Hoisting a roller furler jib

[L124C]

I have a Hood Seafurl 2535 roller furler on my 30 foot sloop. Hoisting the jib is difficult after the jib is about half way up the foil. I'm a big guy and I can do it by hand but it's a strain. Anyone smaller would need to use the winch. I use lube in the foil and it makes no difference. I know the resistance is in the foil, not the halyard. I have two sail tracks on the foil and it makes no difference which one I use. Should it be this tough? If not what could be wrong. I don't see any distortion in the foil.
Thanks,
Bill

[k1vsk]

Lots of friction develops as the bolt rope gets further up the foil and this is normal. Try using Sailcote or some similar lube spray but there will always be friction. What you describe sounds pretty common.

[Idiens]

On mine, most of the friction is at the sail entry point to the foil. It makes a big difference is someone is carefully feeding the sail to the foil while another hauls the halyard.

[Jeff_H]

I would check a couple things because it should not be that hard. i would start by making sure that you have the correct bolt ropes for the luff groove. My boat originally had a twin foil that used a different bolt rope than the Harken furler that replaced it. These bolt ropes had a lot of friction and would jamb easily. A good quality prefeeder is important. Otherwise the sail can get bunched up in the track or partialy jump the track if you don't have one and so offer a lot of friction. If you have been lubing the track, then you might need to clean the track. My last boat built up gunk in the track that really made using the foil a pain in the neck. Then there is the recommendation regarding Sailcote which only lasts so long.
Good luck,
Jeff

[KeelHaulin]

Don't forget that you are lifting the weight of the sail and as you hoist it the halyard force becomes greater due to both weight and track friction due to that weight.

Our heavy dacron jib is a beast to hoist because it weighs over 100 lbs. The lighter 125 Genoa is actually easier to raise because it weighs about 1/2 as much.

[Gene T]

I would hope a jib on a 30 foot boat isn't heavy. Most likely wrong size bolt rope, you shouldn't need to use lube at all, it should pull up easily.

[sailingfool]

You do want to check the tape size on the jib to make sure it is the correct size for the foil. Figuring out what size tape is on the jib and the groove size of the foil may may take some research.

On my CS36T I easily see the effects of friction on raising the jib. I apply McLube to the foil groves, mainsail track, and the luff tapes at the beginning of the season. I can then raise both the jib and main to full hoist by hand. By the middle of the season, raising either sail requires the use of a winch for the last third or so of hoist, although re-lubing the tape and slides helps some. So friction can have a big effect.