Furler Questions

[Dulcesuenos]

I have a few furler Questions I'm hoping someone can help older 1995 profurl ç480?
1. The luff rope pretty feeder is 2 feet above the attachment point at the base for the sail . The nice chrome pre feeder prevents the sail from going into the track beneath it so their a little jog in the luff line. When the jib is hoisted tight. Is this normal? I could remove the smooth pre feeder once the sail is up and then put the bottom 2ft in but there are a couple sharp edges that will cut into the luff tape.

2. The halyard bearing on ours has a metal bar stock that is supposed to slide up into a wrap stop that limits the twist on the part the halyard is tied to. Ours is 8 inches too short to reach but seems to furl just fine and has for several years. In the manual it[IMG][/IMG] doesn't even show this so I'm guessing it's OK? But would like input.
3. Lastly,has anyone drilled the area between the bearings a day fitted a grease nipple for maintenance?

Thanks for any input

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

I have a few furler Questions I'm hoping someone can help older 1995 profurl ç480?
1. The luff rope pretty feeder is 2 feet above the attachment point at the base for the sail . The nice chrome pre feeder prevents the sail from going into the track beneath it so their a little jog in the luff line. When the jib is hoisted tight. Is this normal? I could remove the smooth pre feeder once the sail is up and then put the bottom 2ft in but there are a couple sharp edges that will cut into the luff tape.

2. The halyard bearing on ours has a metal bar stock that is supposed to slide up into a limiter that limits the twist on the part the halyard is tied to. Ours is 8 inches too short to reach but seems to furl just fine and has for several years. In the manual it doesn't even show this so I'm guessing it's OK? But would like input.
3. Lastly,has anyone drilled the area between the bearings a day fitted a grease nipple for maintenance?

Thanks for any input

The metal bar at the top bearing is there for a reason, my guess your sail is small for the furler dimensions, add a long bar who can reach the black top stopper its peace of mind..

I dont know your model really well but in most profurls there is a small ss ball in a tiny hole in the drum between the bearings , this is a grease nipple, if not,, drilling the drum could be no problem if you drill exactly in the midle of top and bottom bearings, otherwhise you can miss the point and drill where the bearings are. not good.. Cheers.

[Dulcesuenos]

Thanks, it looks like the wrap stop is adjustable, I'm guessing when I had the forestry eplacd they didn't put it back correctly.

[boatman61]

Its always been my understanding that Profurl were maintainance free.. the only requirement being to blast occasionally with fresh water to clear away salt and dust deposits.. not sure how the bearings would react to grease being pumped in there.

[Boatguy30]

The small ball is there for a air vent during factory assembly at least this was profurl US explanation 10 years ago. I think they are sealed bearings so you would have to drill all the way thru the race to get any grease in.

Add a short strop to head or tack to allow swivel to hoist fully.

[neilpride]

Nah, they are open race ball bearings , I have in the shop few replacement profurl bearings, that's why there is a nitrile lip seal at the top and bottom, the small ss tiny ball its in fact a needle grease nipple. one in the drum and another one in the top swivel ...

[Dulcesuenos]

What about the bottom foot of the luff line not being in the track, should that be an issue?
As for the top of the jib I can allow it to go up a little but the pulley for the jib halyard is far enough beneath the forestay that it won't reach no matter what. The wrap stop mounts on the wire, and can't go lower.

[IdoraKeeper]

When the sail is fully hoisted the feeder should be removed and stowed. The bottom foot is not an issue if the halyard is tensioned properly.

[um saudade]

Leaving the luff feeder in place does not normally cause any chafe on the jib. Then it’s there when you need it.


The space from the feeder to the lower swivel is a blessing for it allows you to use an appropriate tack pendant so the hoist is correct at the head of the sail. It won’t effect sail trim enough that you could ever see it or tell it. Think hanks—they are spaced, not solid and work just fine.


If I understand what you are saying about the geometry at the mast head, the halyard sheave is so far below the line of the forestay that the top swivel does not go high enough to catch in the wrap stop. It generally means they ran the foil up too far. You can’t go to higher with the swivel because the tension exerted on the halyard is becoming tangential to the stay. I have seen this on several boats and while the angle of the halyard to the line of the stay does put some side pressure on the swivel, the halyard angled away from the stay is also a built in wrap preventer as it is just about impossible for the swivel to wrap around the stay unless you hang the sail in the track somehow and then take all the tension off of the halyard at the head of the sail. This poor geometry is a little hard on the upper swivel bearing which is made of acetyl. Plan on replacing that bearing once and a while. The good news is you can usually do it with everything in place and don’t have to lower the rigging.


I have never seen a worn out bearing in a Profurl. The actual wear on these bearings is nil. They fail due to contamination caused by leaking seals. Replace the seals every now and then and repack the bearings is all that’s usually needed. Any decent greased ball bearing will rotate billions of times before it uses up the lubricant and fails. How many revolutions does the swivel make to furl or deploy the jib?


Adding a grease fitting would be a mistake, I think. The bearings never want for grease if properly packed at installation. If the seals were shaky, you could force enough grease into the swivel to flush some of the contamination out of the bearings but then you have a constant greasy mess on things that you don’t really want grease on. Flushing a bearing works fine if you don’t care where the old grease goes when it comes out.