STATUE
Well-Known Member
My furling headgear will unfurl only half the genoa in anything above a 3. In light winds it will unfurl. Does my forestay need tightening? All new rigging two years ago, none of it has been adjusted since installation.
Furling won't unfurl !
- Thread starter STATUE
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maby
Well-Known Member
What happens? Does it jam? The most common reason for problems unfurling a roller reefed genoa is that the halyard tension is too low. You'll usually have some form of rotating drum attachment on the forestay at the top of the genoa that allows the sail to rotate around the stay while the halyard stays still. If there isn't enough tension on the halyard (and, perhaps, the drum needs cleaning and a bit of lubrication) then the halyard can end up being taken round with the sail and wrapping round the forestay...
Also make sure that the run of the furling line into the lower furling drum is fair - ours has a tendency to catch in the casing round the furling drum.
Also make sure that the run of the furling line into the lower furling drum is fair - ours has a tendency to catch in the casing round the furling drum.
MoodySabre
Well-Known Member
Another vote for halyard tension causing halyard wrap. The ball bearings in the top swivel of mine had started to disintegrate and that increased the chance of wrap as the swivel didn't swivel very easily.
Can you control the speed of the unfurl by letting out the furling line slowly. That might help.
Can you control the speed of the unfurl by letting out the furling line slowly. That might help.
nigel1
Well-Known Member
+1 for halyard tension, although a saggy forestay wont help, How does the forestay line look when under sail, it will have a bit of sag but, but should not be much.
Also the lead of the halyard from head sheave to the top swivel of the furling gear (the one above the head of the sail) If the halyard lead is close to parallel to the forestay, that will liken the chance of a halyard wrap.
Drop the head sail, flush out the swivel with plenty of fresh water, check that it rotates freely.
Re hoist sail with good tension on the halyard, try unfurling and see how it goes.
Also the lead of the halyard from head sheave to the top swivel of the furling gear (the one above the head of the sail) If the halyard lead is close to parallel to the forestay, that will liken the chance of a halyard wrap.
Drop the head sail, flush out the swivel with plenty of fresh water, check that it rotates freely.
Re hoist sail with good tension on the halyard, try unfurling and see how it goes.
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
Although, unless you have had a ninety-degree knockdown (and you would have noticed
), that is one place that should not get salt-encrusted!Mike.
maby
Well-Known Member
Although, unless you have had a ninety-degree knockdown (and you would have noticed
Mike.
He doesn't say how old the boat is - ten years of sailing could have been enough to get plenty of spray up there...
cid
Well-Known Member
furling
I have just had a problem with my Plastimo gear.Out of the blue the haylard fitting stuck.I applied more haylard and bang went the fitting,sail was 98% rolled up.Thanks to some good posts and an email to Stuart at Plastimo I got a clear picture of the Problem. I dropped the head sail a few days later and took it off. I then with the aid of a light rope attached to the handle of a small paint roller and the spinny haylard managed to haul it up and engage the jib haylard and pull it and the rest of the fitting to the deck.I then flushed and cleaned it and after relubricating attached the sail and hauled it back up.All is now well.My advice is to take it down and check it out.Make sure that the foil is also rotating around the stay.I have seen a boat were this was not happening and the forestay snapped at the upper end while sailing off Strangford Lough.Good Luck.
I have just had a problem with my Plastimo gear.Out of the blue the haylard fitting stuck.I applied more haylard and bang went the fitting,sail was 98% rolled up.Thanks to some good posts and an email to Stuart at Plastimo I got a clear picture of the Problem. I dropped the head sail a few days later and took it off. I then with the aid of a light rope attached to the handle of a small paint roller and the spinny haylard managed to haul it up and engage the jib haylard and pull it and the rest of the fitting to the deck.I then flushed and cleaned it and after relubricating attached the sail and hauled it back up.All is now well.My advice is to take it down and check it out.Make sure that the foil is also rotating around the stay.I have seen a boat were this was not happening and the forestay snapped at the upper end while sailing off Strangford Lough.Good Luck.
Cantata
Well-Known Member
Since nobody's mentioned it yet...it's entirely possible to have the furling line jam itself on the drum. Worth checking.
Strathglass
Well-Known Member
Although, unless you have had a ninety-degree knockdown (and you would have noticed
Mike.
You don't have to have a ninty-degree knockdown to get the upper ball bearings salt-encrusted.
Last season mine seized up enough to prevent the genoa from unfurling while out on the North Sea. I did not know at the time what the problem was.
Salt got in the swivel bearings when storm-bound in various harbours on the Scottish East coast and the Moray Firth.
It had been fully washed out with fresh water at the beginning of the season and was only two years old. (Plastimo 1012T)
The water coming over the harbour walls was often higher than the yacht's 48ft mast.
I made it worse when in my haste to repair it (I did not have the manual with me).
I decided to strip it down to find the problem then proceeded to drop about 30% of the delrin balls from the swivel into the water at Lossiemouth marina.
I did manage to get it running freely enough to get back home by temporary adding spacers made from cable joining crimp terminals.
The new delrin balls retail at about £1 each and I had to replace 50 of them.
Whatever the OP decides to do he MUST try washing both the furling drum and top swivel out in fresh water to see if that frees it prior to stripping it down.
If that does not work and it has to be stripped there MUST have some form of inverted umbrella to catch any balls which may and will try to escape.
I am afraid I have been there done that.
Iain
maby
Well-Known Member
Most certainly - it's happened to us more than once. It does tend to be fairly obvious when it happens so, given that the OP was asking for advice, I tended to assume that it was not the problem.
VicS
Well-Known Member
Unless it jams the drum, ie prevents it rotating, it is not a problem when unfurling the sail.
If the turns lock together on the drum ( they will if you use a 3 strand rope) it prevents you furling the sail
STATUE
Well-Known Member
Furling won't unfurl - Thanks Everyone
Thank you everyone - how brilliant a 'forum' is to get such expert advice.
I will definitely get on board tomorrow and tighten that halyard, although I have not suffered wrap yet.
Thanks Again
Thank you everyone - how brilliant a 'forum' is to get such expert advice.
I will definitely get on board tomorrow and tighten that halyard, although I have not suffered wrap yet.
Thanks Again
nigel1
Well-Known Member
VicS
Well-Known Member
If you are sure the halyard is not wrapping around the forestay then a slack halyard is probably not the trouble.
Your halyard should be held away by one form of halyard diverter or another anyway so that it cannot wrap.
Check your forestay tension if you have any doubts about it, regardless of whether or not is is related to the unfurling problem. If it is slack your sail will set like an old maid's bloomers!
Drop the sail and check the swivel as advised before re-tensioning the halyard.
STATUE
Well-Known Member
Foresail Furling - Sheets tight or loose?
Expert forum contributors have sorted my furling jamming problems, but when furled, should the foresail sheets be winched home tight or left loose?
Expert forum contributors have sorted my furling jamming problems, but when furled, should the foresail sheets be winched home tight or left loose?
maby
Well-Known Member
Don't winch them tight, but try to get it all set up so that there are enough turns on the furling drum that you can get a couple of turns of the sheets round the furled genoa to help keep it tight if the wind gets up. Just take up the tension on the sheets after you've pulled in the furling line and lock it all off.
chewi
Well-Known Member
Forestay tension should be enough not to let the foil sag, which keeps the genoa in shape.
In higher winds if the foil sags you are asking the wind to straighten and turn the foil to rotate it, all against whatever drum resistance there may be. In light winds the balance shifts, so it works OK, but in higher winds one overcomes the other.
High halyard tension can worsen the situation by stiffening the bearings, adding to drum resistance. but it's mostly the forestay tension that keeps the genoa shape, not the halyard tension.
So a loose forestay and tight halyard is the worst case.
In higher winds if the foil sags you are asking the wind to straighten and turn the foil to rotate it, all against whatever drum resistance there may be. In light winds the balance shifts, so it works OK, but in higher winds one overcomes the other.
High halyard tension can worsen the situation by stiffening the bearings, adding to drum resistance. but it's mostly the forestay tension that keeps the genoa shape, not the halyard tension.
So a loose forestay and tight halyard is the worst case.
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
As Chewi points out, the most common cause of excessive friction when both rolling and unrolling is excessive halyard tension putting heavy loads on the bearings. So, first slacken the halyard to see if that improves the unrolling.
If that doesn't work, only then start to suspect other causes
If that doesn't work, only then start to suspect other causes
Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
Although now you seem sorted, I had one problem which occurred just going into Cherbourg at night a few years ago. The furler just would not roll up passed halfway.
Luckily Cherbourg entrance has an enormous long and high wall to hide behind before entering the harbour.
With headtorch on I found a real mess of a riding turn. I managed to thread the sheet back into the tangle to get some loose turns and eventually managed to get it all free.
I discovered that the last of the sheet sheeves and guide attached to the stanchion, had dropped and so the sheet wasn't guided into the centre of the drum.
At sea when the headsail is furled, I tend to put an extra turn onto the furler and so wrap the headsail with a turn of sheets.
I then pull then fairly tight onto the winch and make them off onto a cleat.
I find that this gives another handhold to help get for'ard safely.
