After four hours wrestling with the old one(*), assembling the new one, re-tensioning the
rig and re-tensioning myself after paying the bill (isn't anything cheap these days?.. no, don't answer that
) I'm now the proud owner of a brand new Furlex 200S - and a bright, shiny thinghy it is too!!
..now to get the headsail sorted and I can go sailing again.
* = here's some of what we needed to go through: I'd forgotten that the forestay is fastened to a through-bolt that also carries the turning blocks for the two
jib halyards, although the rigger reminded me fast enough when I sent him up on the main halyard to undo the forestay. After hooking up the
spinnaker halyard for the temp forestay, that meant that, once he unfastened the whole shebang, there wasn't anything left to lower the forestay down - so, after thinking about this for a bit, he clipped one of the
jib turning blocks to his bosun's chair(!) and we lowered away..