Hunter H240 furler sail raise/lower

[Offpiste]

Hello fellow H240ers

I bought a 2003 H240 last summer. Headsail was furled on mast and mast was down for winter storage. I suspect sail has never been removed from furler.

So...I raised mast per Hunter manual and started sailing.

I decided to drop headsail to examine it. Undid the halyard at bottom of furler...no movement at all. How in the heck do you raise/lower headsail with this “in-foil” halyard.
I ended up dropping mast end of season and unrolling furler in my driveway...ugly! Then I noticed buildup of salt and crud in foil track which I cleaned.
I see there is no sheave at top of furler so halyard rides on the foil material...lots of friction there!
Can someone enlighten me how this works? I would like to remove/install headsail throughout sailing season without dropping mast.

many thanks!
Al

 

[rgranger]

I have something similar on my H26. The small plastic slide is essentially your halyard. With the sail removed, clean out the groove best you can. If you have a pressure washer that would be a good start. Let it dry completely then spray some of this (or something similar) in the groove.

You can buy it at Walmart, Lowe's or Home Depot.

Work the slide up and down the groove a few times. You will be pleasantly surprised. Then spray the luff tape of your head sail with the dry lube and you should be able to raise and lower with ease. Don't forget to attache a messenger line to the halyard when you lower the sail or you won't be able to retrieve your halyard when you want to raise the sail.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

How long does this lubricant last in a track?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Take a small stick and slide it down the grooves or sail track cleaning out the crud. Then soap and water suggesting using Dawn. Introduced the system to the industry as a friend of mine started CDI.

 

[rgranger]

How long does this lubricant last in a track?

I clean and lube once a season

 

[GL-WindPower]

I have a 2004 H240. My Halyard is tied off just above the roller hub. If I were even able to pull the sail down there is not enough Halyard to run up the furler to be able to raise the headsail back up. You would need about 30’ of spare halyard to do this. Where would you keep it while sailing? It would be a tangled mess. I bought mine used and I assumed that it was meant to be tied off and was not designed to lower and raise the sail with this design of CDI roller furler. They all have their pros and cons. Pros are it’s cheap, cons, not meant to lower and raise the sail without demansting . There was one time in the 7 yrs I owned the boat that I wanted to remove the sail while at the dock for some repair but didn’t see a way do we dropped the mast.

 

[Offpiste]

Thanks. I’ll be modifying mine to raise/lower/change sails. The headsail leech is damaged from solar uv while my main is like new. I’m adding uv protection to my jib and will drop it for winter.

 

[DrJudyB]

You add 30’ to the integral halyard. it’s called a messenger line. It works just fine.

Read the manual here:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57a94d9febbd1a5a5122da58/t/57ed7dc0e58c6251287394fb/1475182022727/FF2+manual.pdf

 

[hunter240]

I take my jib off my 240 CDI every year since 1999. "Mclube" the hell out of the track before pulling up using a messenger line.

 

[twalker H260]

As with others I raise the Jib each spring and lower each fall after raising and before dropping the mast. I did have an issue spring this year where the internal halyard jammed near the top of the mast when some debris got into the turning block at the top of the plastic track. This was the first time I had an issue and was also the first time in 15 years that I gave the furler any real attention.
Not sure why you would want to be able to raise and drop your jib on a regular basis as the water ballast hunters are only designed for relatively small jibs and you can reduce those to storm size with the furler. For a larger, light wind, head sail I suspect you would get more from some form of spinnaker.

if your black turning block located at the top of the track is damaged or jammed you can purchase a replacement from CDI. It was debris in that portion that caused my furler to jam. once cleared it is back to its usual reliable self.

 

[joel@CDI]

We now offer a new design for our FF2 halyard top fitting which has a metal sheave in it, no more friction. It makes raising and lowering your sail much easier. You also don't need to lower your mast to take down your sail with our systems. Contact us about the new halyard top fitting 844-379-2407.

 

[Offpiste]

What is breaking strength required for jib halyard on the 2003 H240? I'm going to source the smallest diameter line for this for ease of movement in furler foil. What do you suggest?

Also what line do you use for furler itself?

I'll be removing entire furler at end of each season, cleaning it, and storing in a straight piece of pvc pipe suspended in my garage going forward.
EZ-PZ.

many thanks...appreciate all your comments!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The inside halyard is specific which can be purchased direct or the forum store. Where the halyard is tied to the furling drum you need to tie a messenger line when taking the jib off

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Last time I bought some 3/16" line it was rated at 1300lbs. But as Dave mentioned, it may be a specific size for a reason

 

[Offpiste]

I bought the new design top fitting for the FF2 furler from CDI...it has a sheave in it. I also bought a separate 6mm halyard line (smaller diameter but stronger than original halyard) with an extra 30'...moves freely in track of foil.
Once sail is pulled up, I coil up the extra line very carefully and tie it off at bottom of sail. The furler works fine and the line does not tangle. A bit unsightly but I can now raise/lower headsail whenever!

PS I also installed a boom kicker...keeps the boom up when the main is down.

Getting there!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Thanks for updating