Genoa on Harken furler, up hard down easy. Why?

[psk125]

Originally Posted by Pandor

If you have the same problem on two halyards and they both run through the mast on the return then you have wrapped halyards inside the mast. The only solution is to pull individual halyards and use a mousing line from the top of the mast with an 18 inch long bicycle chain tied to it as a weight.

OP has now explained twice that the spinnaker halyard he used is on a separate block OUTSIDE the mast, and that the problem persists with either halyard. This would indicate that the problem is not with the halyard, but with the furler extrusion. Tightening the backstay to reduce forestay sag might help. One possibility is that the extrusion groove may get torqued out of shape when it sags too much, making the slot too thin for the sail to slide easily. It is also possible that excess sag also puts the halyard out of alignment with the slot, making the head of the sail jam as it rises while at the same time the halyard is actually acting to pull the forestay straight. Once the sail is up, the taut halyard has straightened out the forestay so that the sail can drop freely. Try to remove sag and see what happens.

[Pandor]

Just because a spinaker block is on a tang off the front of the mast doesn’t mean that the halyard doesn’t enter the mast a couple of feet below the masthead. That is how they usually work. But yea, if the spin halyard is entirely outside the mast then you may be correct.

[Nekton73]

KrazySailing,


Please clarify whether your spinnaker halyard fall is outside the mast or inside the mast. It will help with considering possible cause(es) and solution(s).


I can attest that a poorly aligned and dirty foil track, saggy forestay, and worn out luff rope adds considerable friction and increases the effort needed to raise a sail. Eliminating those variables will also help problem solving.