Quote:
Originally Posted by teshannon
You should not NEED a winch. If you do you've got problems with the RF. |
Maybe not. Last year I purchased a Quantum Fusion M headsail with a taffetta cover; I could not furl it. I put the sail up and took it down three times to see what the problem was with the
furler, and each time finding none, concluded it must be the sail, but I dismissed it. After getting very frustrated, I called a friend with more experience than I and he said, well, if everything works, and it worked with the old sail, maybe the sail is just stiff as it is new. I wish the sailmaker would have commented on that. Sure enough, that's what it was, the luff was so stiff I could not furl it by hand, and it was difficult with the
winch the first few times. I had a hard time bringing myself to use the
winch on the
furler, I kept saying 'this is wrong, this is wrong', but I went slow, watched what I was doing, and it is what was needed given the stiff luff.
I agree with the above posts though, whether with the RF or anything else on the boat, do not force it with the
winch, and make sure you are 'seeing' what you are doing, not just blindly cranking the
winch.