Halyard wrap, Plastimo furler

Fascadale

Fascadale

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 Jan 2007
Messages
1,480
Location
One end of the A1
Visit site
The plastimo furler was on the boat when I bought it.
The furler worked perfectly last year
Over the winter the standing and most of the running rigging was renewed.

The furler is now not working.

Its first trick was for the component at the head of the sail to separate, with the top part holding the halyard staying up, but the lower bit with the sail shackled to it coming down the stay.

The whole thing is now "wrapping"

It is fitted with a doughnut, a halyard anti wrap device, but it does not seem to be doing much.

Should the doughnut be clamped to the forestay so that it does not revolve or should it be left to turn ?

The rigger just mutters darkly about Plastimo being s..t and that it needs a halyard diverter

Cheers
 
This brings back memories of SBC and his fix for the problem. He showed a set-up where there was an extra line from the swivel shackle to a small block on mast front. In effect he'd made this line force the swivel shackle to stay locked. He also had the top come undone and solved the puzzle of why.

If you PM me - I can pass on his e-mail to you and he can go through all the details, as he did for us. His system certainly works and guarantees no wrap at all.
 
Funny thing - I had a similar problem with my Plastimo self-furler last weekend........

The diverter doughnut thingy is indeed s**t and I think the previous posters suggestion to fit an additional block to the mast to positively feed the halyard to the right place is a good one.

I think the root of the problem is however that the swivel does'nt - at least not very well as you seem to have found out - and this is what causes the wrap.

I had a problem with the sealing 'O' ring swelling and causing the swivel to bind. I could'nt get a replacement and used a couple of rubber bands instead - bad move! They disintegrated and jambed the furler. I did manage to unwrap by hand and get the whole lot down, picked the bits of band out and gave it a good shot of grease - its working now but you always have your suspicions........... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
My riggers took the doughnut off my Platimo reefing gear when I had new rigging fitted and put a diverter on the mast so that the halyard had the correct angle to the forestay. Much better.

I was on SBC's boat when the block on his mast came adrift on our way to the forum meet at Yarmouth. The block is used to run an extra line up the front of the mast and tied to the same place as the halyard is to stop the halyard being wound round the forestay. It does work, the only downside is that you have another line up the mast, but as you're not putting the genny up and down on a regular basis, it's OK.

Personally, I prefer the diverter on the mast.
 
I have a diverter on the mast about 6 inches below the halyard sheave. It is simply a large stainless strap eye, the type with two screw holes. It is attached to the mast by two fairly large diameter self tappers. Mind you the mast is a fairly thick section Proctor original.

I have a Colnbroke furler, not a plastimo, but I did have a problem with the swivel this year. I put that down to the dusty conditions in the yard and rinsed it out with water with a few drops of detergent. I used a garden spray to deliver a steady stream while I rotated the bearings. Works fine now.
 
I have an old Plastimo setup and ruined the forestay in 2006.

Secret is to throw away the doughnut. Fit a fairlead on the mast so that the halyard is being pulled away from the forestay not parallell to it.

And crucially drop the swivel now and again to the deck and lubricate it. I use silicone spray.

I have not had a bother until my first trip out this year, I had a bit of wrap but no damage and now that the system has been freed up it is all fine now.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I had a Plastimo setup once and it featured a bent shackle which diverted the halyard away from the furled sail - simple and worked well.

[/ QUOTE ]

SBC had a problem with his shackle where it caught the top nut and unscrewed. The solution being the bent shackle, designed only for that reason - to keep halyard out of the top nut. Halyard wrap as OP is a different matter and the Plastimo manual gives the small block idea on the mast as alternative to the doughnut.
 
Hi Moody1

Your PM box seems to be set to not accept incoming messages so I'm unable to send you my email address. Perhaps if you were to PM your email address to my PM box...................................

I still don't know if the doughnut should be clamped in such a way that it does not revolve or whether it should be left loose

I'm beginning to think that a diverter is the way forward

Cheers and thanks to all for the advice
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top