Headstay failure... Need Furlex parts!

[wamcneil]

Hi All,
I recently had a headstay part at the upper swage fitting. My backstay adjuster went slack several times over a 6mo period and apparently the resulting loose headstay allowed the foil to sway around in the wind and fatigued the wire at the swage.
Ironically... this was the newest piece of wire on the boat!
The headsail was not on the foil, so the whole thing dropped to the deck and now I have a mess of bent luff extrusions. Othewise the Furlex is in great shape.
I'm not having much luck ordering new luff sections from the local dealer. Does anybody know a place that may have a stash of Furlex parts?
This is an older Type C Furlex about 15yr old. Headstay is 10mm (42' boat).
Thanks in advance!
Walter

[baboon]

When I needed parts for my out of production furler,this was the only place that had them, Rig-Rite Inc. - Masts, Booms, Spars, Rigging, and Hardware for Sailboats. In the end the cost of the parts was high enough it made more sense to replace the whole thing with a more up to date set up, but your situation may be different.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by wamcneil

Hi All,
I recently had a headstay part at the upper swage fitting. My backstay adjuster went slack several times over a 6mo period and apparently the resulting loose headstay allowed the foil to sway around in the wind and fatigued the wire at the swage.
Ironically... this was the newest piece of wire on the boat!
The headsail was not on the foil, so the whole thing dropped to the deck and now I have a mess of bent luff extrusions. Othewise the Furlex is in great shape.
I'm not having much luck ordering new luff sections from the local dealer. Does anybody know a place that may have a stash of Furlex parts?
This is an older Type C Furlex about 15yr old. Headstay is 10mm (42' boat).
Thanks in advance!
Walter

Sounds like somebody might have neglected to install the halyard restrainer.
Did you experience halyard wrap?
Furlex only sells through it's dealer network which is extensive. They really prefer to have their systems installed by one of their own dealers. Did you use a rigger to install the unit? Where did you buy it?
My first recommendation would be to buy the parts from the place you bought it. But if you have relocated, you can find a dealer list on their website.
The dealers can simply make a phone call and have the parts shipped or even drop shipped.

Seldén Mast AB

[wamcneil]

Originally Posted by knothead

Sounds like somebody might have neglected to install the halyard restrainer.
Did you experience halyard wrap?
Furlex only sells through it's dealer network which is extensive. They really prefer to have their systems installed by one of their own dealers. Did you use a rigger to install the unit? Where did you buy it?
My first recommendation would be to buy the parts from the place you bought it. But if you have relocated, you can find a dealer list on their website.
The dealers can simply make a phone call and have the parts shipped or even drop shipped.

Seldén Mast AB

The furler was on the boat when I bought it. It's got a halyard restrainer, on one of the jib halyards, but the angle fair even without it and I've never had any problems with wrap.
I replaced the luff wire and rebuilt/upgraded the lower swivel about 5yr ago. It's always been very smooth and given me no problems.
The failure is kind of a long story...
Over the last couple of years, the hydraulic backstay adjuster has failed and leaked down several times. I'm not down at the boat very often, so it could be slack for several weeks before I found the problem.
Winds are pretty strong and will make the headstay sway around a lot when it's slack, and this has caused the wire to fatigue at the swage.
I assumed that the masthead toggle would prevent this, but I was wrong...

[wamcneil]

Originally Posted by baboon

When I needed parts for my out of production furler,this was the only place that had them, Rig-Rite Inc. - Masts, Booms, Spars, Rigging, and Hardware for Sailboats. In the end the cost of the parts was high enough it made more sense to replace the whole thing with a more up to date set up, but your situation may be different.

Thanks, I'll give them a call in the morning and see if they can help!

[knothead]

Originally Posted by wamcneil

Thanks, I'll give them a call in the morning and see if they can help!

I'm sorry, when I read that the furler was one of the newest things on the boat, I guess I thought it was a new installation.

I still would recommend a dealer for the extrusions though. Unless you are looking for used parts.
Where is your boat?

[wamcneil]

The local dealer was the first place I turned. They've contacted Selden US, who did not have the extrusions, but they were supposed to get with the European offices. But nobody will get back to them. So, I'm not having much luck with dealers.
Yesterday I logged a message on the selden website, so I'll see if somebody gets back to me.
I bet there's a dealer somewhere that has a stack of the extrusion tucked away in a corner ...

[knothead]

Originally Posted by wamcneil

The local dealer was the first place I turned. They've contacted Selden US, who did not have the extrusions, but they were supposed to get with the European offices. But nobody will get back to them. So, I'm not having much luck with dealers.
Yesterday I logged a message on the selden website, so I'll see if somebody gets back to me.
I bet there's a dealer somewhere that has a stack of the extrusion tucked away in a corner ...

What system do you have and how many extrusions do you need? Are the connectors reusable?

[wamcneil]

It's a Furlex "Type C", circa 1995.
I need three 2.4m sections, or equivalent. The extrusions are/were also available in 1m and 2m lengths.
Also need 3 or 4 connectors, more if I wind up with shorter luff sections. Several of mine are also bent, but I might be able to straighten them in a pinch. I'd prefer to replace them, but they're a pretty thick extrusion and look like they will probably straighten fairly well.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by wamcneil

It's a Furlex "Type C", circa 1995.
I need three 2.4m sections, or equivalent. The extrusions are/were also available in 1m and 2m lengths.
Also need 3 or 4 connectors, more if I wind up with shorter luff sections. Several of mine are also bent, but I might be able to straighten them in a pinch. I'd prefer to replace them, but they're a pretty thick extrusion and look like they will probably straighten fairly well.

I can help you out. I'll send you a PM with the details.