Damaged joints on headsail furler when taking down rig ?

[castaway]

I have twice had to take down my mast in the last 2 years and also had to detach the forestay mid season to sort out a problem with my furler drum.

I was a bit bothered by the amount of stress that the joints in the foil appeared to be suffering as soon as the tension was taken off the forestay. This was due the the weight of the foil trying 'sag'... But rather than the foil sections themselves bending all the 'bend' appears to take place at the joints.

This looks as though it has the potential to distort the ends of the foil sections where the joining pieces are.

Am I the only person who is worried about this.?. I can't remember ever having seen a post on this subject.

BTW my furler is an old Colnbrook system...a bit knackered but still just about working, on a 40ft forestay.

Thanks Nick

 

[seaesta]

I share your worries. I put in a new forestay and had to get the sections of my Profurl apart to do so. It seems that its just one of those things you have to shrug your shoulders and hope for the best.
One tip I could offer is in separating the sections single handed. I found that a good tight rolling hitch combined with a judicious use of duct tape allowed me to secure the end of each section to the pulpit to I could use two hands and all my strength to pull the sections apart.
cheers
Martin

 

[matelot]

Looking at my old Furlex and the wear at the top and the joints, its clear that the extrusion is a consumable - albeit lasting some few years. Its not a "forever".

 

[castaway]

One of the problems at our yard is that they are 'reluctant' to have owners hanging around when they are launching or re stepping masts etc....Where as when I am attending to this myself I can see the damage that could be caused due to unsympathetic handling !

I was thinking about reinforcing the joints with suitable sized plastic pipe/ jubillee clips... only thing is getting it off once the mast is up....

Nick

 

[damo]

[ QUOTE ]
One of the problems at our yard is that they are 'reluctant' to have owners hanging around when they are launching or re stepping masts etc

[/ QUOTE ]

Opposite for us - we prefer to have the owner around to manoeuver the boat on and off the dock, and to deal with the stays when striking/stepping the mast. That way there is less likely to be any complaint - especially as wires and foils can take on a life of their own. It would be good if they kept out from under our feet when chocking the boat though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

There have been some "litigous" owners in the past where we have insisted they are present, after previous false damage claims /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[spinny]

Normally the Genoa furling foil is not as flexible as you are saying.
I think it might be one of two things.
The first - which is less likely but possible as I have seen this myself whilst stripping a furling system. It may have been assembled wrong in the first place. The rigid reinforcing pieces that should be bridging the gap between different extusions may have been assembled in such a way that they are further up or down inside the extrusion, and it is infact the flexible wire insulator that is bridging the gap.
Second - which is more likely. The rigid re-inforcing pieces may have just sheared in half over time. It is a very time consuming job to sort this out. You will have to first remove the wire, then try and remove the two broken halves of bridging pieces from inside the foils, by gently cutting along the inside wall using a hacksaw blade. When removed you can hopefully get a replacement re-inforcing joining piece from the manufacturer. However you may have to improvise. I have used an anodised aluminium section cut off a hospital crutch in the past, and once riveted in place it worked a treat.
Make sure it is anodised. Ordinary aluminium tubing from say B&Q won't do.