Mind games - which way to furl !!

Refueler

Refueler

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My 25 Motor sailer .... was always furled with UV to stbd .... but when I ordered a replacement slightly smaller genny - I forgot and UV is now to port.

This leads to interesting times when putting geny back on furler after mast has been down.

Today - no joke - the genny was up / down, in / out at least 3x each while we figured out which way to have furling line wound on ! Sounds daft I know ... maybe its just old age creeping up on me ?
 
Refueler said:
My 25 Motor sailer .... was always furled with UV to stbd .... but when I ordered a replacement slightly smaller genny - I forgot and UV is now to port.

This leads to interesting times when putting geny back on furler after mast has been down.

Today - no joke - the genny was up / down, in / out at least 3x each while we figured out which way to have furling line wound on ! Sounds daft I know ... maybe its just old age creeping up on me ?
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When I replaced the furling drum on ours it took three tries to get it right - there’s only 2 possibilities… like USB sockets you always need three tries!
 
Is probably not old age, possibly too many things going on so focus is not concentrated on what you are doing. I do exactly the same when I have a few things on the go.
 
And I don't want to add insult to injury, but if it's a Selden furler, did you consider the "free turn" that they have built into the lower swivel to ensure that the luff tape furls slightly before the tack of the sail..

Screenshot_20250803-160648_Word.jpg
Instructions here on which way to rotate the swivel before you connect the tack of the sail...

Screenshot_20250803-161303_Word.jpg

And document found here...

https://support.seldenmast.com/files/1426855959/595-104-E.pdf
 
Sea Change said:
But how do you remember whether the arrow is showing the direction to furl or unfurl?
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Scratch (or paint) F or U under it, according to preference ;)

But I did it so often that I can remember it anyway (even though I sold the boat more than a year ago)

Had my memory failed, I could have looked at the Rotostay instruction leaflet:


1754234719471.png
 
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Gixer said:
Ha, I thought this was just me! I feel better knowing someone else suffered with this.
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Furled sail and looked like Barbers shop candy pole !!

So - pull through the excess line from cockpit .... undo furling line stop knot at drum .. remove line.

Now pull sheets to unfurl sail as its arse about face and you don't want furling line being wound onto drum yet. Once sail is unfurled.... take furling line end and make sure you have enough to make 5 - 6 turns in correct direction as standing turns on drum... make those 5 - 6 turns by passing furling line around and then refasten end to drum

Now turn drum by hand allowing furling line to wind onto drum - and sail to furl.

Viola - pain - but solved !!
 
Poignard said:
'Now turn drum by hand allowing furling line to wind onto drum - and sail to furl.'

Not very clear.

I had visions of you crouched on the foredeck with a sail flapping round your ears as you rotate the drum by hand!
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Because it was light airs - that's exactly what we did ...

If it had been any wind - then it would either be hand winding complete furl line or remove sail and then wind. Because basically no way hand turning would counter wind in the sail.
 
Rotostay are very clear in their instructions about furling directions because of the way the drum is fitted with a left handed screw so you need to furl it the right way to ensure the sail torque on the drum tightens the thread. They also suggest that you fit the line before you fit the sail, when the sail is fully out the drum will be full, and that is when you should load the sail. Any decent sailmaker will know which side of the sail to put the UV strip and it depends on the make of the furler, Rotostay need the UV strip on the oppsite side to most of the furlers.
David MH
 
davidmh said:
Rotostay are very clear in their instructions about furling directions because of the way the drum is fitted with a left handed screw so you need to furl it the right way to ensure the sail torque on the drum tightens the thread. They also suggest that you fit the line before you fit the sail, when the sail is fully out the drum will be full, and that is when you should load the sail. Any decent sailmaker will know which side of the sail to put the UV strip and it depends on the make of the furler, Rotostay need the UV strip on the oppsite side to most of the furlers.
David MH
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It was a concern with the Plastimo as to whether the change of furling direction would affect it ... but so far it seems to have survived the season before keel repairs ... now looking fwd to it again.

I could not find any comments in Plastimo manual to say which direction to furl - will be looking again .... but our thinking was - surely if the furler rotates one way to furl and the other way to unfurl ... any threaded section is being subject to tighten and untighten reasonably equally ? The4 only comment I can find is that furling should preferably be in same rotation as the lay of the forestay .....
 
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This is how I fitted my sail every season. It always worked independent of which side the UV strip was on. It was a Furlex system.
  1. With no sail on, take the furling line off the drum completely if fitted.
  2. Hoist the sail and attach the sheets.
  3. Furl it by hand according to the UV strip direction with no furling line attached, and under as much tension as possible, and keep going until 8 wraps of sheets are round the sail.
  4. Attach the furling line and pull the sail out - it should draw the furling line in and wrap it on the drum.
  5. Furl using the line with lots of tension on the sheet to check there is enough line on the drum to completely furl the sail while it is heavily loaded.
  6. If you run out of line before the sail is furled, then disconnect the line, furl the remainder by hand as in step 3 - note the additional turns - and then repeat steps 4-6.
For me, 8 sheet wraps in step 3 was enough to compensate for my inability to tightly furl the sail by hand. To get your own number if 8 is too little, add the extra turns by hand in step 6 to the 8 in step 3 to get your own "sheet wrap number" - your mileage will vary. I used to take my furling line off over winter to prevent it going green so did this at the start of every season.

I had the same problem with my new sails on my new boat, the UV strip was on a different side to the old sails, but with electric furling this meant that "in" was actually "out" and "out" was "in". The fix was to swap the motor wires over in the control box.
 
davidmh said:
Rotostay are very clear in their instructions about furling directions because of the way the drum is fitted with a left handed screw so you need to furl it the right way to ensure the sail torque on the drum tightens the thread. They also suggest that you fit the line before you fit the sail, when the sail is fully out the drum will be full, and that is when you should load the sail. Any decent sailmaker will know which side of the sail to put the UV strip and it depends on the make of the furler, Rotostay need the UV strip on the oppsite side to most of the furlers.
David MH
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My Rotostay has arrows printed on drum depicting furl/unfurl rotation directions. Useful feature.
 
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