Furling System Ugh!!!!

[nauticalrich]

Help! I am at a loss. For the second time this year I am unable to unroll my jib. It looks as if the top portion of the furling system, the swivel that the sail is pulled up on is where the problem occurs. The bottom Furler seems to be free and ok.
Of course I can''t check it at the top, however, each time I lowered it the swivel seems to be ok and free. The forstay which is part of the furling system also swivels ok. In otherwords, everything looks ok. Looking through binoculars I can''t see anything that it is getting caught on.
This is a furlex system on a 25 ft boat.

Any clues. I tried tightening the halayard and then making it loser. No results.
You can see the halard twisting around on the top. It looks like the sail also got twisted at the top.

What the*#*#*# is going on?

[clayton]

Two things come to mind. First, does your jib head go up close to the mast ? If the luft is too short you are getting halyard wrap. To fix the problem add a length of pennant to the bottom at the tack so that you can raise the jib higher. Second, check that the angle of the jib halyard to the mast is correct. If the halyard is too close to the reefing foil you could get wrap.
Good Luck

[capnjim02]

I also have a furlex on my O''day 30. One thing that must be adheared to is the angle of halyard exit to the swivel. I believe its a minimum of 10 degrees. there is a halyard lead that needs to be installed on the mast to give the correct angle. If Its not the correct angle you will have a constant problem of furling and unfurling. I had a constant problem with mine until I installed the halyard guide. You might try to get info from the selden mast site.

[RichH]

Top swivel is probably not at the very top of the foil.

Firstly be sure that the top swivel is at the very **top** of the foil.... you may have to add a pennant of wire or line at the head or tack of the sail to insure that the top swivel is at the **top** of the foil.

Easy trial solution: raise the genoa ***with the tack free / unconnected***. Measure the distance between the bottom swivel connection and the tack of the sail. Make a pennant of nonstsretchable wire or hi tech rope (but LESS 1 or 2 inches of the distance that you measured when the tack and swivel were unconnected) and connect it BETWEEN the bottom swivel and the tack. See if this doenst free the system..... if it does, put the pennant at the head of the sail and enjoy. Just remember that the swivel should be almost "all the way UP on the foil" ... with about 1" (or less) clearance when the halyard is tightened with HEAVY tension.

If this doesnt correct the problem, go back to the instructions and look up the correct "lead angle" .... the minimum angle that the halyard MUST make with the top swivel to prevent wrapping when the top swivel turns. If the lead angle is too small (when the top swivel is at the very top of the foil) you will need a ''diverter'' block mounted just below the halyard sheeve to increase the necessary lead angle that the halyard makes with the swivel.

Hope this helps.

[fer@fer]

Hi nauticalrich,

Besides the suggestions of our colleagues, you should also consider the following:

a. Halyard tension. You never need too much tension.

b. If you apply tension to the backstay, you also are providing additional tension to the halyard. This might be too much tension for the upper swivel.

If you do see the halyar wrapped up there, you can confirm after you lowered the jib wether this halyard need to be replaced or shortened. You shoul also check after a halyard wrap wether the forestay has been hurt too. This will depend on the lenght of your head foil.

Regards Fernando

[bsfree]

This is''nt what you want to hear but you might consider buying a "ReeFurl" system. I did and it works great. No swivel at the top, and fool proof in operation. No, I don''t sell them, but the guy that does (also the inventor) is real nice and knows what he''s talking about. For a boat your size it is really quite cheap, I have a 35'' and it cost me $1200.00, not bad considering the competition. Anyway, good luck.