[WeedySeaDragon]

I think I screwed my furler in yesterdays strong winds. I partially unfurled it, sailed a bit, then furled it back up when it had some tension in the sail (not flogging).

Anyone with any experience of this type of furler and problem?

The furler is resisting turning as though it has a spring in it and very noisy. See

Here is a pic of what's inside through 1cm hole in drum. The image looks as though there are wires spiralling up over the forestay, wound in the opposite direction.

I would be guessing that I've messed these up by furling the sail whilst the furler was not straight (due to strong winds on partially furled sail under pressure).

Any thoughts?

 

[Gladrags1]

Wonder if that is a ring cotter that is unwound. Can you slide the drum up to see what's inside?

Tod


Mandolin, Bayfield 36 sailing out of Rock Creek.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[smj]

Appears a few of the wires from the forestay have broken at the swage fitting?

 

[Gladrags1]

I was wondering that myself. If that is the case, you cannot sail the boat until repaired or you may lose your mast. Just in case, take a spinnaker halyard and attach it to a fitting in the bow and tension it to support the mast until you can check it out and make repairs. If you don't have a spinnaker halyard, lower the jib, use the jib halyard.

Tod


Mandolin, Bayfield 36 sailing out of Rock Creek.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WeedySeaDragon]

You may be right smj (and gladrags1); it does look suspiciously like that, doesn't it. That would also explain the 'spring-like' effect if a couple of strands have come loose and have become wound loosely between forestay and furler.

Looks like I'll be replacing the standing rigging.

Thanks Gladrags - will do.

 

[Group9]

That what scares me about my roller furling and not being able to see the condition of the stay underneath it. At least you know.

 

[killarney_sailor]

I don't think you need to worry about the forestay breaking at the dock, there are still lots of wires that are ok. You can replace your standing rigging at the dock, piece by piece but it might be a good idea to take the mast down and check everything if it has not been down for some time.

 

[Delta-T]

Did you look to see if you have halyard rap?

 

[christian.hess]

that is a very very RUSTY forestay that has been "unwound" slightly...there are a couple of wires that have snapped...they are probably adding to the noise you feel and if unwound enough might be what the resistance is about

also to note is its swaged and not mechanical like most furlers recomend these days

get a new one made with prefferably a mechanical terminal in the lower connection, a toggle too, so that you can always be able to access and check the conditions of the wires on the bottom which is the one that takes the most abuse

stays unwinding are common failure points on furlers the reason being its very easy to really twist and warp the forestay a lot with a badly maintained furler that and unfurling a jammed sail is almost always the best way to snap wires...and unlay a forestay

good luck

 

[desert rat]

I found the correct term but only 1/8 in "rotational resistant" wire rope. You could ask someone with more experience if it would have any applications for a forstay.

 

[WeedySeaDragon]

Thanks everyone. Spin and jib halyards backing up forestay now. Don't tell anyone, but the standing rigging is 30 years old! (I've only had her 18 months) Time to spend a few b.o.a.t. dollars on replacing that.

And yes, I will take the mast down at the same time, repaint it, fix the masthead light and wind instrument, replace the lights with LEDs, rerun the cables and stop them from clanking inside the mast! Seems I won't be sailing for a little while.

 

[Ritchard]

If you're starting a campaign of replacing the standing rigging, you might consider doing it with superline instead of wire rope - except perhaps your forestay. I plan to make this change over the next couple of seasons, my wire rope is getting pretty long in the tooth. Lots of info on this on the Colligo marine website. Colligo Marine - Rigging reduced to its elegant essentials. - Colligo Marine - Synthetic Rigging

 

[WeedySeaDragon]

Thanks Ritchard. I looked into it but decided to stay with wire. I'll finish my blog post on the re-rig and post it here. Managed to get keep the old furler (thank goodness - that would have added quite an expense).

 

[celenoglu]

The angle between the halyard and the forestay should be more than 7 degrees, otherwise the halyard wounds around the forestay and the forestay breaks after some time. You should attach a block to increase this angle and replace the forestay.

 

[WeedySeaDragon]

Thanks celenoglu but I'm not sure that's the case with my old school setup. I think with this old furler the halyard is integral to the furler head and returns back down the furler extrusion and is secured to the body of the furler; so it rotates with the furler.

Here's the link to my write up of the re-rig fwiw: The Big Re-rig: Part 2 | Adventures in Bob