Catalac 8M Rotostay Furler

Rickm505

Rickm505

Active Member
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
54
Location
Florida (ICW), USA
www.catamaransite.com
Good morning from the other side of the pond!

My 1985 vintage rotostay furler on my Catalac 8M catamaran has jammed. I called my rigging guy and after he finished disassembling the drum unit, he informed me that the (lower) bearing has broken into pieces.

This is a thrust bearing which didn't look unique and I was able to locate an exact match in an online catalog. However after speaking to every large bearing distributor in the USA by phone on Friday, it's become clear that I'm unable to purchase a replacement bearing in the USA. It seems they are no longer manufactured.

I've sent an email to Ian Cochrane at Rotostay asking for advice, and am waiting for a response. However, it occurred to me that it's possible that one of the people on this board with a similar furler, might have faced the same problem.

Has anyone had to deal with this situation? The furler is in very good condition with this one exception. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Rick in Florida, USA
 
I have re-built mine twice. Easy job if you can get the spares. These are available from XW Rigging in Gosport UK.

If you are having trouble such that it has broken, suggest you have needed to strip this down earlier, and that you are not using a decent waterproofing grease. I use Quicksilvers general purpose with teflon, and that seems to be a good grease for this purpose.

Dont forget to take the top swilvel apart as well and re-grease.

Hardest part on redoing these systems is normally getting the aluminium foil away from the stainless fitting on the base of the swivel.

Are you a member of the Catalac Association?
 
On the Rotostay instruction sheet it advises moving the foil up and down a few times a season to keep it free but it is easy to forget to do it.

BTW, I have the original instruction sheet for the early Rotostay models D,E, & F [without halyard slider], if anyone wants a copy.
 
I confess... since purchasing the boat in July of last year, I have not lubricated the offending part. Before administrating the appropriate number of lashes, (grin).. I plead ignorance!! Seriously, I had no idea this was a maintenance item.

Sure enough, the bearing was completely 'dry'... no grease at all. It failed in 15 knot wind ( of course) and made it a very interesting job to furl the genoa.

Thank you for the link to XW rigging. I'll emal them and see if they can provide the bearing.

Although I'm aware of the Catalac group, I have not joined. It looks like a very nice organization which is active in the UK. I didn't see the point of joining when it appeared that I'm located on wrong continent!!

Grease choice noted, and thank you for the reply.

Fair winds

Rick in Florida, USA
 
You might be interested in joining:

Catalac Owners of America Association, Brian and Claudia Ellis, 60 Canterbury Court, Orange Park, Fl.32065. E mail is: littlekellyanne@hotmail.com.

The UK association would be delighted just to have details of current ownership as they try to maintain up-to date records.

The UK website also has a lot of hints and tips for Catalac owners.
 
I don't have a scanner so all I can do is send it by snail mail.

If you want to pm me with a mailing address [in confidence, of course] I'll gladly send you a copy next week.

Ditto : Talbot!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

T
Help Identifying Furler
Replies
1
Views
162
Stemar
Stemar

Share this page

Top