main sail won't release

1. Unhook the downhaul and pull the bottom of the main out of the sail track.
2. With the boat head to wind, standing between the hulls, infront of the mast, facing aft, pull on the halyard on the port side, pulling the ring above the hook.
3. Grab the rotater and push it hard toward the starboard hull.
4. While keeping the mast rotated, grab the foot of the sail and pull down a few inches, then release the rotator, the sail should come down.

Another thing that may help is undo the bowline to the ring and use a stoper knot and have the knot facing aft or just reduce the size of the knot so you can pull the halyard higher.

Edited by nacra55 on Aug 14, 2011 - 09:41 PM.

Agree with all that advice.

I went a step further. Mounted a small block to the front beam below the mast, ran the bitter end of the halyard through the block and back up to the ring. Attach the end of the halyard to the port side of the ring. So instead of stowing half the halyard it all stays in one piece. Now when you pull the rotator to the starboard you can pull the ring to the port so it won't recatch the hook. Never had a problem since, except that you need 3 hands to do all that at the same time. You also have to make sure your halyard isn't overly long othe rwise it can flop around and get wrapped around the sail.

Thanks guys. I was missing the mast rotation step. I will give it a try next weekend. As a newbie, I really appreciate the advice offered on this forum.
Thanks again,

I have had my P-19 for two seasons now and can speak to having the same experience as Trihokie. Like most parts of the rigging after practice it is no problem at all. I still have a 2-3 pulls on the Jib S-hook/Ring but I get the Main off the hook first try every time. Without question the rotator must be used to move the hook out of the ring. here are some previous bad ideas I had that prevented me from getting it unhooked. I had thought it mattered if the ring with-welded-shackle used on the P-19 had a "front" or "rear" facing side. I also was not sure which extreme left or right I should move the rotator.

Here is my method for dropping the main. remove the Clew from the Boom, remove downhaul, remove lower part of sail from mast's downhaul track. while standing infront of the main beam, raise main with halyard to maximum about 1.5in. Quickly move rotator to Port extreme, this will maintain the sail at it's maximum height, allowing you to release the halyard (port may be P-19 specific). I then give the tack a pull about 2-3 inches. It is important to not release the extreme rotation as the sail will quickly pile up on the tramp. I use my foot to control the halyard and with free hands roll the sail on the tramp.

A lot of is just practice. I had a fair bit trouble with that same thing on my P18 for the first couple seasons. Mine just has a stopper knot and I make sure it faces away from the mast when I hook the mainsail to it. Usually hooked and unhooked first try now but occasionally it becomes troublesome.

Barry, do you have a copy of the older nacra manual? it is posted here, under the Tech section. If you go right to the end, there is a PDF download of the entire manual, all that good stuff for dropping the sail is in it.

Edchris177, thanks for the tip. I just finished reading all 34 pages of the Nacra manual. 30 year old boats don't always come with an owners manual. Very informative.

trihokie wrote: I just finished reading all 34 pages of the Nacra manual....
Very informative.

I reccomend everyone, no matter how long they have been sailing a particular model, read straight through the owner/assembly manual(s) for their boat.

I've owned Hobie 18's since 1992 and just recently read through the Hobie 18 manual and found a couple of things I've been doing wrong for years.

I reccomend everyone, no matter how long they have been sailing a particular model, read straight through the owner/assembly manual(s) for their boat.

Amen. When I picked up my 5.7 I had little idea of what I was getting into. There were no other Cats around my cottage that I knew of. My resources consisted of this forum, & the Manuals posted here. If you actually read them, as opposed to skimming, it was surprising how much info they contain.
Barry, I should have posted that there are 2 Nacra Manuals. Download them both, one is newer, & though they are pretty much the same, I found several instances where one showed something better than the other.