In Mast Reefing

[Chris_Robb]

Beg to differ, have seen loads of sails that will only come out if you go to the mast and give them a tug, several of mine among them. In ALL cases ALL the above, friction, blocks, travellers and tracks have been fettled and lubed, rigging has been tweaked, trimmed and tensioned, booms have been measured with protractors and the like - and still the sail is too shy to come out. In the end the sail shape was the problem.

but as I have I said before what the hell do I know?

Its the same old issue, things work OK IF there is a lot of wind about when the sail is furled and unless everything is "right" when there is no wind when the sail is furled - there will be trouble - not today maybe but there WILL be trouble.

Since being away from the UK in 2010 EVERY troublesome rig I have "attended" has had in mast furling and in EVERY case sail condition was the main culprit.

I would agree 100% with Marsupial. For 2 years I struggled to get the sail out especially when furled in light winds - or when tension had not been put on the outhaul whilst furling.

I bought a new main from Crusader made of Vectran - a non stretch (or very resistant) fabric - and ALL my problems disappeared. Even a very sticky boom slide now is no problem. Very good service from Crusader. I think that buying a tradition sail material is short sighted as they stretch to much too soon. You can have some cloth cut from the luff to help a sail last longer by removing the "belly". A sail will be useless well before the fabric has given out.

If you watch a stretched sail being furled, you will see in going into folds which then jam on exit.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Just curious but how do people on this thread tend to unfurl their in-mast? We can't get ours out by cranking on the outhaul. There seems like too much tension so we have to unwind the furling gear and simply take the slack up with the out haul as it is unfurled.

I mean most manufactures seem to state:

1. Free both sides of the endless loop from the winch and Clam-Cleat. It will then slide on the Reefing Winch.
2. Pull out the sail with the outhaul line

If the sail is not stretched then you may have the halyard too tight. It really must be only "heavy" hand tight to take out the wrinkles and certainly do not use the winch on it.

 

[jimbaerselman]

15 years of running flotillas show 3 golden maintenance rules to ensure inexperienced clients find it easy to furling/unfurl Selden systems:

(1) ensure the mast is straight in all sailing conditions (you sometimes have to roll when you're on beam ends!)
(2) sail must be flat (either use very low stretch fabric, or get the sailmaker to close the seams up as soon as there's any evidence of bag)
(3) don't over-tighten the halyard (a) bearing friction makes it difficult to roll/unroll (b) the resulting vertical wave up the luff creates a fold which makes the sail baggy before its time. It then routinely jams on unrolling . . . which takes us to Vyv's picture.

However much you warn them, clients with racing backgrounds loved to tighten halyards . . . dreaming of Cunningham holes instead of reefing . . . "these charter guys just don't have a clue about boat speed . . . ".

Check the halyard after a jam - sure enough, there's the tell tale mark 15 to 20cm below the sheave. "Honest guv, it must have been the last crew . . . "

 

[Tranona]

Just curious but how do people on this thread tend to unfurl their in-mast? We can't get ours out by cranking on the outhaul. There seems like too much tension so we have to unwind the furling gear and simply take the slack up with the out haul as it is unfurled.

I mean most manufactures seem to state:

1. Free both sides of the endless loop from the winch and Clam-Cleat. It will then slide on the Reefing Winch.
2. Pull out the sail with the outhaul line

Think you will find if you read this thread through you will find most of the common problems and potential solutions. You need to work through the system and find the sticking points. If it is a problem with the outhaul - that is the sail rolls and unrolls easily by hand then the problems are likely to be the outhaul car sticking or not being pulled square, the sheaves in the boom ends seized or worn oval or the organiser sheave seized. If it is the furler itself that is sticking then it could be too much halyard tension, baggy sail or the mechanism needs cleaning and servicing.