Mech Failure and HUGE issue!!! What to do?

[SiXeVeN]

I was solo sailing this weekend in moderate wind and seas. All and all it was a good day... that is until I went to furl my Genoa. I got about 2 twists in and the furling mech jams. I try to let it out and nothing.... Try again to furl it in nothing! It is locked solid!!! Here I am with a 150% genoa fully out and unable to be furled or dropped.

Since I couldn't leave the main sheet to go up front safely in the wind we were in, I put the head of the boat in the wind, dropped the main sail, and then backed the genoa and heaved to. I then dropped anchor. I now felt like I could safely go forward and work on the furling mech. Nope! With the Genny catching so much wind the anchor was worthless! I was drifting bad and if anything it was pulling me out of the heaved position and making things worse. So, I pulled up anchor and started drifting...and drifting...and drifting!!! Several nautical miles out into the Gulf of Mexico with the winds building and the waves building!!

It took me a solid hour and every ounce of physical strength to manually roll the genoa up. I have terrible bleeding blisters and strained muscles in my forearm but there were no other options. Honestly, if the wind would have been any stronger or if the sail had been any bigger I would not have been able to roll it in. I would have been SCREWED!!!!

BTW, I tried the outboard to move out of the strong wind... Useless! The bow of the boat was powerless against the sail. I fully released the sheets to try to eliminate any sail to catch in the wind but the genoa was so big that even its full lufting was driving the boat. I tried to gather the foot of the sail but seeing as the leech is 35 plus feet and I can reach up maybe 6-7 feet...It didn't help much and the upper part of the sail would catch wind and tear the lower section out of your hands.

I would love everyone's opinion on this. WHAT DO YOU DO IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE!!!??? Like I said, a little bigger boat or a little more wind I would have been in serious trouble! I don't even know what additional crew would have done. There is barely room between the bow pulpit for one person.

Surely someone has dealt with this before. What did you do??? In a bigger boat what COULD you do??? Any advice you be well recieved.

Thanks

[dougyoung]

I read an article about this. Reef the main and sail in circles, the same directions you want it to roll up. You may get dizzy, but I garuntee you will know how to tack and jibe by the time your're done. I would also replace the sheets with a shorter line to tie up when you are done.

[Tartan34C]

Drop the Genoa and then look at a fix or move the boat to her slip and then deal with it after dropping the sail at the first sign of trouble.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[bestfriend]

So it was furled a couple of times and releasing the halyard would not let it come down, is that right? What about releasing at the clew and wrapping the sail up?

[Tartan34C]

Originally Posted by dougyoung

I read an article about this. Reef the main and sail in circles, the same directions you want it to roll up. You may get dizzy, but I garuntee you will know how to tack and jibe by the time your're done. I would also replace the sheets with a shorter line to tie up when you are done.

Interesting thought but you need to fix the problem at some point. If you roll it up by sailing in circles you increase the chance of something else going wrong when the sail is half way in and now you can’t drop the sail. Also you need to unroll and drop the sail to make a permanent fix later so why take the chance of having the sail rolled up and being unable to spin the boat in her slip to drop it. I think the best thing is drop the sail as soon as you realize you have a problem. Don’t get caught using wishful thinking.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

Edit
I caught the part about the sail being fully out and missed the part about having two rolls already in. I would unroll those two rolls and then drop the sail. Trying to get more rolls in is just asking for trouble in my humble opinion. Turing the boat twice to unroll the sail and getting into a position to drop it is reasonable.

[sailingdog]

Sailing in circles to furl the genoa would work, but you'd have to untie the genny sheets for that to work IIRC.

It sounds like you had a halyard wrap and that it damaged the top section of the furler foil. This could prevent you from dropping the sail and probably prevent you from furling it as well.

What kind of anchor do you have?? I could probably set mine in those conditions and get it to hold... But some people at my marina laugh at how "oversized" the anchor I have is... to me, that means it is about the right size.

[SiXeVeN]

I couldn't drop the genoa. It is fixed to the forestay in a permanent fashion. There IS NO halyard. The entire luft is attached to the forestay by the furling mech... It cannot be lowered or detached!!

Turning slowly to take pressure off the sail is a thought, I tried to accomplish the task but I was solo and couldn't keep running back and forth between the bow and helm. That is where additional crew would have been helpful.

[SiXeVeN]

Anchor...

I have a large Chene (a modified Danforth) slip ring with 20' of heavy chain rode and a 12# kedge weight. In the wind I was in.... It proved WORTHLESS. First time I have had that setup not hold.

"a halyard wrap and that it damaged the top section of the furler foil" Hmmm sounds like my problem maybe.... Please explain further.

[Tartan34C]

OK, now I understand. Not a good situation to be and it might be worth getting different gear if you intend to sail solo under conditions other then just fair weather daysailing.

Your choices are limited and Doug’s idea is now sounding pretty good.
Good luck and all the best,
Robert Gainer

[sailingdog]

What kind of furling mechanism is it?? I've never heard of one that doesn't have a halyard of some sort. Even the ancient one I saw on the Laguna 30 I helped recommission last September had a halyard, but it was wire and ran along the foil.

They weren't suggesting that you sail the boat in circles to take pressure off the sail but to use it to furl the sail around the foil. That would just require you to detach the genny sheets and then sail the boat in circles slowly, and let the sail wrap the foil, much like a spinnaker can wrap the headstay. Then use a small line to tie the now furled genny in the furled position.