problemw with my old furling system

[gs35]

Hi guys
I recently bought a grand soleil 35 wich is 25 years old . The problem is that when i sail with wind above force 5 the upper swivel from my front furling system just falls upart , I loose all the ball bearings and all . It seems that one of the circlips opens by itself and the swivel falls upart . Does anybody have a clue for this problem . I forgot to tell you that it is an old HARKEN unit .

[ingasguns]

the groove that the clip sits in should be checked carefully. if it is not a very clean sharp edged definite square groove, it prob needs to be replaced.