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Friday, 8 November 2024. The icy wind cut to the bone. Almost impossible to warm up aboard. I abandoned the planned final trip to Neustadt with an overnight stay. Unbearable cold, fingers barely bending. Time to prepare for winter, starting with the sails.
Luckily, wind over the bow made removing the mainsail easier.
1. Hoisted the main fully and unscrewed the retaining stop that keeps the slides in the mast groove.
2. While hoisting, inspected both sides. Shield bugs, lacewings and spiders with egg sacs often hide in the folds. Brushed them away or tapped from the opposite side.
3. While lowering, undid the bolts retaining the battens, the plastic strips that give the sail shape.
4. Released reefing lines, the clew line, head and tack, photographing every knot.
5. Folding aboard was difficult, so I took it ashore and followed the method in J. Howard-Williams’s ‘Sail Care and Repair’: keeping the head along the luff, concertina-folding the cloth, then rolling from luff towards leech.
6. Put the main in its sail bag.
7. Measured it: 2.8m along the foot, nine metres up the sail. About 13m², close to the official figures of 3m × 9.2m.
While packing, I noticed an old inscription on the bag:
O 29 — Ohlson 29, the boat model; 170 — the sail number. Fullstar was probably my Rassvet’s first name. When I bought her,the stern already said Montezuma.
The genoa was harder: wind up to sixteen knots.
1. Unfurled fully to leeward and tensioned the sheet.
2. Eased the halyard gradually to control the drop.
3. Usually, insects need brushing off. The wind did it for me.
4. Kept pulling the sail aboard so it wouldn’t hang over the guardwires.
5. Ashore, folded using the same method: first along the luff, then along the foot from tack to clew.
6. Secured with nylon sail ties, Segelbinder, and bagged it.
7. Genoa measurements: 5.2m × 9.8m × 9.6m, about 24.5m². Documentation gives the Ohlson 29’s maximum as 5m × 10.8m, 25.5m².
Day over. Looking at the neatly packed sails, I felt satisfied and thought about the hot coffee waiting at home.
#maintenance
Luckily, wind over the bow made removing the mainsail easier.
1. Hoisted the main fully and unscrewed the retaining stop that keeps the slides in the mast groove.
2. While hoisting, inspected both sides. Shield bugs, lacewings and spiders with egg sacs often hide in the folds. Brushed them away or tapped from the opposite side.
3. While lowering, undid the bolts retaining the battens, the plastic strips that give the sail shape.
4. Released reefing lines, the clew line, head and tack, photographing every knot.
5. Folding aboard was difficult, so I took it ashore and followed the method in J. Howard-Williams’s ‘Sail Care and Repair’: keeping the head along the luff, concertina-folding the cloth, then rolling from luff towards leech.
6. Put the main in its sail bag.
7. Measured it: 2.8m along the foot, nine metres up the sail. About 13m², close to the official figures of 3m × 9.2m.
While packing, I noticed an old inscription on the bag:
O 29
Fullstar
170
O 29 — Ohlson 29, the boat model; 170 — the sail number. Fullstar was probably my Rassvet’s first name. When I bought her,the stern already said Montezuma.
The genoa was harder: wind up to sixteen knots.
1. Unfurled fully to leeward and tensioned the sheet.
2. Eased the halyard gradually to control the drop.
3. Usually, insects need brushing off. The wind did it for me.
4. Kept pulling the sail aboard so it wouldn’t hang over the guardwires.
5. Ashore, folded using the same method: first along the luff, then along the foot from tack to clew.
6. Secured with nylon sail ties, Segelbinder, and bagged it.
7. Genoa measurements: 5.2m × 9.8m × 9.6m, about 24.5m². Documentation gives the Ohlson 29’s maximum as 5m × 10.8m, 25.5m².
Day over. Looking at the neatly packed sails, I felt satisfied and thought about the hot coffee waiting at home.
#maintenance
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