[theonecalledtom]

I'm planning on swapping my roller furling headstay (Harken Mk IV on a Beneteau 36.7) for a tuff luff that I've have rolled up in my garage since I bought the boat.

Can I store the roller furler setup in the same manner - just roll it up in a circle with about a 7 ft diameter?

 

[Faster]

No.. the Harken furler's foil is a series of interconnected rigid segments. Assuming this isn't a temporary measure you'll need to break the foil down.

For temporary storage laying the whole works out flat works best, but it takes a lot of space obviously.

 

[theonecalledtom]

Crap. Thanks!

 

[svHyLyte]

I'm planning on swapping my roller furling headstay (Harken Mk IV on a Beneteau 36.7) for a tuff luff that I've have rolled up in my garage since I bought the boat.

Can I store the roller furler setup in the same manner - just roll it up in a circle with about a 7 ft diameter?

Why wouldn't you simply remove the drum and use the harken foil as you would the tuff-luff? It will work fine without the drum.

 

[Faster]

Why wouldn't you simply remove the drum and use the harken foil as you would the tuff-luff? It will work fine without the drum.

This is true if it's a split drum (I think most are) but you're left with the swivel sitting at the bottom of the foil all the time.. a deck-tacked headsail has to 'go around' that obstruction.

Of course he could disconnect and remove the swivel too, I suppose....

 

[DonScribner]

This is for others that might coming looking: I use PVC pipe hangers on my floor joists, the big ones. I have to curve my Flexible Furler in a wide arc in order to fit.

 

[theonecalledtom]

Why wouldn't you simply remove the drum and use the harken foil as you would the tuff-luff? It will work fine without the drum.

That's what I've been doing but the groove on the furler is pretty tight and sails should go up / down much easier with the tuff-luff.

 

[theonecalledtom]

This is true if it's a split drum (I think most are) but you're left with the swivel sitting at the bottom of the foil all the time.. a deck-tacked headsail has to 'go around' that obstruction.

Of course he could disconnect and remove the swivel too, I suppose....

I do remove the lower swivel, and drop the upper one below the feed, but as mentioned above the main aim is for faster hoists and drops.

 

[svHyLyte]

I do remove the lower swivel, and drop the upper one below the feed, but as mentioned above the main aim is for faster hoists and drops.

Tom--

You might find that cleaning the luff slot and having a good coating of SailKote on your luff tape solves, or at least materially improves, the performance of the Harken foil without loosing its utility. As for cleaning/lubricating the foil itself, that can be done with short lengths of luff tape with the flaps sewn over matching lengths of open cell foam padding with grommets through the flaps on each end. These can be attached to one's halyard and a down haul. Soaking one in a mild cleaning solution--leaving it sopping wet-- and then hoisting it up and down the foil a couple of times will help clean the slot. Likewise, after allowing the foil to dry, applying a good dose of SailKote to a second foil pad will allow you apply a faily good coating of the material to the slot. With that, and a good coating of SailKote on your sails' luff tapes, you'll be surprised at how easily they can be raised and lowered, the ease governed only by how much friction you have in your halyard system.

FWIW...

 

[Faster]

Great idea, Hylyte, in addition it could be that one or more of the foil sections isn't perfectly aligned, or perhaps the spinn pole smacked it a time of two and 'pinched off' the slot a bit causing extra drag and resistance.

Does seem a shame to give up the furling option for cruising by going to a tuffluff.

 

[svHyLyte]

Great idea, Hylyte, in addition it could be that one or more of the foil sections isn't perfectly aligned, or perhaps the spinn pole smacked it a time of two and 'pinched off' the slot a bit causing extra drag and resistance.

Does seem a shame to give up the furling option for cruising by going to a tuffluff.

It occurred to me that the foil slot might be pinched at some point after I penned up my earlier comment. If so, the foil cleaning/lubricating pads mentioned earlier will help track down the location of the problem as (for example in our case) they are only about 12 inches long and will only "hang-up" at a point of damage which is much more discernible without the weight/friction of the luff of the entire sail as it's hoisted. If so, the necessary repair can be effected which will improve sail management overall and eliminate unnecessary wear/damage to his sails' luff tapes.

Also, unless he's already using one, a luff roller-prefeeder that pulls the luff tape into position below the slot feeder itself, such as the following:

Can make a real difference with the ease of raising a headsail.

FWIW...

 

[Faster]

The feeder is almost essential esp if you don't have a bowman helping things along.. but I like to see the luff tape cut off near the tack so that the feeder is released once hoisted.. otherwise it can interfere a bit with the drop/removal.

 

[theonecalledtom]

Does seem a shame to give up the furling option for cruising by going to a tuffluff.

Agreed!

I've used sailkote but haven't actually cleaned the track, guess I can try this this week before swapping out.

As for spin pole hitting the forestay that never happens on Kraken, oh, wait, my nose just grew a little longer.... Having said that I feel like the roller furler on my last boat also felt a bit stiff in the same way as this one does in comparison with hoists I've made on boats with dedicated racing foils.

Cleaning first, might get a feel for any snags I guess while doing this.

If I do still decide to drop the furler can I just remove hardware at top of bottom and remove the hard sections one at a time?

 

[Faster]

.......
If I do still decide to drop the furler can I just remove hardware at top of bottom and remove the hard sections one at a time?

This might help..

http://www.harken.com/uploadedfiles/Product_Support/PDF/4417.pdf

The foil sections are one piece and the forestay wire has to be pulled out. So the forestay has to be disconnected.. I guess it will also depend on the size of the fitting/swage for the turnbuckle whether or not it will pass though the foil sections or if it will need to be cut.

 

[miatapaul]

If I do still decide to drop the furler can I just remove hardware at top of bottom and remove the hard sections one at a time?

What are the chances that they will come apart easy enough to do it on the boat like that in salvageable condition? The easiest way is going to be to pull the stick and do it on the ground, soaking well with Kroil.