In-mast Furling Tips

[sailing86]

When we bought our boat it had inmast furling (kemp/selden add on from 1990s) and have been quite happy with it in general. It normally behaves itself but occasionally it sticks on the way out. This however can be reduced by making sure it is furled with some tension and taken out 30 degrees off the wind. We also skoosh the slot, roller and anything else possible with silicon and this also helps.

When we rigged the system today (as normal) it kept jamming on the way out due to the sail being pulled to the front of the groove, the only difference to normal was slightly more halyard tension. We then reduced the main halyard tension (but would need tightened if sailing) and the system seamed to work better than ever.

Does halyard tension affect this? Does anyone else have any tips? Thanks

 

[Marsupial]

Well from what you have said I think you will find that the sail is a bit baggy. The inmast system works well but the sail has to be flat - very flat, you can introduce a bit of shape by adjusting the outhaul tension.

As its the begining of the season I would take it to a sailmaker and see if it can be "adjusted" to make it flatter.

W sails at leigh on sea is the only sailmaker I could find that knew inmast sails, they took the view, correctly in my opinion that these systems are designed for easy sail handling not performance sailing so the compromise has to be for the sail to stow - it has to be flat.

 

[reeac]

With some in -mast reefing systems too much halyard tension induces a bend into the foil or roller in the mast, thus making it press against the inside of the mast and causing problems.

 

[nickf]

I have found the advice in the following link to be helpful.

http://www.zsparsuk.com/mastfurlhelp.htm.

 

[nickf]

Apologies above link does not seem to work.

Try http://www.zsparsuk.com/ and click on support tab - "furling mast help"

 

[Iota]

Halyard tension will make a difference but also angle of boom. It needs to be close to 90 degrees as you can get it. We have a Hood fully battened in mast and the golden rules given to us were

Halyard tension so it just begins a vertical wrinkle then back off until wrinkle goes
Boom at 90degrees
Wind slightly taking the sail away from the gap in the mast.

hope this helps

Iota

 

[samwise]

I think this can always be a problem with an in-mast furling sail that is a bit past its best. A few years back we had a charter boat in Croatia which had enjoyed a tough season and the sail was very baggy, teasing the thing in and out of the mast slot became a very front of mind activity.
On our last boat we had a vertically battened EasyReef MaxiRoach sail that was brilliant. Never had a problem and it provided a good sail shape even though it was past its best. The guy we bought it from was a confirmed single hander and he said it was perfect for that . As I recall the system is not cheap but if your current sail is due for retirement it might be the right moment to consider an upgrade.

 

[sailing86]

Thanks all for your replies. The sail seems to be still quite flat however does have some shape in the middle. This might be something we will have to change if the problem cannot be resolved. We already put the boom at 90 degrees hovever have not noticed much differance if it is slightly off. We played around again today and we are amazed with reduced halyard tension. We are now going to lower the sail and then pull up untill it just stops sagging each time we reef/furl. We also tried 'normal sailing' tension today and it jammed almost immediatly!

Thanks again for all the help.