Genoa furling advice

[nimrod1230]

A couple of questions. Being rather lazy, I hoist the furling genoa at the start of the season and more or less leave it to it's own devices till seasons end. Having had a new genoa last year and new Rotostay this year things are not going as smoothly as expected. Question, how much tension should I exert on the halyard. This seasons experience suggests not bar tight or furling becomes a struggle but how much is enough? The other annoyance has first been getting the lead to the drum just right for the line to wind evenly only to find the slightest motion can dislodge the coils on the drum causing jams! The solution has been to keep tension on the furling line. How do you folks get on as I see other boats genoas disappear like well lubricated roller blinds while I struggle to roll away in a series of steps?

 

[sailorman]

i have a Harken Furling system with a Tri-radial, laminated genoa.

the tension is released from the halliard every time prior to the final furl of the day, never left tensioned up.

the luff is adjusted for tension as i sail as is the back stay , to suit current conditions @ the time & all the time ( up & down like a Whores Drawers ).

really depends if you sail a moggi 1000 or a Lotus 7 /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[eclipsemullet]

The headsail should be hoisted just enough to remove any wrinkles in the luff. Any more is unnecessary. At the start of the season, hoist it and then take up on the halyard after a few sails if wrinkles start to appear.

You are right about keeping tension on the furling line at all times. Resisit the temptation to let the sail pull itself out too quickly; pay the furling line out smoothly and keep some tension in the sail by using one of the sheets for the final few turns of the drum when furling it away.

 

[Lakesailor]

[ QUOTE ]
roll away in a series of steps?

[/ QUOTE ] Are you sure it's not the halyard wrapping and letting go around the furling gear as you furl.
There was a thread about halyard ofset at the mast head just recently.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Boating with rags or sailing?

No such thing as an ideal halyard tension for all conditions. Adjust it for your breeze and point of sail. It's the primary control over draft in the headsail. Back it off to just-slack before furling.

I used to have wrap problems with the furler, solved by replacing it with a non-stretch Dyneema line and, yes, keep some tension on it when unfurling.

 

[nimrod1230]

Not a moggi 1000, a fat Moody. I will never be disciplined enough to adjust every trip but will take a little more trouble to adjust to conditions. The halyard has an anti wrap system, the steps are me stopping for breath! Some good ideas, Thanks.

 

[Talbot]

If the rotostay is tight, it may not be halyard tension that is the main culprit. Mine gets hard when I have too much tension on the backstays.

 

[Lakesailor]

I know the problem. I find mine getting hard when she has so much backstay tension.

 

[gandy]

[ QUOTE ]
roll away in a series of steps?

[/ QUOTE ]Are the bearings getting worn and notchy or sticky?

 

[Piddy]

I too have a "fat old Moody" but do find it makes an enormous difference in how the sails are set.
We race occasionally in a mixed fleet, sometimes in Portsmouth Harbour and sometimes in and around the Solent. Poor sail setting means you will always be at the back but by taking a bit of time and thinking about what the sails have to do makes such a difference to performance - even in a fat old Moody.
We always release the tension after sailing before furling the genoa - it is such an investment so why keep it stretched tight? It only makes it harder to furl/unfurl.
However, the bulk of my sailing is cruising and even then I like to sail the boat properly - it responds better, we make better times but most of all it is simply a nicer experience when everything is just right.
I have spent quite some time getting the right size and type of furling line so it runs out freely without jamming - which it did when we got the boat and things like beefing up the kicker by adding an extra purchase - just little things intended to make it easier to sail


Cheers

 

[nimrod1230]

I was very careful to avoid any double entendre about "stiff", "hard" etc but still failed!! LOL. I appear to be the only lazy sailor here, though a similar size boat on the horizon does galvanise some tweaking. Thanks all, I hope I don't have to race any of you!, I'll lose.

 

[Dipper]

Make sure you don't have too much excess line on the drum. I few turns around the drum when fully furled should do.

As iPod says (and you appear to be doing), keep some light tension on the line as the sail unfurls. This helps prevent loose coils developing in the rope on the drum.

When furling the sail you should keep some slight wind pressure on the sail so it furls fairly tightly and neatly. If there is too much wind pressure its hard/impossible to furl. If there is too little wind pressure (ie sail flapping loosely especially at the start) the sail ends up rather baggy on the foil. It may be that the people you see furling very quickly leave the genoa flapping as they furl.

I tend to allow some (slight) wind to fill the sail as I furl and like you, I haul in the sail in steps. Furl the sheets a couple of turns around the sail at the end to make sure there is no flap of sail to catch the wind if there is a gale. Also, make sure the reefing line is well secured to prevent the sail unfurling. Some boats have had furling genoas unroll in gales and either ripped the sail to shreds or even worse, sailed off their moorings. Insurance companies may consider the boat was left with 'sails set' and refuse to pay out under these circumstances.

 

[afp]

We have a Rotostay and it is very sensitive to halyard tension, compounded in our case by the fact that the halyard exits the mast immediately under the forestay and because there are two halyards exiting one above the other it is not possible to fit an antiwrap device.

The trick is to find out what halyard tension allows you to roll it up easily and then mark the halyard with a permanent marker at some convenient point that corresponds with a fixed point (we have some of those self-adhesive strips with scales marked on them). Then if you adjust the tension to suit sailing conditions, you can re-set the halyard tension to the same everytime when you furl.

Ours doesn't roll away quite as smoothly as some because we have flexible battens that roll up. This means that we can't leave the sail furled for long periods and have to take it down at the end of the weekend.