In mast main sail furling gear - do they need servicing?

[davecr]

I've never had one before, so can anyone advise what is necessary if the statement "requires to be serviced" appears in boat sales particulars, or is it someone trying to sell me a boat with in mast furling and it really means, that the furling gear etc is possibly seized and requires to be completely replaced? We would check it out during a visit, but to have some pre knowledge and a better understanding of what maybe required would help.

Thanks,
dcr

 

[pvb]

Most mast manufacturers have servicing instructions available online. Look up the specific type of in-mast you're interested in, and read the servicing recommendations.

 

[Supertramp]

I've never had one before, so can anyone advise what is necessary if the statement "requires to be serviced" appears in boat sales particulars, or is it someone trying to sell me a boat with in mast furling and it really means, that the furling gear etc is possibly seized and requires to be completely replaced? We would check it out during a visit, but to have some pre knowledge and a better understanding of what maybe required would help.

Thanks,
dcr

Two parts to this for me.

Checking for wear or damage when the sail is off and the top swivel is down. People replace shackles with near but not original ones and rubbing can occur. I had to remake a hook at the base that was bent and risked failing and scraping on the mast. Also watch for halyard wear. It should be less loaded and much less used than a hoisted sail but may be the age of the mast. Some systems will have gear drives to check.

And secondly is washing out the bearings and appropriate relubricating, which may be none. Usually water followed by a special non sticky oil such as Harken. I had to wash out old grease from a siezed top bearing which took hours using periodic rinses with a degreaser but persistence paid off. They should spin freely.

Beyond that you can't do much without dismantling the foil or dropping the mast to get at top/bottom bearings - beyond my DIY skills. If it's any reassurance my Selden system from 1989 still works as designed.

You need to check what requires to be serviced. If its maintenance as above or replacing a worn endless rope, don't worry. But if the empty (no sail) system doesn't move easily I would investigate carefully. I think repairing older systems may be challenging (accessing the bits and getting spares).