Bent furler remedy

[jwhaddad]

Hi. My son and I are new to sailing. We bought a 1990 O'Day 240. While lowering the mast to replace the wind vane, we didn't notice that the free-hanging furler was being driven into the ground. As a result, it bent. The furler is made up of hollow aluminum rods, each about 5 feet long and I'd guess about 1.5 inches in diameter. Two of those rods have slight bends, which prevent us from raising the head sail. I'm hoping some of you sailors out there can give me some ideas to fix this, hopefully without having to take the boat out of the water (yes, we did have it hauled in after winter storage without fixing it on land which would have been easier). We're hoping to get some better sailing in with what's left of the season.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[dmax]

Depending on how badly they are bent, you can try to straighten them out - you can fabricate a press or buy a tubing straightener. They are aluminum so pretty malleable. Do you best because otherwise you are looking at replacing them and depending on the furler they might not be available (new anyway) and it may be difficult to get them apart and you may end having to cut the forestay.

 

[dLj]

How about some photos of the furler?

dj

 

[jwhaddad]

How about some photos of the furler?

dj

This is the best I can find at the moment. Might be heading to the boat tomorrow so I'll take some better pics of where its bent.

 

[dLj]

Hmmm, should have sprung back a fair bit from that photo. Yes send more photos. Check to see if there are any kinks. If there are kinks, might not be possible. If there aren't probably quite fixable but I'd need much better photos and dimensions where the bends are.

dj

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Look for any. ID on the furler and aluminum extrusions

 

[rgranger]

If there are no kinks, you should be able to straighten it out, simply by raising the mast and pulling it hard

 

[jssailem]

simply by raising the mast and pulling it hard

That is worth a try.

 

[garymalmgren]

Straighten a spar.(boom , light mast or foil)is not a difficult job.
My mate did it in the hallway of his house, horizontally.
Another mate did it in his garage, vertically.

This is a controlled operation and for a foil an ordinary scissors car jack will do the job
here is a diagram if the principle.
gary

 

[dLj]

Straighten a spar.(boom , light mast or foil)is not a difficult job.
My mate did it in the hallway of his house, horizontally.
Another mate did it in his garage, vertically.

This is a controlled operation and for a foil an ordinary scissors car jack will do the job
here is a diagram if the principle.
gary
View attachment 234261

Great diagram! I'd only add some details. The contact points, especially for tubular cross sections, should not be a point. Depending upon the wall thickness - where the thinner the more critical - you should make the contact point to more or less for the contour of the tube being bent and the sharpness of the bend. Since you are just straightening, you can get away with a slightly rounded contour and not necessarily a perfect fit for the tube profile.

Work slowly. You'll have spring back that you'll have to get a feel for.

dj

 

[garymalmgren]

HI dj
I didn't want to over complicate the explanation.
But as you say, the jack doesn't apply force directly onto the spar.
It has a wooden shaped end fitting to spread the load.
The props should have the ends shaped to fit the spar and should be braced so they don't slip.
All in all, not rocket science.
I think Archimedes would easily recognize this.

P.S. If you do it in your home hallway you will have parallel references to measure off.

gary

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Just buy a new section from the manufacturer and replace the bent one. Why screw around trying to straighten something that probably won't straighten. You need a smooth run for the luff tape. You can buy a single furler extrusion extrusion.