Poor boom end fittings

[Dr. D]

The in mast furling system on my boat works great, except it takes real grinding on the winch to furl and unfurl.


I can go up on deck and easily pull the sail out by hand. When I pull on the outhaul line where it comes out from the inboard end of the boom (pulling down towards the deck) it is a struggle. Hence, it looks like the boom is the culprit.


At both the outboard end of the boom (where the outhaul line makes a 180 degree turn) and the inboard end of the boom (line makes a 90 degree turn) the outhaul line runs over bare metal, not a sheave. I'm suspecting the friction at those two points makes the effort so large. Might that be the issue?


How difficult would it be to replace the fittings with ones with appropriate sheaves?

[njoynthewater]

We have been experiencing similar problems and have been trying a number of things with some success. Firstly as you suggest friction is your enemy. All those corners that are part of the path to the cockpit add friction. I have been using a dry spray lube on all the pulleys and any slides. Make sure the bearings in the Furler are cleaned and lubed regularly. Look at how the sail enters the mast and adjust the boom so the sail can pass cleanly through the slot and into the mast. Boom angles to the mast makes a difference. We are still tinkering with that but at this point have it up about 8 degrees when we furl. I am certain you will want to add a pulley to get the away from running over bare metal. Combined the above has made a big improvement for us. Good luck with the journey.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

The in mast furling system on my boat works great, except it takes real grinding on the winch to furl and unfurl.


I can go up on deck and easily pull the sail out by hand. When I pull on the outhaul line where it comes out from the inboard end of the boom (pulling down towards the deck) it is a struggle. Hence, it looks like the boom is the culprit.


At both the outboard end of the boom (where the outhaul line makes a 180 degree turn) and the inboard end of the boom (line makes a 90 degree turn) the outhaul line runs over bare metal, not a sheave. I'm suspecting the friction at those two points makes the effort so large. Might that be the issue?


How difficult would it be to replace the fittings with ones with appropriate sheaves?

What size is your boat? It’s hard to imagine that you don’t have sheaves at the boom ends for the outhaul to turn 180 degrees at the aft end and 90 degrees at the front end. Is there room and for some reason the sheaves had been removed? Bare pins seems very weird except for relatively small rigs. If you don’t have room for sheaves then I’m not sure you can retrofit, without significant engineering and welding. Maybe you could mount blocks externally if the boom is not designed for sheaves.

For a sheave you have three dimensions.
- Overall diameter, the larger the less friction, maximum is based on how much room there is available.
- Width, both overall and channel diameter, which determines the maximum line size (diameter).
- Pin diameter, determines the size of the hole in the sheave. Should be big enough to handle the loads. Can also consider a bushing to provide more wear resistance and less friction than the acetal of the sheave.

[Tillsbury]

Someone’s ditched the blocks. Go spend some money on reasonably quality ball bearing sheaves and wonder at the difference they make. I’d put money on no Beneteau ever leaving the yard with an outhaul running over bare metal instead of a block.

Or, look for an unused sheave at the end of your boom. Is it possible some idiot has previously rigged it wrongly?

[Dr. D]

To clarify, I bought the boat (34' overall) last year new late in the year. I have had the main unfurled a number of times, but each time wondering when it was going to get easier to unfurl and furl. This time I had enough and climbed up on deck with SailKote to get all turning parts lubricated. That is when I noticed no sheaves.


I contacted the dealership and they checked another Oceanis 35.1 they have in inventory. No sheaves. They then contacted the boom manufacturer (Sparcrat) who stated the boom was built to Beneteau specifications.


The dealer sent a message to Beneteau HQ asking about the situation. May have to wait some time for an answer. Turns out Beneteau HQ is closed for August.

[Mike Banks]

Almost certainly that is the issue--and it seems to me that no designer worth a damn would have used that system--so something may be missing. All I can suggest for a quick fix is to use friction less rings--they can be lashed firmly to the metal that is presently serving as a turning point. These will get you sailing more safely. Plastic or nylon grooved pulleys tend to degrade, split and fall off eventually--which is may be what happened to the original system.

[Dr. D]

The dealership sent a picture (which I think is attached) of the aft end of the boom. No sheave -- never was a sheave there.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

The dealership sent a picture (which I think is attached) of the aft end of the boom. No sheave -- never was a sheave there.

That’s a pretty awful design!

[CFS Klopas]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

Is it possible some idiot has previously rigged it wrongly?

I resemble that remark. I recently removed the sheave for my reef line there with a blowtorch and knife during a several hour project to thread a new reef line through the boom. The tiny gap between the sheave and the clew end of the boom precluded pulling the line through. Bare metal pin now

To answer the OP's question, it would be very difficult to replace the sheave, perhaps by disassembling the boom.

[Glassdog]

Spar craft makes good products and every one of their boom ends I have ever seen has at least two and often three sheaves. It looks as though there are some cheeks inside the boom end and if they have a hole through them perhaps you are simply missing the blocks and the pins that they turn on. Also, what about that big captive pin across the boom end? Perhaps it could carry a Sheve or two . I find it hard to believe that Bene would sell a new boat with such a half assed system, heads should roll!

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by CFS Klopas

I resemble that remark. I recently removed the sheave for my reef line there with a blowtorch and knife during a several hour project to thread a new reef line through the boom. The tiny gap between the sheave and the clew end of the boom precluded pulling the line through. Bare metal pin now

To answer the OP's question, it would be very difficult to replace the sheave, perhaps by disassembling the boom.

Lol

On every boom I've had, the end fitting is only attached with a few screws to the boom itself, as there's nothing pulling it out. Unscrew those, release the lines, and the whole thing comes away to allow access and maintenance and replacement of the blocks, and to allow the inner block cars to be pulled right through and out the end if needed. If there really is no facility to have a sheave mounted where that outhaul looks like it already runs round one, then you could attach a block to the metal pin with a soft shackle perhaps? It has to be done somehow -- you can't carry on with an arrangement like that.

[inspectr]

See this link for the LF 220 boom end fitting
Booms ends
The boom end fitting does not have a sheave.
Promoted as zero maintenance?
My Dufour 35 has an older style sparcraft boom and end fitting with four sheaves available.
Once you figure out the extrusion number you may be able to fit the older style
Just looking at the pic, the rope looks too big for the slot, maybe one size smaller rope could reduce friction?

[RaymondR]

Had a similar problem with my main halyard, it would hoist fairly freely until the main was about half way up and then require winching. I replaced the sheave in the masthead which had been damaged by the excessive load but still had the problem. When I checked the specifications I found that the halyard was 2mm larger in diameter than the specification for the sheave and suspect that when the load came on the halyard it was "flattening" and jamming against the cheek plates. I have now changed to a smaller diameter rope but have not yet had the sail up to check whether this has solved the problem.

[Dr. D]

Bingo!


inspectr nails it and RayondR follows up on the topic. The info sheet for the LF 220 boom end fitting states it is for a range of boats, including the Oceanis 35 (model one year before my Oceanis 35.1). The LF 220 features lightweight and no maintenance -- and no sheaves....

[Tillsbury]

That's outrageous. No wonder people slate small production boats.