Difficulty Furling Genoa

[Liunatic]

Nigel1 --"is that a short pennent between the head of the sail and the swivel?? " I have no idea. I will have to research what a short pennent is and get back to you. If there is a short pennent, then is that the way things should look?

Carstenb -- " something doesn't look exactly right at the very top furl. any chance you could be furling the sail in the wrong direction?" Anything is possible. I have been stalking other sailboats at the marina to see how things compare to our stuff, and I have noticed that our sail is not as tightly wrapped as others. I thought this was because we had difficulty furling it and it was sloppy as a result. How would I know? Seriously, what would I look at to indicate -- well, wait a minute, it does have Sunbrella edging, and that IS on the outside of the sail when wrapped. Wouldn't it be on the inside if it was wrapped wrong?

We have only sailed her in light winds so far -- only oppurtunities we've had to get out there -- so we have not even had the whole sail unfurled!! When I went to take the pics the other night we did not have time to take her out and the wind was a bit blowy at the dock so I did not unfurl the sail to check out the top, vis-a-vis, halyard wrap. Hopefully this weekend will be good weather and we will get out there and I will open her up all the way and pay CLOSE attention to what is going on up there.

Otherwise, I am sure a good cleaning is in order, because although we don't know, we suspect she sat around in Newport Harbor for a good bit of time with no love.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. I LOVE this place

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Liunatic

Nigel1 --"is that a short pennent between the head of the sail and the swivel?? " I have no idea. I will have to research what a short pennent is and get back to you. If there is a short pennent, then is that the way things should look?

Carstenb -- " something doesn't look exactly right at the very top furl. any chance you could be furling the sail in the wrong direction?" Anything is possible. I have been stalking other sailboats at the marina to see how things compare to our stuff, and I have noticed that our sail is not as tightly wrapped as others. I thought this was because we had difficulty furling it and it was sloppy as a result. How would I know? Seriously, what would I look at to indicate -- well, wait a minute, it does have Sunbrella edging, and that IS on the outside of the sail when wrapped. Wouldn't it be on the inside if it was wrapped wrong?

We have only sailed her in light winds so far -- only oppurtunities we've had to get out there -- so we have not even had the whole sail unfurled!! When I went to take the pics the other night we did not have time to take her out and the wind was a bit blowy at the dock so I did not unfurl the sail to check out the top, vis-a-vis, halyard wrap. Hopefully this weekend will be good weather and we will get out there and I will open her up all the way and pay CLOSE attention to what is going on up there.

Otherwise, I am sure a good cleaning is in order, because although we don't know, we suspect she sat around in Newport Harbor for a good bit of time with no love.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. I LOVE this place

yes it should be on the inside if wrapped wrong. But you really do need to drop that sail and check everything. Then rehoist.

When you have the sail off, try the furled and see if the foil is straight or if it sags as you roll. If it sags, then it needs adjustment. Yours is a masthead rig, so tightening up the backstay might help.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day again, Liunatic,

My previous post referred only to the issue of halyard wrap at the top. I agree that the offset shown between the head of the sail and the halyard indicates that there may well be excess friction in the upper swivel, but there is no halyard wrap involved. I believe that you said that it was a Furlex unit. If so, the upper swivel has spots where you are supposed to insert grease at regular intervals. This is often overlooked in practice, and the grease that is in the bearings hardens up over time and increases friction, sometimes greatly, and this can lead to the sort of problem that you report.

If this has occurred simple rinsing will not clean it up. I've had some luck squirting automotive de-greaser into the bearings, followed by vigorous working back and forth. Then rinse with very hot water, repeating until it is free. Then inject new grease into the marked slots. Note that you can do all of this without removing the swivel from the foil. It does make a mess on the foredeck, though!

But whatever the problem is, as everyone has said, you must lower the sail and get it off the foil to access the swivel. At that point you can also asses the friction in the lower unit.

Oh, the sail is not wrapped backwards... as you noted, the sunshield is on the outside!

Good luck with it,

Jim

[mr-canada]

careful note: Many bearings are a special plastic type that is lubricated with fresh water. Grease will destroy the bearings.

Get the manual for your furler on line or from the manufacturer before greasing any swivel. My Hood furler's manual says to lubricate simply spray fresh water on it. My problem turned out to be halyard wrap that trashed the stay into meathooks. I thought that lubrication was part of the problem and I was way off.

[2Wind]

Not withstanding several comments above to the contrary, I'd be betting on the halyard wrap myself, having had this issue myself. I would place a strop between the sail head and the swivel to allow it to move close to but still, say, 10cm from the mast block thus ensuring that the halyard runs at an angle over 45 degrees to the stay. This will eliminate any tendency for halyard wrap, which manifests itself exactly as you describe. Worked for me. Good luck.

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by Liunatic

So here is a pic of the line and knot in the drum. The tail of the knot is wrapped in black tape, so it might be hard to distinguish.

Obviously the other pic is the top of the sail.

If anything looks out of place, I would be happy to hear about it.

Things I notice.

1) You have a halyard restrainer. I have one and just had it installed. GOOD! In theory halyard wrap shouldnt be an issue if the guy who installed it knew what he was doing. Tension on the halyard could cause wrap, but you will just have to experiment as different halyard types/sail/furler types and watch to see what happens on your own boat.

2) That knot in your drum has to go. I dont think it is a big part of your porblem but get rid of it. Maybe get a rigger or someone who knows what they're doing to make a continuous splice. I watched my rigger do one in about 5 minutes so if a rigger is already kicking around its no big deal. You might have to buy some more nylon line.

3) Single line furler. I hate these things I dont know why they even make them with LD furlers, but I'm a contrarian on that one. Too many things to go wrong and too much line in one spot for reliability. Hopefully I dont get flamed for speaking my mind on that one.

4) Rigger. Get one. Find out whats going on. It may sound expensive, but if you look long and hard for a non-crook rigger they can save you a killing. DIY on your rigging can get real expensive real fast if you dont do it right.