How to stop furling line from creeping loose

[hd002e]

I have a run off the mill Harken MKIV 0 furler on a bermuda rigged sloop that I installed a few years ago as an upgrade to the hank on sails I had. Life is great when I unfurl and furl the sail completely. I went the extra mile and got the padded luff headsail to make sure I will be able to keep the sail shape when I partially furl the headsail to "reef". Well, the partial furling works well in theory but not so well in practice. This is because the partially furled sail creeps loose and unfurls itself as the 1/4" line in the drum settles and reseats itself. It does not fully unfurl but just enough to go from the second reefing point to the first and as you may imagine this creates a poorly trimmed headsail because I then have to adjust the jib sheet accordingly. I find myself reefing quite often as I have a fairly large headsail and I am confronted with this issue more often then I would like to. So, I want to improve the situation.

Should I go with a thicker furling line? Or thinner furler line? Should I do dyneema? How can I get rid of this potentially dangerous situation? Thank you in advance for your help!

[Tetepare]

I have the same furler and approximately same size sail. I simply tie off the line, which is whatever the factory provided. Only significant creep is with high winds, and even then not a big deal.

I furl with some pressure on the sail, thus the line is relatively tight as compared to furling a flagging sail which leaves the line loose and likely to bind.

[Dsanduril]

We keep a pretty snug tension on the furling line when we unfurl the sail. That way as the furling line winds up on the drum it is already fairly tight and settled on the drum. If the furling line is slack while unfurling then it ends up loose and fluffy on the drum and you can end up with exactly the behavior you described when partially furling the sail.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

We keep a pretty snug tension on the furling line when we unfurl the sail.

This!

[Bill O]

+1 for keeping tension on the line when unfurling.



The other thing you may be experiencing is compression or tightening of the sail around the furler as the wind pipes up. This will only be a small amount of difference in comparison to the line tightening itself on the drum.

[Calif.Ted]

Rigger suggested using a Harken ratcheting block on the furling line, works well, unfurling hands free, just enough tension going out. From Harken website :

Using a ratchet block on your jib furling line makes unfurling the sail, especially to a reefed position, a much more controlled and pleasant experience (and frees up the winch that you might have used for the same purpose).

https://www.harken.com/article.aspx?...much%20easier.

[hd002e]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

Rigger suggested using a Harken ratcheting block on the furling line, works well, unfurling hands free, just enough tension going out. From Harken website :

https://www.harken.com/article.aspx?...much%20easier.

That is very interesting, so it ratchets when you furl and introduces friction when you are unfurling?

[SaltyMetals]

Agree w all the previous comments . Possibly yr furling line is too stretchy such as a 3 ply nylon. Whatever it is , if the previous suggestions do not fix yr prblm then i suggest you change yr furling line to a low stretch line.
Andrew

[Martkimwat]

Certainly a smaller diameter line will allow less creep and as others have said, furl the sail under tension to where you want it, it will then have less chance to creep. I have gone one step further and spliced a thinner dyneema line to a larger diameter line back from the fuller so I have a nice 10mm line to handle and a 6mm line on the furling drum, it also allows for more line on the furling drum which means that when you furl the sail completely you can wrap an extra half dozen turns around the sail to help keep it furled, it also allows for when the sail is very tightly wrapped around the fuller (as in when you have been out in a blow) and still allows the sail to fully furl.

[contrail]

When reefing, I reef a bit farther than I would want, and within a short time, it winds up just right.

[Dougtiff]

As a Rigger, i like to install a ROPE CLUTCH on the side deck close to the cockpit that can be reached easily when using the Roller Furler, as earlier stated, the furling line must be snug when rolling the sail out, or it can get tangled up in the drum, and then one is unable to furl up , a bad situation, soooo, one way to deal with this potential problem is to have the line running thru the clutch, which is set to put the correct amount of tension on the line, by marking the side of the clutch body with a line corresponding with the angle set for tension you want, the drill is to lift the clutch handle to the mark/angle and forget about it, and go ahead and deal with the sheet, once the sheet is dealt with, lock down the handle, and you good to go, also 1/4 " line is to small to handle, the previous idea of splicing the small line to larger, say 1/2 " works very well, something i do with smaller furlers, hoping this is clear enough, and finally with the clutch installed when not sailing it keeps the line tight,so unable to unroll in high wind conditions.

[Calif.Ted]

Originally Posted by hd002e

That is very interesting, so it ratchets when you furl and introduces friction when you are unfurling?

Exactly, block is fixed when unfurling and has little "gripping" grooves that provide a little tension. Best picture I could find was from a chandlery in UK.
https://dbkgo5nwza3vo.cloudfront.net...ducts/7402.jpg

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

Rigger suggested using a Harken ratcheting block on the furling line, works well, unfurling hands free, just enough tension going out.

Yep, I have one of those as well.it ratchets on the way in. Helps between grabs on the furling line when furling.

As other have said, I also keep a little tension on the line whether rolling out or rolling in. I find it better to get a nice tight furl on the sail this way, reduced chances of strong winds picking up the clew and limits the amount of rain entering the folds.

And it keeps the line nice on the drum . . . .

[AKA-None]

I also sliced a smaller line for the furler so I could keep something easy to handle yet rolled readily.