Why does the furling drum of the Genoa always seem to be too low?

[Nostrodamus]

I am sure others have this problem as well.
Looking at our boat and many others around the marina the furling drum always seems to sit well down in the pulpit below the guard rails. Even though we had new sails when we set off and had the foot raised they still do not clear the pulpit and over the last few years have worn the UV strip where it goes over.

I have put some plastic rollers over the guard rails and wrapped tape around the guard rail and station where they join as the circlip there was scratching the sail.
I am also having an extra patch put on the UV strip where it goes over.

Has anyone else got this problem and is there a solution. I suppose the best way would be to make the furling drum higher which is totally impracticable and not cost effective when the sails are already made.

 

[Talulah]

Too low down and it's a bugger to launch the anchor.
Solution is to have a strop between the sail and the furling drum assuming there is room at the top of the extrusion to raise the height of the sail.

 

[NormanS]

My Furlex has a link under it to raise it up. This means that the genoa foot just clears the pulpit, and the furler drum is clear for anchoring.

 

[cowpat]

To fit link under the drum means you have to shorten the forestay (assuming sail has room to go up)
Easy if it is the screw type that can be done in place.

 

[awol]

Your mistake is using the furling headsail when off the wind. Hoist the Code 0. spinnaker, whatever instead and your wear problem is solved.

 

[chinita]

Perhaps the reason the furling drum is low is because the foot of the genoa needs to be low? It needs to be low for maximum efficiency.

However, you could use a wire strop to extend the distance between the top of the furler and the foot of the headsail (enough to clear the pulpit); assuming you have enough space at the top of the forestay to take up the resultant extra. Don't remove any strop you have on the swivel at the top of the forestay or you will risk halliard wrap.

Standing by for the professionals to appear.........

 

[flaming]

Iover the last few years have worn the UV strip where it goes over.

Raising the foot of the sail will lose you area, and also any chance of an end plate effect where the sail hits the deck. Your choice of course, but I would think that replacing the UV strip every few years was an acceptable trade off for a better performing sail.

 

[Talulah]

Raising the foot of the sail will lose you area, and also any chance of an end plate effect where the sail hits the deck. Your choice of course, but I would think that replacing the UV strip every few years was an acceptable trade off for a better performing sail.

Personally I prefer a raised sail. Trading performance for visibility.

 

[Nostrodamus]

Personally I prefer a raised sail. Trading performance for visibility.

That was one of the problems with the old sail which was set lower... you could not see past it when it was out without swinging the boat or going half way down the deck.

 

[Wansworth]

Another idea taken from the racing man looking for the last gram of power whereas ,as pointed out the cruisin man wants visability and Access to the bloody anchour.I have the same problema on my Albin Vega.The waters ain the fjords is so deep that the designers dismissed the use of anchours as a norm so thw problema is acentuated but in british designs the roller still has not been thought about for cruising boats.

 

[knuterikt]

I am sure others have this problem as well.
Looking at our boat and many others around the marina the furling drum always seems to sit well down in the pulpit below the guard rails. Even though we had new sails when we set off and had the foot raised they still do not clear the pulpit and over the last few years have worn the UV strip where it goes over.

I have put some plastic rollers over the guard rails and wrapped tape around the guard rail and station where they join as the circlip there was scratching the sail.
I am also having an extra patch put on the UV strip where it goes over.

Has anyone else got this problem and is there a solution. I suppose the best way would be to make the furling drum higher which is totally impracticable and not cost effective when the sails are already made.

Boat owners have different priorities..
Some want the tack on the sail as far down as possible to get more sail area and have the center of effort as far down as possible (I replaced the furling system last year and moved the tack down because the new furling system has a low profile drum - Facnor FD system)
Others want the tack siting higher for the reasons you stated.

Covering all the hard stuff that can chafe the sail is good practice, you can also use stick on patches to add extra protection to the sail.
Regularly check of the sail to detect wear points and add protection is good practice.

If the only problem is the height of the sail (not clearance for anchor) and your sail is short enough raising the furling drum is not necessary. You could add a strop between the furling drum and the tack of the sail.
If the hoist of the sail is to long you would have to cut down the sail to achieve this - if you ever plan on getting a new sail you could get sail with shorter luff length.

 

[Pye_End]

I have a webbing strop on the bottom of the genoa which allows it to clear the pushpit. The height of the roller furling is really irrelevant as a sail can be set much higher. Probably some loss of performance, but visibility and chafe are much better.

 

[bignick]

Boat owners have different priorities..
Some want the tack on the sail as far down as possible to get more sail area and have the center of effort as far down as possible (I replaced the furling system last year and moved the tack down because the new furling system has a low profile drum - Facnor FD system)
Others want the tack siting higher for the reasons you stated.

That's exactly my problem and my preference too. I wish my furling drum was below deck so that the genoa had as long a luff length (for efficiency) as possible.

 

[cowpat]

Have stopped using a Genoa mainly because of this and don't seem to get any extra pull in light winds. Now we have the high cut sail always in the forestay foil. I hope this is of some help. Chris.

 

[PabloPicasso]

Another idea taken from the racing man looking for the last gram of power whereas ,as pointed out the cruisin man wants visability and Access to the bloody anchour.I have the same problema on my Albin Vega.The waters ain the fjords is so deep that the designers dismissed the use of anchours as a norm so thw problema is acentuated but in british designs the roller still has not been thought about for cruising boats.

Offset the anchor launch point? As long as the chain goes over the roller?

 

[dunedin]

Raising the foot of the sail will lose you area, and also any chance of an end plate effect where the sail hits the deck. Your choice of course, but I would think that replacing the UV strip every few years was an acceptable trade off for a better performing sail.

+1 Low is better for efficiency.

However unless you are crossing oceans, the sail should not chafe as badly as yours seems to. Have you checked the pulpit, guardwires and connections very carefully for any sharp bits (eg frayed wire strands or clevis rings). Ours touches the rails and not had any issues

 

[lw395]

Too low?
The drum should be below decks.
If you want to set a high clew jib of some sort, feel free.
You can always wind a couple of turns in and the foot of the genoa will be raised. Magick!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

This isn't a problem with the design of the Roller Furler. It's a problem with the design of the pulpit. This is why many modern pulpits are open fronted and have the front upright raked back a bit. It allows the sail to slip over more easily. Still not perfect but probably as good as the regulations allow.

 

[Greenheart]

I've so far gladly put up with the disadvantages of keeping the genoa's foot 4" or 5" above the foredeck, whatever those disadvantages may be...the boat's progress and handling doesn't apparently suffer, and I greatly benefit from not having a huge leeward blindspot.

I'm wondering how I'll rearrange my forestay attachment to position the new roller-drum. I suppose I'll have to put a new bolt in the deck about 3" ahead of the present footing, to attach the existing forestay...that should allow enough gap for the rolled genoa on its boltrope, and the diameter of the drum itself...am I overlooking anything?

View attachment 36275

Sorry, pic is on its side.

 

[chewi]

Why not reef the sail to avoid the chafe? Surely that's better than having a permanently smaller sail.