Roller Furling Question..

[Mark1977]

My new to me boat has a roller furler, harken. I have not had the luxury of having one before.
I find it a bit slack and have adjusted it all the way, my back stay seem tight as well. I went to another boat and seems about the same, Is this normal to have it a bit loose? Is it just the weight of the sail and foil maybe on the stay that makes it that way?

Second question....do I just roll the release cord back on the drum?
Sorry for the noob questions, just first time useing one.

[model 10]

Think backwards when you rig the furling line.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Mark1977

My new to me boat has a roller furler, harken. I have not had the luxury of having one before.
I find it a bit slack and have adjusted it all the way, my back stay seem tight as well. I went to another boat and seems about the same, Is this normal to have it a bit loose? Is it just the weight of the sail and foil maybe on the stay that makes it that way?

Second question....do I just roll the release cord back on the drum?
Sorry for the noob questions, just first time using one.

Presuming this is the 26 foot boat in your profile. Think of the rig and the furler separately. First the rig should be in tune. Is this a masthead rig? - it oughtta be.

The rig should be tuned. Mast straightness, bend (if specified) and shroud, forestay and backstay tension. Just tightening the shrouds and backstay will put the mast top back and the mast will be out of rig even thought you got the forestay tight.

If the shrouds were ever replaced the new cable can stretch and the rig needs retune. If the furler was added then the forestay was probably new and it has stretched.

My boat partner made the mistake of overtightening the jib halyard to take out the sag. He basically overloaded the upper and lower drum and the forestay was not doing it's job. The lower drum failed in a blow.
Expensive lesson.

As far as loading the drum not sure of the question - With the sail furled in there should be some line wraps left on the drum.

In a blow the sail will wrap tighter and you will need a few extra turns on the drum to stow it all the way.

if there are not 5 turns or so you can disconnect the tack, turn the drum a few times and reconnect the tack.

[hlev00]

Also, one side of your sail along the leech and foot is sewn (should be) a UV cover. On many boats this is an obvious contrasting blue or green, possibly to match the canvas on the boat. Others, like mine happens to be white. Assuming the sail and drum are wound correctly you don't need to worry about it until you replace the line. At that time, especially with a white UV cover, if you don't pay attention to which way the line is fed onto the drum, you end up without the UV protection. It should be obvious early on with the contrasting UV cover.