Fitting a Sail - Furling Jib

[Baddox]

Another noob question…

Attaching our jib entails feeding it into the slot in the foil via a feeder gate about four feet above the furling drum. Should the jib be slotted into the foil below the foil’s feeder gate as well?

We have a Selden furlex system on our boat. Looking at the user manual (desperate times and all that) I see that the sail’s tack should be attached to the lower furling swivel so that when the sail is furled, the sail wraps around the foil but the tack doesn’t for the first turn. This is designed to put less bulk onto the spar and form a better sail shape. The previous owner had the sail running from the feeder gate all the way up the foil, but also it was loaded into the foil slot below the gate too, which to me negates the benefit of the swivel system.

Page 38 here has more details
http://sailing.mit.edu/wikiupload/0/0b/Furlex_200S_Furler.pdf

 

[duncan99210]

The feeder is there to help you get the sail into the slot on the furler. Once hoisted, you'll find that it drops off the bottom of the luff, as the wire ends above the tack. You the tuck the feeder into the slot for it on the drum.

 

[MoodySabre]

The section from the feeder downwards is not in the groove.

 

[Baddox]

OK, I follow that bit now about the pre-feeder device, thanks. Mine has a feeder permanently installed about four feet above the furling drum, and is supposed to come with the pre-feeder you mention that is removed once the sail is in position.

My main query though is should the sail be in the foil’s slot below the feeder gate as well as above it? The instructions seem to suggest that the sail isn’t in the slot below the gate, but as it’s four feet up the foil it seems a lot to leave loose.

 

[Baddox]

The section from the feeder downwards is not in the groove.

Thanks Moody Sabre, that's what I understood from the instructions but the previous owner had loaded the sail into the slot above and below the feeder. I've refitted it today, as you indicated and wanted to check I’ve done it properly.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Thanks Moody Sabre, that's what I understood from the instructions but the previous owner had loaded the sail into the slot above and below the feeder. I've refitted it today, as you indicated and wanted to check I’ve done it properly.

I always drop the bottom part back into the slot, as I've had issues with the sail starting to pull out of the groove just above the cut-out, and my jib tacks down direct to the furling drum

 

[MoodySabre]

my jib tacks down direct to the furling drum

So does mine. Never pulled out of the groove yet.

 

[maby]

Now you have me very surprised - it would never have occurred to me to not fit the sail into the foil along its full length, but you are correct in that the instructions you reference do not show it that way. Beneteau supplied the boat with the sail threaded in both above and below the gate and I have simply kept it like that ever since.

 

[johnalison]

I always thread mine into the feeding section a few feet up, as described above, leaving the lower part free. I've not had any problems with the sail pulling out at this point and am grateful for having the least friction possible, raising the sail about halfway by hand. Somewhere down below I've probably still got the object that looks like a small Bronze Age torc which you can tie near the lower feeding point so that the sail will self feed - allegedly, because it has never worked for me.

 

[Martin_J]

We have a Selden furlex system on our boat. Looking at the user manual (desperate times and all that) I see that the sail’s tack should be attached to the lower furling swivel so that when the sail is furled, the sail wraps around the foil but the tack doesn’t for the first turn. This is designed to put less bulk onto the spar and form a better sail shape.

Baddox - You have read the part in the manual that most people miss! P.36 states that before attaching the tack of the sail - "Turn the tack ring counter-clockwise if the furling line exits on the port side of the drum, or clockwise if it exits on the starboard side. "

Most people just attach the tack to the tack ring (on the swivel) in whichever way it fell..

System works if you don't check but as you say, they miss on the advantage of the luff being rolled by just less than a full turn before the foot of the sail is rolled around the drum.

(As to the feeder being about four feet up - sounds like a long way and prone to luff coming out of the slot if the halyard tension is not sufficient ... so you'd not lose by feeding it back into the slot below the feeder.)