Furling system issues / broken headsail halyard

[Misc11]

Brand new to sailing, and I've got a snapped headsail halyard. It happened while furling the sail after we had hoisted it for the first time this season. Either we did something wrong or something isn't turning at the top thay should be because I think the halyard was wrapping around the forestay.

I've been trying to identify my furling system so that I can try to find some documentation about it online. Anyone have any ideas? See pics

In one photo I'm holding the end of the halyard before hoisting. There is a steel cable attached to the end of the halyard. Was I supposed to have disconnected this from the halyard when we hoisted the sail?

I'll be climbing the mast to see what went wrong, but I want to understand how all the components work first.

 

[sailme88]

Good News/Bad News.... The good..The halyard is still outside the mast. Replacement in place is very possible. The bad .. the forestay is toast. Just below the swage you can see the lay opening. There doesn't appear to be a swivel at the top of the foil.
Your newness to sailing can come with expensive lessons...

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T housand

At the very least a new halyard and forestay. You might need a new furling system. Good news here is that most furler come with a new forestay.. Good luck

 

[Davidasailor26]

After replacing the forestay (sorry, but yes that will be necessary) you’ll want to figure out how to avoid another wrap. It might just take different halyard tension, although it looks like the forestay to halyard angle isn’t great. There are wrap-stop devices that can help overcome the bad angle. A rigger should be able to advise on what’s best there.

 

[BTC1984]

Look up “halyard twist” . The photo shows a halyard restrainer installed to keep the halyard from twisting with the furler.

 

[Misc11]

Thanks for the replies folks, that's good to know.

I'd still like to identify what the furling system is, if possible. If anyone recognizes it, let me know!

 

[PaulK]

The photo with your hand looks like you're holding two separate halyards. The wire one may have been attached to the bail of the other one just to get it out of the way when there were no sails up. If you left them attached the wire may have chafed through the line and/or damaged the forestay, as Sailme88 has observed.

 

[Tally Ho]

The furler looks exactly like my CDI furler on my O’Day 322.

These are a bit unique and have an internal wire halyard (unless the PO modified something).

In this photo, you have part of the wire halyard (the part that attaches to the top of the sail), but I am not sure why it is connected to that other halyard.


So, the way this CDi furler works is there is a wire that runs in one of the foil channels, up to the top of the foil and over a roller or block of some kind, then the other channel of the foil. The wire halyard has a fitting on one end that attaches to the top of the sail, and raises it when the other side of the wire is pulled down. It is necessary to tie a strong messenger line on to the other end so you can pull it down while raising the sail. Once you have pulled the wire halyard down (and raised the sail up the other channel of the foil), there is a small car that rides in the channel, and it gets pinned through the foil. I don’t have a photo of it, but in this photo, the pin is where the white sail tape is on the foil.


Then, to tack the bottom of the sail, you run a line from the tack on the sail, down to the little rollers above The drum, back up to the tack, down through the next roller, up to the tack, down to the roller and then tie it as tight as you can. You can see the line (Dyneema in my case) In this photo.

They don’t make this style furler any longer (nor can you get parts AFAIK).


So, it sounds like you need to sort out the head stay first….if that is damaged, it needs to be replaced.

Then, if you need some 1:1 help, I am happy to jump on the phone or take some video of how mine is rigged.

Greg

 

[jssailem]

With the suggestion that it might be a CDI furler, compile your images and send an email to CDI asking if this is one of their furlers.

 

[Misc11]

The furler looks exactly like my CDI furler on my O’Day 322 ...

Thangs Greg, that's incredibly helpful, exactly what I was looking for. And very generous of you to offer some direct consultation! I'll definitely come knocking if I find myself scratching my head again!

 

[Tally Ho]

Here are a few close ups of my furler and how the “car” and sail tack are situated…

In this shot, you can see the “car” that slides in one of foil slots…it is connected to the wire halyard, which is also connected to the top of the sail at the other end (now pulled to the top of the foil). There is a screw and nut (mostly covered by the white sail tape) that is holding the car at that point in the foil. If the screw is removed, the sail will fall.

Importantly, if you pull the screw/pin out…be sure to have a messenger line tied to the car…because it has to ride up the foil slot for the sail to come down. Hopefully that makes sense.


In this shot, you can see the tack of the sail (ring) and the dyneema line I have used to tack it down to the drum. My dyneema was too short to get a 3rd wrap on the tack, but it works ok.



Hope these help. Feel free to reach out if you need any more info.

Greg

 

[Misc11]

Here are a few close ups of my furler and how the “car” and sail tack are situated…

Nice! That defiantly looks like my system.

So the only thing that should be attached to the top of the head sail is that wire halyard, right? And it is simply raised by pulling down that steel "car"?

If that's the case then it is clear what I did wrong: by attaching both the rope halyard and the wire halyard to the top of the sail, the rope halyard was winding around the forestay as I was furling in the sail.

And if that's the case, it seems like it might just be my forestay that needs replacement. I'll be taking a close look at everything just in case, of course.

 

[Tally Ho]

Nice! That defiantly looks like my system.

So the only thing that should be attached to the top of the head sail is that wire halyard, right? And it is simply raised by pulling down that steel "car"?

If that's the case then it is clear what I did wrong: by attaching both the rope halyard and the wire halyard to the top of the sail, the rope halyard was winding around the forestay as I was furling in the sail.

And if that's the case, it seems like it might just be my forestay that needs replacement. I'll be taking a close look at everything just in case, of course.

Yes, the only thing attached to the head of the sail is the wire halyard. You need a rope tied to the car (because it will ride up the foil track as the head of the sail comes down).

Unfortunately, it does look like you did some damage to the headstay…


Greg