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Old 06-22-2014, 06:01 AM   #1
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Default Furler problems

I'm determined to sail Shenoa around the Brisbane River this visit, but I'm having some issues with the furler and just can't seem to resolve them.

So far I have found and fixed two problems: the spool feeder wasn't tied off, and so rotated with the spool; and the furling line was ordinary green hardware store rope, so I replaced that yesterday with Donaghy's 6mm Southern Ocena. So far so good.

The issue now is that the uphaul line is tangling around the forestay and according to my view of the design it can't do anything else. I'll describe the way it's rigged. Photos would be better but unfortunately my camera can't do it justice at this distance.

The uphaul goes inside the mast and exits over a pulley at the top. It runs parallel to the stay until it reaches a pair of pulleys attached to the furler's aluminium body. It goes through these and is then attached to the top of the sail by a shackle. When I pull on the jib sheet the whole thing turns, pulleys and all, and tangles the uphaul onto the stay.

Anyone have an idea of how this is actually supposed to work, or a reference to a website with good photos?
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Old 06-22-2014, 06:46 AM   #2
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I have given this some thought and from your description, I think you may have a Reefurl system. It is an excellent system designed and built in Airlie Beach.

Essentially the foil around the forestay is a mast. At the bottom is the roller drum and at the top there is a block. To set the sail in place, you run a halyard through the block at the top of the foil and attach it with a shackle to the head of the jib.

Then raise the jib along the track in the foil. Then by drawing the halyard tight, you will tension the luff. Then tie it off to the top of the drum which should be fitted with a spare shackle on its upper.

When that is done, you can wrap the sail around the foil using the furling line. I suggest the halyard you have tried to use may be for the spinnaker, or a staysail. With Reefurl, it is impossible to use a masthead halyard.

The only thing that has me a bit stumped is the dual blocks you say are at the top. Perhaps the foil has a Gemini track for goose-winging down wind(?!)
Here's a shot of the Reefurl doodad Reefurl Roller Reefing Roller Furling Systems
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Old 06-22-2014, 03:47 PM   #3
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This furler is a lot fancier than the Reefurl system but I believe the principle may be the same. It hadn't occurred to me that the halyard should be returned to the top of the drum and that makes sense. So, in fact there's no halyard fitted at all for the furler, and the one for the inner stay has been used instead to raise the sail.

There's no gemini track, but on reflection there may not be a pair of blocks up there after all either. If the rigging had been correct as it stands then it would have required this - even though I could only see one pulley from deck level - but apparently this is just another example of some f*ckwit getting the rigging wrong, and the halyard is probably running against the underside of the block's frame.

Pity that Pete Winning's in Sydney, it will more than likely need a climber to fix this mess. Thanks Auzzee.
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Old 06-23-2014, 02:10 AM   #4
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After some deliberation I may have a way to fix this. Here's the plan:

1. Wait for a calm day, bring the furled sail down to the deck.
2. Detach the shackle on the halyard and, using my awl, sew the end of a new 6mm rope to the end of the halyard.
3. Pull the halyard back up until the join exits the block atop the furler foil.
4. Using two joined lengths of 1" PVC conduit and a wire hook, snag the join and bring it to deck level.
5. Remove stitching and attach shackles. We now have the line in place, so rigging proceeds as normal.

Well, I'm off to my brother's place for a few days. Need a shower and a good feed, and the TV antenna on the yacht is useless. And besides I need to collect some mail.
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Old 06-26-2014, 01:04 AM   #5
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Get photos of the bits and pieces while you have it all down. I've seen a dozen or more similar systems in my time and they all are different but I've figured most of them out.

The standard mechanism has a furler drum at the bottom attached to a luff foil, and a swivel at the top. The drum and foil rotate as you pull on the furling line and the sail wraps around that. The swivel attaches to both the halyard and the sail and allows the sail to rotate while the forestay stays in place.

There are all sorts of variations to that, though, including systems without a swivel (that just allow the sail to twist up as it furls and untwist as it unfurls), and systems where the sail hanks on to the forestay and the entire forestay rotates along with the drum (and there is obviously a swivel between the forestay and the hounds).

Then there's Profurl. Made in France. Comes apart with 7 screws. 2 flat head, 2 cross head and 3 hex head. The hex head screws are 3 different sizes. 2 metric and one imperial. Only the French would do that. Never again.
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Old 06-26-2014, 01:35 AM   #6
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Will be trying to re-rig it in situ rather than bringing it down so no photo opportunity will present itself. It's slightly different to most, the sail can be raised and lowered using a block at the top swivel. Handy if you like to remove the sail and store it during hurricane season or something I guess.

When I eventually have the cash to take her to Coomera for a paint I'll bring the mast down and replace all the standing rigging, it looks a bit tired. The inner stay has a broken wire visible about halfway up and the backstay needs to go to the deck rather than the top of the fibreglass canopy, which flexes all over the place. Thankfully it's all small diameter wire so I can make it myself with the swaging tool I bought for Keppelena's safety wires.
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Old 08-21-2017, 12:53 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by delatbabel View Post
Get photos of the bits and pieces while you have it all down. I've seen a dozen or more similar systems in my time and they all are different but I've figured most of them out.

The standard mechanism has a furler drum at the bottom attached to a luff foil, and a swivel at the top. The drum and foil rotate as you pull on the furling line and the sail wraps around that. The swivel attaches to both the halyard and the sail and allows the sail to rotate while the forestay stays in place.

There are all sorts of variations to that, though, including systems without a swivel (that just allow the sail to twist up as it furls and untwist as it unfurls), and systems where the sail hanks on to the forestay and the entire forestay rotates along with the drum (and there is obviously a swivel between the forestay and the hounds).

Then there's Profurl. Made in France. Comes apart with 7 screws. 2 flat head, 2 cross head and 3 hex head. The hex head screws are 3 different sizes. 2 metric and one imperial. Only the French would do that. Never again.
A client, who worked in a riggers shop, said a lot of cruisers were getting rid of the top swivel ,and simply pop riveting a halyard block to the side of the extrusion. Then, you hoist your sail, attach the end of the wire halyard to the drum, and take the rope tail off, then tighten the luff with a downhaul on the drum ( many turns of rope around the clew and a stainless shackle on the drum). Then, halyard and all simply rotate around the stay. The one I describe the building of in my book works that way, as well as the Simplicite rig , and others. Not much to jam that way.
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