well away from the part of the marina where anyone was likely to be living onboard. The noise was so bad it would have been painful to be working on a boat. Sleep would be hell

So if you have a roller main and remove the sail, please tie it up

[ianpowolny]

Hoppy, I don't remove the main in winter. I'm more concerned with damage to the foil than the sail. I hate it when we have to send the main away for cleaning or repair. As you say it's a almighty racket and my wife and I are sleeping under it. I've tried many ways to reduce the noise but never found a good solution. Ian

[dublin]

One method for reducing the noise is as follows - works for us - not perfect silence but a great improvement.

Attach the out haul to the point where the sail normally attaches to the halyard. Also attach a downhaul
Pull the halyard up approx 40% of the way. Hence the reason for the down haul
Pull the out haul tight putting pressure on the foil and effectively jamming it is place.

Also attach a line to the halyard and use this to keep tension on the halyard to stop it from banging

Since we got the new sails I now use the old main as my winter sail and leave it on all winter which totally dampens any sound

[hoppy]

On my walk today I did see a few others with their mains missing and silence. So keeping them quiet is doable, but maybe in different conditions it will make a noise?

I'm grateful that the 43DS next to me has left his sail on for the winter If I ever see a neighbour remove their main I'll be watch with fear

[ianpowolny]

Using the old main is a great idea. Our new main should be with us in a couple of weeks so I'll use the old main in winter. Thanks Ian

[vasko]

I have solved the problem with the sound on previouse boats by rolling a line instead of sail on the roller ... but need carefull rolling in and MORE cerefull roling out and you jam greatly....

[sailbleu]

Attach a extra line to the swivel, pull the swivel with the halyard almost halfway up to the mast. Ty the end of the extra line tight to the end of the boom. Now pull the halyard to raise the swivel even more so the extra line is really under tension . This way you pull the foil close to the inside of the mast itself..
This is how I do it whenever the main is down/out.
Minimal noise.

Regards