Genoa furler for 49ft cat with 9/16" Stay

[Pacey16]

I currently have a Facnor L200 furler on my Freydis 49 which is very stiff to furl, i have read this is a common problem with these furlers.
I was looking to replace it with a Profurl C430 which is rated for a 52ft boat but states a max stay diameter of 1/2".
Does anyone know if it is possible to fit the C430 by drilling out the bushes?

[Mischief_Inc]

Why are you trying to stuff larger rigging wire into the furler than it was designed for? Particularly as doing such mod's are likely to delete any warranty that would otherwise come with said hardware. And your query also begs the question(s), is the headstay the correct size? And if it is then one would surmise that the loads on it are fairly high, so then undersizing the furler would be unwise. Non?

BTW, the "bushes" are what holds the sections of the furler's extrusion together. As in they're structural connections. Which, common sense would suggest that boring them out would weaken them. Perhaps leading to their early demise, probably at a VERY inconvenient moment. Like when you need to furl the jib NOW due to sudden high winds. And were the furler to break at that moment... Let's just say that Tarzan would definitely call that "Bad Juju". And said flailing jib in high winds could even have catestrophic consquences for the rig.

Talk to the manufacturer. And get everything in writing (meaning the company's okay), prior to doing any machining.

[Jeannius]

What sort of year is your Facnor gear? The top bearing of my 2002 gear failed around 2008 after very heavy use. The replacement, complete, upper fitting was much more substantial and was still working well after a circumnavigation so it might be worthwhile just replacing with updated Facnor stuff.