sails stuck in mast furling help

[freedom12]

purchased a boat with main in mast sail very lose and will not pull out

What is best/ easiest way to pull fully out?

apparently it was wound up very loose

any helpful ideas would be appreciated

[sailnautilus]

Make, model type of furler?
Have you properly adjusted angle of boom? much written on this....
Have you put someone is a bosuns chair to work at pulling the fabric out as you work at unfurling?
Have you disconnected mandrel and turned in direction of furling in to tighten loose sail fabric around mandrel?
Have you contacted previous owner?
All thoughts which might help......

[Vasco]

No easy way. Bosuns chair. Pull, pull, pull. One inch at a time.

[freedom12]

kind of thought so but was hoping for simple idea

[scotty c-m]

One thing to try:

Pull out, pull in, pull out, pull in etc. Each time you do so, the effort is to see if you can wrap the sail a bit tighter, so that it can come out. I have done this sucessfully in a sail that was stuck a little bit, but not on one that was seriously stuck. Good luck to you.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by freedom12

purchased a boat with main in mast sail very lose and will not pull out

What is best/ easiest way to pull fully out?

apparently it was wound up very loose

any helpful ideas would be appreciated

Check halyard tension and if seems slack - tighten it (but not overtighten!).
Try pulling out and furling back by stages.
Lift somebody up who will pull on leech simultaneously with foot.
Prey to Poseidon😄

[captaingregger]

This is one area that I'm sad to say I have a lot of experience in.

In-mast furlers are a pain. I tolerate mine but I don't think I would ever buy another one.

Here's a few tips:
1) It's all in the furl... IOW, put it back in as tight as you can. When I furl back in I keep about as much pressure as my own stength can handle on the outhaul line. But in reality that's probably not enough. You should probably lock the outhaul line down tight to furl in and repeat that process little by little as you go. This makes the in mast furler cumbersome and tiring

2) As others mentioned, tighen then unfurl, one inch at a time until you get past the stuck section.

3) Scale the mast and use your fingers to release the loose sections. My mast has steps. Admittedly I scale the mast sometimes w/o a bosuns chair or harness but only to just below the first spreader. If I have to go further than that I take a harness with me along with a safety clip I have that rock climbers use. I usually sail single-handed so nobody to crank my up in a bosuns.

In this manner I furl in as tight as I can then I release all 3 lines to looses. I then stick my fingers into the slotted areas where the sail is most pinched. Then I manually pull on the clew and try to sort of unfurl by hand. Inevitably, I often have to come down off the mast and begin cranking on the winch, only to then find a new section of pinching... the cycle repeats. Once I'm past the first spreader the main usually will unfurl. However, the very last time i did this we had a jam all the way to the second spreader. My 10 yr old was with me so I had "some" help but after 45 min of messing with it I just gave up. 10 min into the sail she unfurled herself. Go figure.

Part of that problem was caused when we furled in. It was raining pretty hard, the sail was really wet, so I probably didn't get a tight enough furl in. All that water probably caused here to remain expanded in the mast sleeve.

Now here's a something to ponder... unfurl the sail as far as you can get it then just leave everything uncleated (the furler, outhaul line and outhaul trim), and just go sailing. The jostling of the boat back and forth will usually work the sail free. I've seen this happen many times and indeed it occurred during the last time I unfurled. After 45 min and scaling the mast 3x, I was worn out. I just spun the jib out and said, "let's just go already", 10 min in I head a "BAM" and the main is suddenly free.

The guy next to me at the refit yard was admiring my in-mast furler. I began to tell him all the stories of getting the main stuck and he said, "just unfurl it as far as it will go and go sailing, it will take care of itself." Apparently his last mast was a in-mast furler and that's what he did. Said it worked every time. He switched to a traditional main now and said he misses the in-mast furler. Said it takes 4 men just to move his main so one man dropping it is really tough (he sails single handed mostly as well). His boat looked to be 50', but a much larger 50' cat than most. Very high freeboard, huge gear, his mast much taller than mine. By the end of the conversation, he had me convinced maybe I should keep my in-mast furler. I've been fighting to get it a out all this time. Perhaps the better tact is just unfurl as much as I can and let the wind/ sea do the rest of the work.

[Juho]

As already said, try to tighten the roll inside the mast. Pull the sail out (from the clew corner, maybe pulling slightly downwards) when you can, and then roll it back in. You can also try to help the sail out by hand, standing next to the mast. Push all the folds that try to come out too early back in, and pull the clew corner or leech higher up out when you can. When you get the first round out, the rest should be easier.

When you roll an open sail in, you should probably always brake the outhaul line a bit. Learn what is the best angle of boom in your boat for rolling the sail in so that there will be no folds. If your sails are old and baggy, that could add to the problems.

[Seriously Slow]

I had the same problem on my boat right after I bought it. The PO said " I'm not going to be a teacher". Anyway I tried all ways I could think of to get more pull on the line to no avail. I was amazed when a sailmaker visited and pulled it out of the mast without much effort by bypassing all the sheaves and pulling the line by hand at its' attachment to the sail. Turns out all my blocks, sheaves etc were in sore need of lube or replacement. I now rarely use the winch.
The comment about the angle of the boom is very important for furling it after you solve the immediate problem. The jam could have been caused by improper boom angle allowing the sail to bunch up while furling making it fill the mast more.

[SaltyMetals]

What is happening is that a fold on the next roll on the main is being sucked out with the clew which means that you will have three times the normal thickness trying to come out of the slot. This is what jams it. Just forcing it will not work. You need to be able to get the clew out without pulling out the next roll of sail along with it.

1) Move the stopper on the boom back about 1.5 m (5ft). This will give a better horizontal pull on the clew.
2) reduce the bend in the mast if the shrouds and backstay are so tight as to have put some bend in the mast (you can always tighten this up again later but note how many turns you make to release the tension )
3) Reduce the main halyard tension. This will stop the tendency of an over-tight halyard causing the middle of the rolled main to press against the slot at about 1/3 rd up the mast.
4) While holding tension on the outhaul, tighten the furling line as much as poss. This will tighten the sail inside the mast and make it occupy less space.
5) release the furling line and try pulling on the outhaul again. Needs a winch, manual is not enough.

If not successful then do steps 4 & 5 repeatedly but each time release the outhaul a bit to allow the sail to roll up a bit tighter inside the mast. It needs a bit of patience but unless you do steps 1-3 first you are giving yourself a handicap. You could even try putting a hose on the slot where the main is jamming, the water might help ease it out. I am assuming that your sail material does not expand if it gets wet.
Best of luck.
Andrew

[bkrizmanic]

Originally Posted by meirriba

Check halyard tension and if seems slack - tighten it (but not overtighten!).
Try pulling out and furling back by stages.
Lift somebody up who will pull on leech simultaneously with foot.
Prey to Poseidon😄

I usually free it by easing the haylard, just don't forget to put the tension back on it

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Play with halyard tension and keep in and outing it. Play with boom angle but leave it more loose than tight. I found a mallet and a tool made from a cutting board was useful for the guy in the bosun chair to have (me) to hammer folds back into mast slot as it is the bulges that cause the most trouble. Tight furl is important.

[Augi]

Just curious, what happens if the reverse happens? You need to reef with a squall coming with 50 knots winds and the in mast furler is jammed so you cannot lower the mainsail.

[agilewm]

Originally Posted by freedom12

purchased a boat with main in mast sail very lose and will not pull out

What is best/ easiest way to pull fully out?

apparently it was wound up very loose

any helpful ideas would be appreciated

-----------
Make sure that the mast is really straight for the inside roller to rotate freely. Adjust standing rigging if required. Selden masts have very limited space inside.

Walter

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by captaingregger

This is one area that I'm sad to say I have a lot of experience in.

In-mast furlers are a pain. I tolerate mine but I don't think I would ever buy another one.

Here's a few tips:
1) It's all in the furl... IOW, put it back in as tight as you can. When I furl back in I keep about as much pressure as my own stength can handle on the outhaul line. But in reality that's probably not enough. You should probably lock the outhaul line down tight to furl in and repeat that process little by little as you go. This makes the in mast furler cumbersome and tiring

2) As others mentioned, tighen then unfurl, one inch at a time until you get past the stuck section.

3) Scale the mast and use your fingers to release the loose sections. My mast has steps. Admittedly I scale the mast sometimes w/o a bosuns chair or harness but only to just below the first spreader. If I have to go further than that I take a harness with me along with a safety clip I have that rock climbers use. I usually sail single-handed so nobody to crank my up in a bosuns.

In this manner I furl in as tight as I can then I release all 3 lines to looses. I then stick my fingers into the slotted areas where the sail is most pinched. Then I manually pull on the clew and try to sort of unfurl by hand. Inevitably, I often have to come down off the mast and begin cranking on the winch, only to then find a new section of pinching... the cycle repeats. Once I'm past the first spreader the main usually will unfurl. However, the very last time i did this we had a jam all the way to the second spreader. My 10 yr old was with me so I had "some" help but after 45 min of messing with it I just gave up. 10 min into the sail she unfurled herself. Go figure.

Part of that problem was caused when we furled in. It was raining pretty hard, the sail was really wet, so I probably didn't get a tight enough furl in. All that water probably caused here to remain expanded in the mast sleeve.

Now here's a something to ponder... unfurl the sail as far as you can get it then just leave everything uncleated (the furler, outhaul line and outhaul trim), and just go sailing. The jostling of the boat back and forth will usually work the sail free. I've seen this happen many times and indeed it occurred during the last time I unfurled. After 45 min and scaling the mast 3x, I was worn out. I just spun the jib out and said, "let's just go already", 10 min in I head a "BAM" and the main is suddenly free.

The guy next to me at the refit yard was admiring my in-mast furler. I began to tell him all the stories of getting the main stuck and he said, "just unfurl it as far as it will go and go sailing, it will take care of itself." Apparently his last mast was a in-mast furler and that's what he did. Said it worked every time. He switched to a traditional main now and said he misses the in-mast furler. Said it takes 4 men just to move his main so one man dropping it is really tough (he sails single handed mostly as well). His boat looked to be 50', but a much larger 50' cat than most. Very high freeboard, huge gear, his mast much taller than mine. By the end of the conversation, he had me convinced maybe I should keep my in-mast furler. I've been fighting to get it a out all this time. Perhaps the better tact is just unfurl as much as I can and let the wind/ sea do the rest of the work.

There's got to be something wrong with your sail or setup. You just shouldn't have that much trouble.