Newbie to roller-furling - advice please

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Babylon

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Having always hanked on sails, I'm now the proud owner of a new roller-furling drum fitted last week, and going tomorrow to pick up converted heads'l and weather-permitting bend it on.

Are there any tips for 'correct procedure' in terms of bending the heads'l on, and furling/unfurling the sail in normal use to avoid problems?
 
Two comments:

You will find that when rolling it up in a blow, with wind in the sail, that it wraps up very tightly. You need to have enough turns of furling line on the drum or you won't get all the sail away. So allow an extra couple of turns more than you need in a light breeze.

If you overtighten the halyard then you may find it stiff to furl.

Enjoy not being on a bouncy foredeck with arms full of sail!
 
first time you furle the sail check for halyard rap,ie halyard winding around the cable at the top fitting,if it starts to wind around the cable it might need a halyard diverter fitted,have fun /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
When bending on sail get someone to assist in pre feeding and hoist close to top of foil otherwise there is a risk of a halyard wrap at the top which stops it furling. Tension at the tack using your preferred method.
 
Keep any 'parked' halyards away from the furling gear as they can get wrapped into the furling sail and cause a lock up.
Also the advice on having a halyard divertor is sound. Go for the type which screws to the mast front. Our Facnor gear has a built in circular gismo made of plastic to divert the halyard. The hoisting of the sail was very hard due to this divertor and the halyard cut several grooves in the plastic. Eventually, this season, the grooves were so deep that the halyard was trapped by them which stopped the sail from furling. All fixed now by the Guys at Rig Magic.
 
If you do suffer from halyard wrap another way to aleviate the problem (if only temporay - to get out and sail) is to fit a hank of line or a strop between the sail head and the uper furling attachment - this shortens the halyard length and can alter the lead in angle... sometimes
 
You should have a UV strip on the sail if you intend to leave it on.

Make sure that when you furl the sail that it is on the outside. If it is on the inside then you will need furl it the other way round - ie the line round the drum will need to go round the other way.
 
I second, third etc everything that has been said here about checking for halyard wrap. Make sure the angle is large enough by using strops, extensions etc at the head (or at the tack).

Two more bits of advice: if the furler is hard to pull, don't be tempted just to winch it up. Try to find out first what the problem is. If you want to reef/furl in a blow, depower the sail (using the main to blanket the forces if possible) or releasing the sheets - but watch out for excessive "flap".
Also, consider carefully the arrangements for "clutching" the reefing line in the cockpit. Tigger's original set up was a bit flimsy and shattered 8 years after installation (uv degradation of vital bits, I think). I replaced it with a beefier clutch and a block fixed on the pushpit to help with pulling. Make use that the reefing line has the minimum possible friction when tense. Stuff on the sidedeck often gets in the way and can cause handfurling to be impossible. If you DO need a bit of extra grunt, try "sweating" the line by short sideway pulls on the furling line: observe whether the drum/sail turns. If it does pull away (even with the winch). If not, find the cause.

Hope this helps
 
One thing not mentioned so far is the need to keep a light tension on the furling line when unfurling the sail, and also to make sure that it is tensioned once the sail is fully out and you cleat it off.

If you don't the line can wrap badly on the drum and develop riding turns and then it is difficult/impossible to furl it.
 
If I may add my half penny worth, first boat I had was moored on a swinging mooring in Poole Harbour, I left the boat after a weekend of sailing with the genoa secured (or so I thought) had a call from a the moorings owners that it had unfurled and flogged itself to death!

So learned a very expensive mistake, I always tie a bungee round when leaving the boat for a while.
 
Can you explain why overtightning the halyard causes the sail to be difficult to furl and unfurl? I did just that last weekend, I thought my halyard could do with a bit more tension then found out I couldn't furl it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Can you explain why overtightning the halyard causes the sail to be difficult to furl and unfurl? I did just that last weekend, I thought my halyard could do with a bit more tension then found out I couldn't furl it.

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my understanding of this is that it may squeeze the ball bearing mechanisms such that it jams. Tightening the backstay may have the same effect on some boats.

Freeing up the halyard and the backstay on Tigger has solved jams in the past.
 
Another effect of too much halyard tension may be the crease up the luff, as this rolls in it could produce an uneven roll which makes the load heavier?

This certainly was my problem this year with in mast furling, but there of course there is a physical limit to the diameter of the furled sail. It seemed to cause severe stiffness well before the main was even half rolled so I don't think it was the size alone.
 
It's because the ball bearings are subjected to an off-centre load by the halyard and as the halyard tension is increased this is exacerbated. The ball bearing race is forced out of true so that the gap for the balls to run in is narrower on one side of the race than the other, trapping the balls and making it difficult to turn the bearing.
The halyard attachment point is, by necessity, offset to one side to avoid the stay so it's not something the designers can easily rectify.
 
Yes, I think the advice for my Harken was to tension the luff just sufficiently to take out the creases in the sail. A straight luff is maintained by tension in the foil itself.
Bear in mind that wraps can also happen with your spinnaker gear, particularly when you attemp to fly or furl the big sail behind the genoa. I have to furl first, and never attempt to unfurl the genoa until the spinnaker gear is parked.
 
Like this:
Furlerloads434x600.jpg
 
There is actually no point in tensioning the halyard beyond the point at which horizontal creases in the luff are just removed for the max wind strength for the full sail area. Once a roll is put in, the halyard tension has no further effect on tension in what has now become the 'new' luff, ie the rolled up bit around the foil.
 
I also don't trust the clutch 100%, for no particular reason except that if reefed I really don't want the full sail to suddenly unroll - which could be catastrophic in some situations. Therefore I always cleat it in the cockpit as well us using the clutch.

Also when furling keep some wind in the sail, if you let the sheet go too loose not only will the sail flog but the stow will be very loose.

Until reading this thread I never realised how complex roller furling is !
 
In addition to all the advices above, I would suggest to add a few turns after the sail is completely furled in (i.e. prepare more lenght in the furling line), then lock the sheet ends in the winch firmly.

The addition turns of geona sheet lock the sail and save it from unfurling in a blow, which help to have my geona survied many typhoons in here.

The tighten Genoa sheet also provide good hand hold when you go up front to man the mooring line / achor
 
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