Roller Furling Main removal

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Ravi

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Hi,
My new boat came with a furling mainsail and, having been lifted out, I am removing the sail and rigging for the winter. It is a Z-Spars furling system on a Z-spars mast.

1. Does anyone have any good instructions for removing the furling line? (The instructions on the Z-Spars site are worse than useless.)

2. Now that the sail has been removed, I find that there is a clanking noise in the mast when the boat vibrates in higher winds (or when being vigorously scrubbed!). I will not be on board for long (and it doesn't bother me) but I worry that it may not be good for the gear, itself. I have jammed a large sponge, inside the mast, behind the furling ?spar/tube/spindle? behind the main halyard attachment and that has reduced the rattling but it still rattles a bit, higher up the mast in the moderate winds that we have. (At the minute, the rain is so heavy, I wouldn't be able to hear it, anyway!)
Obviously, there will be stronger winter winds that will rock the boat while I am away for a few months. Is this rattling something that I need to worry about and is there anything that I can do about it?

If anyone can offer any advice, that would be helpful.

After an unusually productive day of winterising work, I knew there would be something to keep me worrying tonight! And all the warps and canvas that I spent the day lovingly, rinsing, rerinsing and washing, and hung out to dry are are now getting a thorough bath in Sahara sand thanks to this rain storm!!!!!! Boats, don't you just love them!

P.S. I know that some people will tell me that they consider it preferable to leave the roller furling should on for the winter but I have removed the sail and don't want to rehoist it, for a number of reasons, unless absolutely unavoidable!

Rav.
 
Incidentally, if anyone is looking for a furling system, here is my experience of Z spars.....

The furling system works fine but, compared to Selden, the online support is a joke. Imagine if you want to change the in-mast furling line. You would be very pleased to find a link on the Z Spars web site called "How to change the in-mast furling line". Brilliant. Exactly what you want. But then you get this.

'http://media.wix.com/ugd/1f447f_1c359abd896149f58d4887f29ca24143.pdf


A page from a manual with a diagram of the furling system with unreadable labeling and no legend.
Not only that but you want to "CHANGE the in-mast furling line". There is absolutely NO description of how to remove the existing furling line. There is a section called "Installing the outhaul rope" but it starts -

"Inside the slot underneath the gooseneck it is possible to see the coils of rope wound on the furling drum (D). Make sure that the rope is fully wound on the drum, then unwind 3 turns...."

Sorry, but "HOW?"
If the instructions are for INSTALLING a furling line, then how can you SEE THE COILS OF ROPE WOUND ON THE FURLING DRUM, to proceed with unwinding them??????

Z-Spars are meant to be a major European supplier but their support material resembles the usefulness of the Chinglish photocopied 'manual' that you get with an eBay £1.99 purchase on eBay.

Based on support, my advice to anyone would be to buy Selden, NOT Z-Spars!
 
dnickj said:
Hi

when you know how its very simple there is an good description on the Jeanneau owners network even includes pictures

http://www.jeanneau-owners2.com/hintsandtips/id130.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks v much for the posting. . I must have been making my attempt to change the furling line at about the same time that you posted it. It is a very nice piece of instruction but my furling mechanism is a bit different.
In the end, I have decided to leave the furling line un-moused over the winter since I discovered that, with the sail removed the furling drum/tube rattles in the mast and tightening the furler is one way of dampening the rattling. I will replace it in the spring.
Incidentally, I emailed z spars but have had no reply. Their whole support dept. does not seem very customer friendly.

Thanks again for the link.
 
Copied from above
I emailed z spars but have had no reply. Their whole support dept. does not seem very customer friendly.

This is not like Z Spars however have noticed the new website is not very user friendly, when I was there the website was put together by Keith Callaghan who left I think left last year. Best to ring them and I am sure they will be able to help you.
 
It is the technical content of the site, rather than the web site, itself, which is the problem.
E.g. under the support link they have a drop down menu item titled "changing your mainsail furling line". (This suggests that it is something that they get asked about often.)
Clicking on this link leads to a general page about the furling system which is no help. In fact, this page has a numbered diagram with no legend. Even worse, whereas the parts on the diagram are numbered, the text on the page refers to 'A',B,C,etc.
I have no complaints about the products themselves. My spars and furling mechanism have been problem free for the year that I had boat.
The support section on the we site, however, is poor - as is their failure to reply to my email.
As you say, I could phone them from here in Greece. I probably will if I haven't fathomed the furler by the spring. Bit in this day and age, one would expect quality support information on the web site.
 
Ravi

another way to reduce the rattle is to tie a mousing line to the top swivel then pull it half way up the mast with the main halyard
then tie the mousing line to the end of the boom and pull tight - this will reduce the rattle but not stop it completely
 
dnickj said:
Ravi

another way to reduce the rattle is to tie a mousing line to the top swivel then pull it half way up the mast with the main halyard
then tie the mousing line to the end of the boom and pull tight - this will reduce the rattle but not stop it completely
Click to expand...

I thought of this method just before taking my boat out of the water, but was worried if I will find the whole furling mechanism bent after 3 months. I therefore preferred to replace the "new" mainsail with my old one.
 
dnickj said:
Ravi

another way to reduce the rattle is to tie a mousing line to the top swivel then pull it half way up the mast with the main halyard
then tie the mousing line to the end of the boom and pull tight - this will reduce the rattle but not stop it completely
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I will give that a go tomorrow, before I leave the boat for the winter.
When I moused the halyard, I discovered that it has a curious arrangement. There is a plate, held in place by 1 x large allen bolt above a smaller allen bolt. (From web wisdom, I learned that the top bolt needs to be undone and the lower one only loosened, to remove the halyard.) The end of the main halyard is held in place by being squeezed (friction) between the plates. Compared to a traditional shackle, this seems less secure. My plan, in the spring is to put a soft eye in the main halyard so that, as well as the friction, the halyard will be held in place by the bolt (as a backup). (Maybe, there should already be a soft eye, but, the Z-Spars web site has no info on the main halyard. :-( )

I will give your suggestion a go tomorrow and, while I am away, my neighbors may sleep more peacefully! Ta.
 
Ravi said:
Hi,
My new boat came with a furling mainsail and, having been lifted out, I am removing the sail and rigging for the winter. It is a Z-Spars furling system on a Z-spars mast.

1. Does anyone have any good instructions for removing the furling line? (The instructions on the Z-Spars site are worse than useless.)

2. Now that the sail has been removed, I find that there is a clanking noise in the mast when the boat vibrates in higher winds (or when being vigorously scrubbed!). I will not be on board for long (and it doesn't bother me) but I worry that it may not be good for the gear, itself. I have jammed a large sponge, inside the mast, behind the furling ?spar/tube/spindle? behind the main halyard attachment and that has reduced the rattling but it still rattles a bit, higher up the mast in the moderate winds that we have. (At the minute, the rain is so heavy, I wouldn't be able to hear it, anyway!)
Obviously, there will be stronger winter winds that will rock the boat while I am away for a few months. Is this rattling something that I need to worry about and is there anything that I can do about it?

If anyone can offer any advice, that would be helpful.

After an unusually productive day of winterising work, I knew there would be something to keep me worrying tonight! And all the warps and canvas that I spent the day lovingly, rinsing, rerinsing and washing, and hung out to dry are are now getting a thorough bath in Sahara sand thanks to this rain storm!!!!!! Boats, don't you just love them!

P.S. I know that some people will tell me that they consider it preferable to leave the roller furling should on for the winter but I have removed the sail and don't want to rehoist it, for a number of reasons, unless absolutely unavoidable!

Rav.
Click to expand...
Hello, I know this is now several years since this was posted but I cannot see any change in the ZSpars documentation on their site. How did you go?
Did you find any useful information on this topic? I see the Jeanneau guide is pretty good but the setup is not quite the same a a ZSpars furling main.
Failing that i can only assume that you were able to replace the furling line. I am about to do mine in a Beneteau 34 with the same Furling mast from ZSpars. Ihad a look at it and could not figure out how to get the drum out without using a crowbar, so any help would be appreciated.
 
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