I apparently opened a bucket of worms when I suggested using slugs on the main
as an alternative to feeding a bolt rope. At least there has been a lot of
discussion in the forum both pro and con. I think the real answer lies in how
you use the boat and personal preference.
One reason slugs work well for me is that I keep me boat in the water at the
dock behind my house. I also have a little gadget I machine up that closes off
the feed gate in the mast slot. I had one on my Balboa 20 when I bought it
years ago that was spring loaded. The ones I make these days have two knurled
knob captive bolts that go into threaded holes in the mast to hold the aluminum
piece in the opening. Once the slugs are in the slot and the opening closed,
one can effortlessy hoist the main with the cabin top winch and cleat it down.
You only have to head up into the wind and release the main halyard for the
sail to drop neatly between the lazy jacks. If I trailered often and had to
rig the lazy jacks and feed the slugs every time, it might be a different story.
Maybe we need to have a similar debate about rigging a sailing dinghy. Is it
better to have a sleeve sail, lacing, mast hoops, a bolt rope or slugs? My
Fatty Knees 9' dinghy has a loose foot sleeve sail. I just raise the boom
against the mast, lift it out and roll the sail around it. The whole rig fits
in a 6" diameter tube of plastic pipe that I hang on bicycle hooks on the posts
of the boathouse next to the hoisted boat. The screw in cap on the tube keeps
the mud dobbers from building nests in the sails. There are hooks below that
for the oars and a big hanging mesh bag for the daggerboard and rudder.
Ron
M17 #14
Griselda> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 17:23:46 -0400> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To:
[email protected]> Subject: Re: M_Boats: help with slug
order> > Hi Bill,> > Let me put in my two cents worth...> > All the big boats
I've owned had sail slugs or slides (running on a sail > track). When I got my
M15, the mainsail had a bolt rope, but the > previous owner had added slugs.
The foot of the main had a bolt rope, > and feeding that into the boom slot was
a two man job, which is why I > only did it once a year. The rest of the time,
I just removed the boom > with the furled main and put it in the cabin when we
headed to another > sailing area. > > From your description of how you operate,
you seem to be doing it the > hard way.> > On LEPPO, the slugs were fed into
the mast slot and then the sail stop > was put in, keeping everything in place.
I have never tried hoisting my > main while trying to feed sail slugs into the
slot. You are right, > doing that requires three hands....> > My main was
furled on the boom - I used bungee cord stretched along one > side of the boom,
with an eye in the middle. On the other side of the > boom, I had two hooks,
located halfway between the eye and the ends of > the bungee cord. With the
main down, I would furl the main, grab the > bungee cord, pull it over the main
and hook it under one of the hooks. > Then I did the other piece, and the sail
is furled.> > To set sail, I would unhook the bungee cord from the furled main,
hoist > the main, and cleat it off. No fuss: no muss. Almost a one-handed >
operation.> With the main up, I would then loosen the topping lift, haul in the
main > sheet, ..... and away we go.> > The same sort of operation was used on
my big boats; sail slides running > in a mast track.> > The advantages are:> >
1. You can easily drop the main - no pulling out the bolt rope to get > the
sail down.> > 2. The main can be neatly furled on the boom for the night, and
is > ready to go at a moment's notice (fire in the harbor; pirates attacking; >
civil unrest, ....etc.)> > 3. From the racing standpoint, the bolt rope is
probably more > aerodynamic, but that is of very little interest to me. I want
ease of > handling; I want> a main to fall down when I release the halyard.
This latter is a > function of the weight of the main; big sails fall down very
easily and > can be contained with lazy > jacks; M15 main sails have to be
persuaded to fall down - they > aren't heavy enough to fall of their own
accord.> > Connie> > > > William B. Riker wrote:> > I'm getting old too but
won't admit it. Ask my wife. > >> > It's been 9 years since I last used slugs
and I don't remember all the> > reasons. I'm getting old. Oh, yeah. I said that
already. Aerodynamics> > is part of the reason. When rigging at the dock, in
the wind, you need to> > raise the main all the way, while shoving slugs up the
slot. Let's see,> > that's one hand to aim the slugs, one to pull the halyard
and one to keep> > the previously loaded slugs from dropping out. And I've only
got two hands> > for singlehanding. Who said slugs are easier?> >> > With a
boltrope, just start the first few inches, cleat the halyard and on> > to the
next task. No need to flog the whole sail before you're out on the> > water and
it's time to use it. > >> > I started handling boltrope sails under race
conditions 54 years ago. It> > comes naturally and seems more seamanlike. > >>
> Bill Riker> > M15 - #184> > Storm Petrel> >> > -----Original Message----From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of> > [EMAIL
PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 7:29 AM> > To:
[email protected]> > Subject: Re: M_Boats: help with slug
order> >> > What was the problem with slugs? > > > > Bill P.> >> >> >> >
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for > >
fuel-efficient used cars.> >
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