unbending headsail roller reefing gear

[Guest]

While being transported, my Centaur's aluminium headsail roller reefing gear (Tab is the make) suffered about a 30 degree bend over a length of 2 feet, at the bottom. There are slight visible signs of stress in the metal, but no cracks.

Has anyone been in this situation and tried bendng it back - one suggestion so far has been to use a suitable steel pipe or channel, and progressively bend it to fit. I am concerned as to how much strength I might lose - it needs some torsional strength to roll the sail in. Any thoughts? Regards, John B

 

[dickh]

Very difficult to straighten Aluminium extrusions - almost certainly you will not achieve a good result and could put a kink in it. Fit a new extrusion - speak to Tab and see what they say.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[LORDNELSON]

I only have experience of Rotostay furling gear; the foil on these comes in several short lengths scarfed together with four grub screws at each joint. If the Tab gear is similar it should be possible to buy a single length of foil and fit it to the remaining part of your foil. If you find this is possible then it would not hurt to see if you can straighten the existing bit - if it is not satisfactory you can always throw it away. It would be a good idea to find out precisely what metal the foil is made from and then check to see if it will work-harden when you bend it back and what you should do about annealing it.

 

[LadyInBed]

It sounds like an Insurance job to me - nm

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice folks!
John B