In Mast Furling - How stiff is too stiff?

I have sailed several in-mast and behind-mast systems: every one was fairly easy to use provided the mast/boom angle was EXACTLY right. The vertical batten ones should certainly go in the slot with battens parallel. Some needed winching some didn't. Some were harder to use the "wrong-wrap" way and needed the boom slightly off-centre to furl smoothly.

The bigger the boat the more I like in-mast systems..... On a 42-footer I could reef-unreef easily alone at night from the cockpit, and get exactly the right genoa/main sail areas to balance the helm.
 
Paul_S123 said:
To answer the point about someone being at the sail being able to unfurl it..no, it took the combination of the seller at the mast pulling it out and me on the winch, grinding for all it's worth...to get it out.

I had a word with saturn sails at Kip. He immediately said the combination of a maxi roach vertically battened sail, going into a retrofitted bolt on furler was incorrect. He was not surprised at all that it was stiff. .............snipped.......
Click to expand...

As others have said the "Easyreef" add-on unit was sold new with "Maxi-Roach" battened sails as part of the package. They can work well. Also as others have said there's very little movable on a boat that McLube won't improve.
 
Hi, I have been using inmast furling sails including Maxi-Roach and Easy Furl for the last 20years. You should be able to pull your inmast furling mainsail out by hand by pulling on the outhaul. If you cannot do this, you should try and diagnose where the problem lies in the following order. Firstly lower and remove the sail and then check the furling mechanism for stiffness. Does the inmast foil rotate easily, if not it is time to check the bearings. The top swivel bearing in particular often gets overlooked, when was it last checked and lubricated. Selden recommend annually, but it took me ten years to find that out by which time the bearing was wrecked and I had to change it. Once you are satisfied you have a friction free mechanism, it is time to hoist the sail without putting the battens in. Check the effort required is still low, if not check your mast is straight, no pre-bend, the foil is correctly tensioned and the furling line turning blocks are turning freely. Finally replace the battens and check again. If the friction has increased significantly the chances are that the bulk of the sail with the battens in place is too tight a fit for the mast. In particular check the batten pockets for chafe as they furl in and out. If you are still not happy, change to a furling sail without battens.
 
OK, so met PeteCooper (nice to meet you Pete) at the boat today. Between us, we did seem to get it working a bit better. One thing was of note, boom angles etc seemed to make little difference, it was pretty stiff all the way out and in. At one point, I reached up and grabbed the back of the sail, where it is attached to the outhaul and just gave it a good pull....it basically came out no problem at all. Subsequent pulls of the sail from the outhaul (before it goes down into the boom) the sail pulls out fairly freely. There was no obvious sticking point on the outhaul from the cockpit to the back of the boom, but the sail was definitely fairly hard to pull out from cockpit...but fairly easy to pull directly along the boom itself.

Same furling back in, the furling line seemed a bit thick for the furler...it was 8mm line and seemed to be touching the sides of the furler. It was pretty easy to furl back in at the mast.

Probably need to get the whole system serviced.

The sail did seem to go in and out fairly easily, if you pulled the lines at a point before they went into the blocks.
 
Paul_S123 said:
OK, so met PeteCooper (nice to meet you Pete) at the boat today. Between us, we did seem to get it working a bit better. One thing was of note, boom angles etc seemed to make little difference, it was pretty stiff all the way out and in. At one point, I reached up and grabbed the back of the sail, where it is attached to the outhaul and just gave it a good pull....it basically came out no problem at all. Subsequent pulls of the sail from the outhaul (before it goes down into the boom) the sail pulls out fairly freely. There was no obvious sticking point on the outhaul from the cockpit to the back of the boom, but the sail was definitely fairly hard to pull out from cockpit...but fairly easy to pull directly along the boom itself.

Same furling back in, the furling line seemed a bit thick for the furler...it was 8mm line and seemed to be touching the sides of the furler. It was pretty easy to furl back in at the mast.

Probably need to get the whole system serviced.

The sail did seem to go in and out fairly easily, if you pulled the lines at a point before they went into the blocks.
Click to expand...

That's really good news. It may be cheap blocks, poorly lubricated blocks, poor leads, incorrect sized blocks ( or lines). Whatever, replacing a few blocks with good quality ball bearing blocks will be a lot cheaper than a new sail.
 
I had a problem when I bought my yacht with an old in mast reefing system. Then I got a copy of the original instructions on my way to Spain for a maxiroach furling . Basically the instructions say to release the main sheet a bit to allow the boom to rise at least 12inches from horizontal. When I tried this she furled so much easier. Previously I was using the 90° method which was crap. Not sure where that advise came from, so beware!
 
kunyang said:
I had a problem when I bought my yacht with an old in mast reefing system. Then I got a copy of the original instructions on my way to Spain for a maxiroach furling . Basically the instructions say to release the main sheet a bit to allow the boom to rise at least 12inches from horizontal. When I tried this she furled so much easier. Previously I was using the 90° method which was crap. Not sure where that advise came from, so beware!
Click to expand...

I tried it today with the sheet slackened. As I pulled on the outhaul, the boom raised up till the aft end of the boom was level with the sail. I had thought that it must be wrong...but after what you are saying, is that the correct way?
 
It's surprising how small adjustments to a lead can dramatically change the effort required, when we bought our boat last year the furling Genoa could only be operated with a winch. An adjustment to the lead of the forward block, and a new aft turning block and now I can do it single handed. So look at all the blocks, leads etc and ensure they have as straight a line as possible and replace any worn blocks.
 
I had similar problems when I bought Vivere. Part of the problem was very gummed up furling mechanism - over 'lubricated' with heavy grease, which had attracted lots of dirt, and had clearly not been serviced for many years, but the rest was friction - a 14mm outhaul that was oversized for the blocks, seized deck organiser, 12mm inhaul that was oversized for the furling mechanism etc. Still takes some effort to bring in the main, but definately a hand operation, rather than winching.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

geem
Atlantic crossing 2025
2
Replies
39
Views
2K
geem
geem

Share this page

Top