Roller Furler - Sticking or Binding

[Tom Foley]

Today we took our first sail of the season even though I put the sails on a month ago. Wind was only 5-10 knots this PM. I put up the main and then I released the control line on the furler holding my UK 150 Genoa. It only went out a third and then stopped. I pulled hard on the sheets even using the winch handle and nothing happened. I didn't go forward because i don't have a harness. We sailed like that unhappily for three hours and went in at 4PM. Upon reaching the dock I turned the furler by hand with no problem. I decided to take the sail down and see if everything turned freely and it did. I have had my CD25 for seven years and have not had this problem before. I did lube both rollers this spring an will do it again. The control line is about 3/8" rope. Is it too thin/thick? Any suggestions will be very welcome.

[Steve Kuhar]

Tom,

You did not say what type of roller furling you have, but the most common cause of the problem that you describe is "halyard wrap". This is caused by not having the swivel fixture high enough on the foil, or by not having the required angle between the halyard and the foil. More rarely halyard wrap can happen because of excess halyard tension. If the system has always worked before, and the problem occured the first time after you attached the sails I suspect your sail just needs to be higher on the foil. By the way, don't use a winch or excess force if the sail jams when unfurling, you can damage the system and get the wrap so tight that the sail won't furl, unfurl, or come down. Then you will really have a mess.

Steve Kuhar

[dasein668]

It can also occur if you have a closed drum if either: the furling line leads poorly into the drum and collects all at the top or bottom or if you get a hockle in the furling line which jams up on the opening to the drum.

To help prevent either of those issues I never just cast off the furling line, but rather keep it hooked over the horn of a cleat and ease it out as the sail unfurls keeping light tension on the line.

[Dalton]

I can tell my back stay is just right when the roller furler stops sticking.

[Dean Abramson]

Is it possible that is was simply that the furling line got a kink in it and snagged somewhere, and you did not notice? On our boat, because of the way the PO mounted the cleat (whose base the line runs thru), and the size of the cleat (too small), this is a common scenario. High on my list to fix.

This does sound like probably halyard-wrap, though.

Dean

[RIKanaka]

The other danger, Will Robinson, of winching the jibsheet against strong resistance from the furler is, if for some reason the turnbuckle is caught in the furler foil or drum, you may unwind the turnbuckle off the forestay resulting in a dismasting.

[mahalocd36]

Hi,

Like someone else suggested, if not halyard wrap, it might have been the furling line.

This happened to us once, actually we couldn't furl it back up I think, and it was due to an override on the furling drum. Don't know what brand you have but we have Profurl and you can see the line on the drum. We now are more careful in unfurling to keep light tension on the furling line. And, we also shortened our furling line from the original - there was a lot of excess which made for a very full drum which also sometimes caused difficulties.

Melissa

[Ed Haley]

Lots of good advice. However, if your problem is due to a halyard wrap, to help prevent this, you should keep your jib halyard tight, not loose. A tight halyard will decrease the possibility that the halyard will twist around the headstay.

Some other helpful guidelines are as follows (from J-World):

SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS:

1. HALYARD WRAP. The jib halyard should be taut at all times to prevent "halyard wrap" a condition in which the jib halyard is pulled out of the mast and wraps around the headstay when the sail is unfurled, tightens around the headstay wire, unlaying and weakening it. The symptoms of this condition are resistance when the sail is furled or unfurled or the inability to furl or unfurl the sail fully. If this condition occurs look aloft to be sure the jib halyard is not wrapping around the headstay--it should lead directly from the mast to the top furler swivel. If it is wrapped, do not use the boat since significant damage may have occurred. Furl the sail by hand by wrapping the sail manually around the headstay. It may be useful to untie the jib sheets to do this but reattach them after manually furling the sail.

2. FURLING LINE JAMMED OR JUMPS THE DRUM. Sometimes, if the sail is unfurled too quickly the furling line cannot unreel quickly enough and begins rewinding on the drum in the opposite direction (backlashing) similar what happens on a fishing reel that is unreeled too quickly. If this happens manually turn the furling drum until the rewrapped section of furling line can be pulled free. If the furling line jumps the drum, realign it so it does not drag over the cage surrounding the drum but wraps cleanly on the drum itself.

WARNING: Never use a winch to furl the sail.

[Tom Foley]

Thanks for all the advice. I remember tightening my back stay this spring more than usual because it seemed loose. Today I loosened it two full turns which gives it about1/8 inch more length. I also re greased all the grease spots. I have always attached the genoa directly to the base of the Furlex leaving the halyard about a foot from the top of the mast. I am careful to put some tension on it to keep from turning. I will hold the furl control line against a cleat to give it some tension while unfurling

Tom

[Dean Abramson]

Tom,

If I were you, I would consider a short pennant below the tack, to get the sail up higher, and have less halyard in play. That's what I have had to do.

I have had halyard wraps twice. Once was at the mooring in dead calm, when I had changed headsails. The local sailmaker sent a guy out, right then (!), and straightened that out, God bless 'em.

The other time was also at the mooring recently, in 10-12 knots of wind, in the esteemed presence of our own Rich Abato. We got the sucker down, finally, but not without a bit of drama.

I have nightmares about what it would be like to have a halyard wrap in a bad place and time while underway, and have the sail refuse to furl. I have read that sometimes the only solution is to motor around in circles as it wraps itself up. I personally would rather have the sail up a bit higher, than to worry about that. And heck, there is more wind up there! Seriously, I doubt you would notice any increased heeling or other downside.

Dean