Sailing the MFG19 single handed

Well, I've been having some interesting outings this year. After the rough maiden voyage, things have gone fairly smoothly.

I find it difficult to raise the sails. I lash down the tiller well and move forward to raise the sails, but the boat always seems to drift off. I can't seem to get it to stay straight. So, I have to move extremely quick.

Do you guys raise the main, or the jib first?

When I raise the main, I have a real tough time feeding the rope in the slot. It forces me to go rather slowly, and given the problem I mentioned of the boat drifting off.... well, you can imagine the problems. It is actually rather frightening. While I am fiddling and fighting to get the mainsail up, the boat could be drifting off in a bad way.

Next challenge: taking the sails down. The jib does not fall down by itself. I have to go all the way forward and pull it down.

I am thinking of a modification to make it easier. Rather than tie off the halyards on the cleats on the sides of the mast, I think I will install some blocks at the base of the mast and some cleats near the top of the door. That way I can raise the jib from within the cockpit. If the mainsail slot/rope were not a problem, I could raise the main as well from within the cockpit, but I guess that still needs some consideration.

As for taking down the jib, I'm thinking of adding a second thin line to the top of the jib, running it through a block at the forestay and back to the cockpit. Then I only have to loosen the jib halyard and pull on that line to pull down the jib.

Any advice?

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Hey Paul,

I have the same issues with mine. I can tell you this much, I read in some sailing books to raise the main first, then your headsail. This helps hold the stern to the wind where raising the headsail first pushes the bow away and to fall off. But same problems no matter what I do she falls off. I usually raise the main, then jump back in the cockpit, point her back into the wind, and the headsail usually raises quick enough.

I also have the same issues lowering the headsails. Best I can say is same method. Point into the wind and lower the main, jump down and point her back up, while at the same time gathering in the main, then jump back up and lower the headsail. The jib can be a little problem not coming down, but the genoa is the one that really doesn't like to come down. I think it has something to do with the cloth hanks. Were they metal clips like on the Pintail, they would probably slide right down. I usually just release the line then pull it down, by then you shouldn't be drifting much anyway.

I think all your ideas would solve the issues perfectly, though I agree you couldn't lead the main halyard aft. The boltrope is a pain. If you've ever heard of a magazine called "Small Craft Advisory" a guy built a furler for $40. However his mast was free standing and he didn't have a forestay. I'm trying to work through that problem, and adapt it to my 19. If/when I figure it out I'm definitely posting on here for everybody.

If I can just figure out a boom furler for the main...

Hope this helps.
Bill

Paul:
Glad you're finally enjoying your MFG19. Here are a few things I've done which have made sailing single-handed easier.
1) I installed a tiller tamer which can "lock" the tiller in place. It isn't totally effective but it does help.
2) At the base of my mast are two swivel spring blocks for the halyards. The halyards then run back to a pair of rope brakes just ahead of the companionway. It is really easy to put up the sails from the cockpit.
3) After the first year of sailing my 19 I got smart and rigged a dousing line for the jib. I put a small block at the base of the forestay and mounted three fairleads on the deck back to the cockpit. The line is attached to the snap shackel on the end of the Jib halyard and makes the job of pulling down the jib a whole lot easier.

Good sailing!

Dick

Dick,

How did you solve the bolt rope problem though? I know Paul has problems, and I definitely have issues. I have to feed it the whole way up or it either jams or just plain comes out and I have to back it down and re-feed it. If you've solved this I'm curious to know!

Bill

Bill:
I'm a little confused. Are your feeding the rope bolt into the mast slot? I have nylon slugs (slides) attached to the sail which feed into the slot on the mast. Raising my mains takes all of about 10 seconds.

Dick

Ahh!! You're lucky! I have (and it sounds like Paul does too) a bolt rope in the sail that feeds directly up a channel in the mast. Would you mind putting a picture of your slides onto the site. I'd like to see if I could replicate them.

Thanks

Bill

Bill:
I'll try to get some pix this week. I'm a golf instructor and am in the middle of a two week tournament for 150 kids aged 7 through 18. Today would have been a great day to sail ( sunny, 90 degrees temps and 15 mph winds) but I'm working on the tournament. Am I nuts or what?

Dick

I've been following the discussion at www.sailinganarchy.com concerning the boating under the influence charges against Bismarck Dinius, who happened to be at the tiller of his friend's O'Day 27 when the Lake County [California] Deputy Sheriff plowed into the starboard rear quarter at speeds in excess of 35 mph. The Deputy sheriff wasn't charged, and the DA alleges Dinius's passenger died because he was drunk and boating at night without lights. It's a riveting case of injustice, and the reason I've not checked back here for a while.

Sailing the MFG 19 singlehanded:

I've been doing this for years, so here's what I do:

I have a trolling motor [36 pounds of thrust] powered by a deep cycle 12 volt battery. I get about an hour to seventy five minutes cruising time on this, enough to travel between one and two miles over calm water. It's not fast, but then sailing for me has never been about speed. This motor is really all I need to maneuver the channel and dock maze back to my slip, plus it's very quiet.

Once I'm out in clear water, I raise the sails (I leave the main on the boom, and bend on the jib before leaving the slip). I do this by turning off the motor, going to the mast and raising the jib. Once the jib is up, I go back to the cockpit and heave to [back the jib and cleat it down and lash the tiller to counteract the backed jib; the boat is then stationary, making a little leeway, but very stable. Then I uncleat the mainsheet, undo the sail ties (I use my reefing lines for this purpose), unhook the topping lift (at the back of the boom), go to the mast and raise the mainsail, being careful that it doesn't hang up on the shrouds or spreaders as its going up.

I have sail slides/slugs that are screwed into the mainsail just inside the bolt rope, so the main goes up in nothing flat. The only problem with the sail slugs is that I have creases in the main from the slugs to the back of the sail. I don't know if I would have fewer creases or more severe ones if I added more slugs....I'll experiment next summer.

Jib downhaul: I rigged some blocks and lines for this, but found it more trouble than it was worth. Now that I have perfected the heave-to maneuver, I normally leave the jib up until I'm back in my slip or have the anchor on the bottom.

Genoa: I only use this on light wind days when I have crew. It always hangs up on tacks.

Sailing singlehanded: usually I keep control of the jib sheets and the tiller, and leave the main cleated. Lake Arthur is notorious for wind shifts, so I very seldom lock everything down.


We're planning an MFG Regatta at Lake Arthur [western PA] for late August or early September if anyone is interested in participating. There are about 10 MFG-19's here, and we may get four to participate. I'm open to organizing something larger for next May.
Hope this helps

Ken

This is very useful, Ken. Thank you. So, you put the jib up first? Well, that is opposite of what everyone says, but.... if you can heave-to then it seems to make more sense than the other way around.

I did not know you could heave-to with only the jib! That is very interesting. I will definitely need to try your approach!

I never heard t sail slugs. I'll have to look those up.

Thanks for posting.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Paul,

forgot to mention: When heaving to, aim the bow about 60 degrees off the wind for best results.

If you follow the procedure at any other point of sail, you'll eventually come back to the 60 degrees off the wind, but it may be a little exciting until you get there. Also a good idea to push the main to leeward to avoid a boat clearing jibe before you're ready for it.

Let me know if you find this useful.

Most books and guides advocate putting the main up first, but most books and guides assume you're either at a dock or a mooring when raising the sails or that you have crew to assist in the process. And in those situations, that's the way to go; but if you motor away from the dock, and are single-handing, in an area where the wind is fickle and varies from one direction to another, hoisting the main can find your boat sailing with no one on the helm, at worst, and very often wandering all around the lake while you try to get the jib up and then back into the cockpit. I wish I had a video of me raising and lowering the sails before I began using heave to.

Ken

PS I've not been able to find a comfortable or reliable heave-to using the genoa. There seems to be way too much sail compared to rudder control for the maneuver to work.

I have been doing this for a couple years now and generally don't have many problems, but it is definitely a skill that takes practice.

I do not have any problem with the jib or main coming down. I spent a bit of time when I bought it cleaning and lubing the mast head rigging (the pulleys at the top of the mast). Unlash my jib sheet and hope you can pin it to the deck faster than the wind can throw it around.

Raising the main is tricky, but there is a pattern that helps...
Put a long (2-3 feet) tie on the clew so that you can loop the cleat and pull on that as you feed the bottom rope bolt into the boom. Tie that off and lash the extra around the boom (or it will slap you in the face as you tack).
Adjust the sail-guide (little chrome widget with two black balls on either side of a channel) as close to the bolt hole as you can. As you pull the sheet, keep two fingers in the bolt hole to keep the sail from binding.

When you raise the sails... make sure all ropes are not cleated... they must be free running.

Stand directly into the wind ... When you raise either sail it should luff. The boat has a weather hull and should stay pointing up

Raise the jib first... The boom on the main will cause it to catch wind and push the boat if it falls even slightly off the wind.

A rope running across the stern (tied to the u-bolts that hold the stays) can take a turn or two around the rudder and keep it from swinging wildly and help you hold position.

Once the mainsail is up, a shift of the rudder will let the boat tilt off the wind and fill the sails.

If you have enough "sea-room" you have plenty of time to raise sails or bring them down. If you don't have the sea-room, drop your anchor and raise sails, then pick the anchor up as you sail over it.

Key thing to remember... not much happens fast on this boat... It is when I get a little excited that I pull on the wrong line, jam the sails, or as I did yesterday trip over my daughter during a tack... Next thing I know the rail is buried, one hand is on the jib sheet keeping me from going over, and the other is on my daughter's vest keeping her from going over. Fortunately, I could knock the rudder off with an elbow. A fellow sailor went from his leisurely seat in his boat to standing up watching me intently to see where I was going to land.... However, the problem could have and should have been avoided with a bit of planning... where my daughter was, and where I was going to move, and when....