"Link plates" on furler drum.

[cmedsailor]

\"Link plates\" on furler drum.

Hello
I have a facnor headsail furler fitted in my sailing boat.The “link plates” (I think they are called like this; the two “brackets” below the drum) are bent but not cracked. Of course I will replace/fix them some time but could this damage the whole mechanism? What is their purpose?
Thanks

 

[cmedsailor]

Re: \"Link plates\" on furler drum.

In the following link you can see what I mean with "link plates". They don't hold the forestay but that little think below the turning unit.
http://www.facnor.com/uk/main.asp?url=ht...ult.asp&f=2,67,,109,a

 

[steve_l]

Re: \"Link plates\" on furler drum.

Their purpose is to take the genoa halyard stress. So they stop the drum rising up the forestay when you tension the halyard because the drum is not fixed rigidly to anything on the forestay.
Think of everything between the sail clew (the shackle, the drum and those link plates) as being one long clew shackle and you're not far wrong.

There should be no damage unless they are badly out of true and subsequently pull the drum out of true, making furling/unfurling more difficult than it should be.

-steve-

 

[Norman_E]

Re: \"Link plates\" on furler drum.

Have they been deliberately twisted to stop the furling line being pulled out of the drum at an angle, and increasing friction?

 

[cmedsailor]

Re: \"Link plates\" on furler drum.

They were bent after getting hit while pulling the anchor up (it used to be a charter boat). The genoa seems to work OK but at the end of the season (winter) I will need to remove the forestay and fix them.