Perplexed - direction of rotation of furler has changed.

[Twister_Ken]

Either I'm going mad (possible) or…

Stripped the furler line off of the drum over the winter to clean it. Wound it back on. Hoisted the genoa, went sailing.

A couple of months later I notice that the genoa is furling inside-out (UV strip winding on the inside).

I'm pretty sure it wasn't doing this at the beginning of the season.

Genoa has been dropped a couple of times, for attention, since then.

Can anyone think of a reason why the furler should reverse its rotation without human intervention? Note - even when the genoa is fully unrolled several wraps of line remain on the drum.

Presumably I cure it by dropping the sail - emptying the drum and rewinding line onto the drum in the opposite direction?

Thanks in advance.

TK

 

[Seajet]

TK,

surely the only possible answer is that your memory is playing tricks ( I get this a lot, with increasing frequency ! ) and the line goes on the drum the other way to how you ' remembered ' it after the refit ?

 

[VicS]

Either I'm going mad (possible) or…

Going ????

Can anyone think of a reason why the furler should reverse its rotation without human intervention? Note - even when the genoa is fully unrolled several wraps of line remain on the drum.

Presumably I cure it by dropping the sail - emptying the drum and rewinding line onto the drum in the opposite direction?

Thanks in advance.

TK

At some point you have wound the line on the drum the wrong way, or perhaps furled the sail by hand the wrong way with no line on the drum.

You say, "Note - even when the genoa is fully unrolled several wraps of line remain on the drum."
?????? when the sail is unrolled the line should be fully wound on the drum.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Either I'm going mad (possible) or…

Stripped the furler line off of the drum over the winter to clean it. Wound it back on. Hoisted the genoa, went sailing.

A couple of months later I notice that the genoa is furling inside-out (UV strip winding on the inside).

I'm pretty sure it wasn't doing this at the beginning of the season.

Genoa has been dropped a couple of times, for attention, since then.

Can anyone think of a reason why the furler should reverse its rotation without human intervention? Note - even when the genoa is fully unrolled several wraps of line remain on the drum.

Presumably I cure it by dropping the sail - emptying the drum and rewinding line onto the drum in the opposite direction?

Thanks in advance.

TK

Same thing happened to me!
You don't need to drop the sail. First unroll the genoa, then roll it up as tight as possible, right side out. At this stage, there should be no furling line remaining on the drum. If not, unknot and remove it, then turn the rolled genoa a couple of times to roll some of the sheets around the furled sail. You can then re-attach the furling line to the drum and all will be ready for the next time you want to use it.

 

[davidpbo]

Disconnect the line. Furl the sail by hand the right way round. Put however many turns you want left on the drum back on with the drum end of the line in the same direction as the sail is wound and make of f the drum end of the line.

Check you haven't rigged sail upside down. That gives people a laugh, been there done that with an audience.

 

[Lakesailor]

It can be perplexing. I found the easiest way to make sure the line goes on the drum the right way round is to: furl the sail by hand, attach the line to the drum and then pull the sail out using a sheet. The line winds itself on the drum in the required direction..
You can add a couple of extra turns of line if you want as furling a sail under load will make the turns tighter and you could run out of turns of line before the sail is fully furled

 

[rob2]

Indeed, a few extra turns on the drum when tightly furled also allows the jib to be rolled away with a few turns of the sheets around it to help prevent it blowing loose just as you're mooring! I also put a sail tie through the clew and fastened around the furled sail once moored, or motoring on a still day - belt abd braces? No, that's when I put a padlock through the drum on the mooring.

Rob.

P.S. also prevents the sail rolling the wrong way!

 

[garvellachs]

Surely it's easier just to drop the sail and wind on the furling line the other way with the foils free of the bolt rope, then hoist the sail again and furl it the right way?

 

[Lakesailor]

Theoretically that can work.
It's one of those instance when practice confounds theory.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Why would you drop the sail? As long as it's not blowing a howling gale you can just pull out the sail and then roll it back in the right way round, starting it in the right direction by hand, if necessary. When it's back in, there will be little or no furling line on the drum, and the amount of turns on this, or the amount of sheet wound around the sail are easily adjusted.

 

[NickRobinson]

A supplementary-

Any issues about deliberately rolling the jib 'backwards'? I'm ashamed of my raggy UV strip in posh surroundings and thought about hiding it inside the roll. THe fairlead for the furling line is not offset and I'm willing to allow the Scottish UV to work its magic until the end of the season.

Nick- slightly windbound in Ballycastle.....

 

[davidpbo]

A supplementary-

Any issues about deliberately rolling the jib 'backwards'? I'm ashamed of my raggy UV strip in posh surroundings and thought about hiding it inside the roll. THe fairlead for the furling line is not offset and I'm willing to allow the Scottish UV to work its magic until the end of the season.

Nick- slightly windbound in Ballycastle.....

I you can afford it push the boat out and have a new uv strip. I don't know what size boat you have. On our 24ftr I think it was under £ 100. It should give us a few more years out of the sail and is good value IMHO.

 

[VicS]

Why would you drop the sail? As long as it's not blowing a howling gale you can just pull out the sail and then roll it back in the right way round, starting it in the right direction by hand, if necessary. When it's back in, there will be little or no furling line on the drum, and the amount of turns on this, or the amount of sheet wound around the sail are easily adjusted.

You have not thought that through fully have you ?

Got to take the furling line off before you start rolling in by hand...... and then roll the whole sail in by hand, plus a few wraps of the sheets, before refitting the furling line .
Which is what LS suggested in #6

OK with little boats like his or mine

With a big sail I'd prefer the alternative of removing the sail, winding the furling line on the drum then rehoisting the sail

 

[KellysEye]

>Stripped the furler line off of the drum over the winter to clean it.

You put the furler line on the wrong way round. Tie a line around the genoa to stop it unfurling the take the line off and put it back the other way around the drum.

 

[VicS]

>Stripped the furler line off of the drum over the winter to clean it.

You put the furler line on the wrong way round. Tie a line around the genoa to stop it unfurling the take the line off and put it back the other way around the drum.

Thats no good. The sail is furled the wrong way!

If you you wind the furling line on the drum the opposite way to how it is at present when you pull it out you will unfurl the sail. Then you will have sail unfurled and line un wound.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Why would you drop the sail?

Because there's line on the drum when the sail is out. Need to clear line off the drum before rewinding.

 

[NickRobinson]

I you can afford it push the boat out and have a new uv strip. I don't know what size boat you have. On our 24ftr I think it was under £ 100. It should give us a few more years out of the sail and is good value IMHO.

Its on the list- I ran out of time before setting off on the summer cruise-

 

[Pete7]

Because there's line on the drum when the sail is out. Need to clear line off the drum before rewinding.

Ken, how do you know it hasn't always been "inside out"

Pete

 

[rwoofer]

I found the same and then I realised that the two jibs I have come with UV strips on opposite sides. Always gets confusing when I change jibs to figure out which way round I need to redo the drum.

 

[Iliade]

I changed boat, but kept the headsail. Fitted headsail the 'right' way round for the sacrificial strip.

I was mildly (!) surprised when the heavily reefed headsail fully unfurled itself in about 40 kts of wind just upwind of the entrance to a marina within Poole harbour!

Seems that the furler on my current boat has a screw thread connecting the drum to the foil, as opposed to the four bolts of the previous boat's furler...