Sail removal

[fulldisclosure]

We have been sailing our new (to us) Sun Odyssey 440 since June and are enjoying her thoroughly! Alas, the time has come for a boat in New England to either up stakes for warmer waters, or haul out. For us this year it’s the latter, next year the former. We’d like to do as much as possible of the decommissioning ourselves, including removing the sails for cleaning and repair. It seems pretty straightforward, but never having had in-mast furling before, we are wondering whether there are any special tricks we should know  before we pull the main out of the mast and lower it.

We appreciate any insights offered!

[bella]

D'ont let the halyard go lower than necessary or as i found i coud'nt get it back up. It seems to catch between the furling sections and a bash up with a hammer is how the rigger fixed it.

[webone]

I stuff a towel in the mast below the opening to prevent the shackle pin from falling in, Fumble fingers that I am.
Otherwise pretty straight forward. You can also get or make a system of small "sails" that you haul up and tie off to the back of the boom that keeps the furling rod from banging around inside the mast. I have one from North Sails.

[Chris Meyer]

There is a tack on the bottom of the main (near the boom).   I find it easier to drop the main a couple inches and take the loop off  the hook.  

[Mistroma]

I do the same thing to remove the loop.

I worked out that the following helped with 2 people flaking the sail.

1) Lower Sprayhood and close main hatch to maximise flat area to flake the sail.
2) Remove covers on side of the mast to improve access once sail is down
3) Unfurl main, undo outhaul and tie off end with a figure of eight knot.
4) Connect a spare line to the clew and tie it off well aft (e.g. Stern cleat) leaving some slack
5) One person at the mast to pull down the sail and flake (keeping it close to the centreline)
6) Second person release the halyard and then flakes the leech, trying to keep the whole sail near middle of the cockpit.

This works well for us as the sail sits on a fairly flat area with no great tendency to slide to the side deck in a mess.

A 3rd person might be useful to control the halyard. However, we manage pretty well because there's a fair bit of friction and the sail doesn't immediately drop to the deck. I pull it out of the mast track and then stand on the halyard as I flake the sail. Then I pull out some more and simply repeat.

It's pretty easy for both of us to stand near the mast and fold it back in sections once it is completely down.

Undoing the halyard is fiddly. I tend to sit astride the boom to reach in to the access hole and undo the shackle.

Obviously a task for a calm day bust we've done it a few times at anchor with a moderate breeze.

The genoa is a lot harder to remove and pack on the foredeck.

[fulldisclosure]

Turned out to be a pretty simple operation for both main and genoa. My partner and I were able to remove and fold both sails in under two hours - next time it'll be much quicker. Thanks for reminders like: tie halyards off after removing sails so they don't go up the mast; handle shackle pin inside mast with care so it doesn't fall into the black hole (I was secure in knowledge that I had a spare...I also use a pair of needle-nose vice grips for more secure hold on the pin).