Storm Trysail

I plan to make use of the storm trysail in the future for sailing in heavy weather (over 25 kt) and for heaving to (35 kt or more). The trysail will be paired with the staysail which will be hanked up the inner foresay with sheets passing through the shrouds, through the forward blocks, then to the winches.

I solved one problem and found another one with the trysail exercise. The doctrine states that the boom should be lashed out of the way, in my case on the rail. I never did like the idea of lashing the boom to the rail because of needless stress on the rail and possibility of chafing. Because the trysail must be hoisted high, clear of the mainsail stack pack, there is no reason that I can see why I can't leave the boom in place. In the closeup you can see that the boom is held up by the topping lift as usual, the mainsheet holds it down, and the ends of the boom are lashed to cleats on the coaming. You can also see that the trysail sheets are passed through the turning block on the coaming then to winches. The lazy jacks are no problem. In the photo they are loose but I will lash them low with cord. Also, you may notice two blue lines going to the stern corners of the boat. They are the running back stays which are now in position for the cruise to Seattle.

The problem is in the special track for the trysail. It is in two pieces: the lower piece starts off center and curves to the middle of the boom. The upper piece carries on to just below the radar. The problem is that the two tracks do not line up exactly, leaving a corner on one side when the slides go up, and on the other side when the slides come down. I had to go up three times to force slides around that constriction. This will not do, of course, because hoisting the trysail implies heavy weather which is no time to go up the mast. I'll attend to this problem possibly by grinding the corners down with a Dremel tool.