great sailing

had 3 good days,monday and Tuesday force 3/4,wednesday just over 4,boat sails very well,even with the  keel up,bit hard to get the main up in a large swell,j cant sail off my mooring,due to the amount of btrying to hoist the sailoats moored,if the wind is not to bad I can hoist the main and raise the boom to spill the wind and motor out,but as we get a lot of westerlys it blows right down the river,i did thimk of trying to hoist the main and slacken it of on the boom and gather it in to the mast and once at sea pull it back along the boom,even at sea when I turn into the wind its a bit of a bind regards harry    trying to hoist the sail,could be something to do with my age now,as you get towards 75 you do not take the risks you did when younger,have fitted roller reefing which is good and works well,i willleave her on the mooring and get some winter sailing in this year   regards harry  safe sailing

Hi Harry
I sail from Lyme Regis and like you experience some large swells, like last Thursday when we had force 4/5 and 7 ft swells!!  Hoisting the main has been transformed by fitting new sliders and lubricating the mast groove with silicone spray.  I spray the groove and sliders every 2 or 3 weeks.  As you say Seahawks make a good seaboat - mine copes well with big following seas; steering is easy when running before the wind and she rises to the swells with no dramas.  I have a new main sail from Jeckylls that has vastly improved her performance on the wind, giving some 10 degrees closer to the wind than the old baggy rag that the boat came with.  Try to sail with the keel down if you can - of course it reduces leeward drift but also adds a lot to stability, meaning you can sail the boat more upright.  I now have slab reefing which gives the sail a much better shape when reefed than the roller reefing that Reedcraft fitted as standard.    Hope this helps
Brian

thanks for the reply,its not so much the main sticking ,its standing on the cabin top holding back the boom so I can hoist the sail,i don't remember having this trouble with my hurley,ihad a round wheel on the bom which was easy to turn and thred the sail on at the same time,but I was a lot younger then,ref the keel mine is stuck in place and have not got round to fixing it regards harry