In-mast furling noise

[turbulicity]

It has been just over a week since I pulled my new boat in the marina. It has hood in-mast furling. The prevailing wind is from astern and the mast is making quite a noise. As expected, today I was notified that the neighbors are complaining.

I believe there are a couple of ways to remedy this howling noise.

1. Hauling up a sailcloth strip (called flute stopper) through the slot
2. Chafing strips added to the edges of the slot (this one I learned from Don Casey at: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...ing-masts.html )

I can't find any more information about these methods other than what they are called. Could anyone who has one of these post a few pictures or a better description? Would be great to find out makers of such "chafe strips". I think I could make the "flute stopper" myself if I knew what it looked like.

Thanks

[Pamlicotraveler]

I don't know how to fix it, but I have heard some Benetau's with this problem in a major way. And I mean BRAND new boats. It sounds like a motor is running, but if you put your ear to the mast you could tell it was something in the mast.

[turbulicity]

Yep, it can get pretty loud. The wind recirculating in that sail cavity is the culprit. I will try furling the sail loosely and/or slackening the halyard but I don't think these will completely get rid of the noise.

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by turbulicity

.. I will try furling the sail loosely and/or slackening the halyard but I don't think these will completely get rid of the noise.

in my use of in-mast furling, I have understood these as being opportunities to jam the sail...

[turbulicity]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

in my use of in-mast furling, I have understood these as being opportunities to jam the sail...

I am worried about that, but it will take some time for me to get a "flute stopper" or that other thing made. I don't want to be known as "that guy with the annoyingly noisy boat" around the marina. My first bet is to turn the boat around so she faces the wind most of the time. Maybe that will do for a while.

[poopdeckpappy]

Our other boat is a 45CC with Seldon in-mast; had a problem with a loud vibrating hum in high winds, I wrapped a sail tie off our tayana around the boom and outhaul on the 45CC and solved the noise issue.

Took a while to pin point exactly where it was coming from cause it sounded like the whole rig was humming

[Liquorice]

As a temporary measure, can't you turn the boat around so the prevailing wind comes in from the bow?
sam :-)

[Liquorice]

Ignore my last comment, I've just reread your last comment - Duh!!!

[Minnewaska]

Our rig will hum like a tuning fork in high winds if the main sheet has been cranked down on the boom. Typically, before furling back in, the main sheet is tensioned to pull the boom to the center, but becomes much too tight once the main is furled. It's bizarre, but all we need to do is relieve the tension by unlocking then relocking the clutch, which lets maybe 2 inches of line through and the boom has a little bit of play side to side.

Yours may not be this simple, but thought I would pass it along, just in case its as simple.

[turbulicity]

Just turned the boat around and also slackened the mainsheet a little as Minnewaska suggested. I don't know if these will do the trick as there wasn't much wind to make noise anyway today.

I don't quite understand what the boom has to do with the noise though. The sail cavity in the mast is the source of the noise. But I have seen suggestions before about lifting the boom a little and so forth. Maybe these are changing the natural frequency of the whole setup somehow so the resonance doesn't happen at that particular wind speed anymore. When the wind speed changes, the noise should come back at some point.

Back to the original questions, can anybody who has a "flute stopper" cloth post some pictures?

Thanks a lot for all the help.