Adding a roller furling system to my 23. Planning to use the 2 jibs I have now and adding the rig I have attached pictures of. This will allow me to take the sails down from Monday to Friday to save the sail. has anyone ever tried this? Going to try it in the spring.
roller furling for a 23
- Thread starter GREGP
- Start date
I installed the furler this spring and I had to leave my jib up all summer and it took a beating with no cover.
By putting a pulley bellow the upper swivel I can raise and lower it.
By putting a pulley bellow the upper swivel I can raise and lower it.
There must be a standard way to rig a jib halyard on a Hunter 23. Usually, the halyard is mount d above the furler, but none of the H23 pictures on this site shows detail of the halyard rigging. Could an H23 owner post a picture showing the standard?
The questions for your set-up are:
- is the cheek block mounting strong enough for the substantial load you may want to put on the halyard?
- does it allow the fullest possible hoist of the sail?
- at full hoist, is the halyard clear of the action of the furler?
The questions for your set-up are:
- is the cheek block mounting strong enough for the substantial load you may want to put on the halyard?
- does it allow the fullest possible hoist of the sail?
- at full hoist, is the halyard clear of the action of the furler?
The green line represents the halyard. all I had handy at the time. Did not shorten the jib stay I mounted it about a foot higher on the mast so it is more than long enough.
Is it similar to the newer version of the Harken small boat furlers?
https://www.harken.com/uploadedFiles/Product_Support/PDF/4350.pdf
there’s a hoistable swivel that Harken sells separately to make the jib removable. Your modification may (or may not) accomplish the same functionality reliably Time and experience will tell.
You might need to install a special tang at the tack of the sail to furl the sail reliably.
Judy
Your forestay attachement arrangement doesn't look original and looks like quite a hack job in jury rigging. The green line is, I assume a makeshift halyard and because it is attached with a cheek block on one side, it is canting the anchor point for the forestay to one side as well. The halyard block (pulley) should be on a swivel and directly in line with the forestay. I would suggest that there may have (or is) a slot where an internal halyard would exit from inside the mast. But, I don't see it in the picture. If that were the case, the bale above the forestay would be the location for a swivel block for an external halyard. At any rate, there are a number of better solutions to your problem of making the forestay and halyard right and then you can start looking for furlers. If you buy a CDI, then they use their own halyard system and not the halyard on the boat at all. It is also flexible, which is good for trailerable boats. Another furler with a flexible foil would be the Schaefer Snap Furl, but that uses your existing halyard. Both Selden/Furlex and Harken make a small boat furler that have rigid aluminum foils which are better systems, but if you raise and lower your mast a lot, the flexible foil is more forgiving and the aluminum ones might bend if you are not careful.
I can raise and lower my jib if I want to and I have a standard roller furler setup. All roller furlers can do this. I don't get it.
Drjudyb referred to a small Harken system usually used for day sailors size boats which I have a question for use on a Hunter 23 as it is larger. I looked at what appears to be a makeshift probably obtained for very little. The forestay and swivel are bolted to a piece probably used in small boats. The two nuts holding the forestay and swivel with screws, the lock nuts over time can and will back off with the forestay failing and the possibility of people being hurt when there are systems that can be used safely. I would rather spend the money buying a well known system such as CDI FF2 for safety alone. In addition I question also forestay hound as it may not have enough to attach the hound with. Look below as it appeared there was one that is gone that had three screws attached per side versus the current two per side
Harken recommends the Model #483 for the boats up to 25' LOA and wire diameter up to 5/32". I believe that covers the Hunter 23, H23.5 and H25. The safe working load is 950#.
https://www.velasailingsupply.com/h...MIu9G2rN-s3gIVj5x-Ch0F3QPtEAQYBSABEgLMB_D_BwE
There are 3 models of Harken small boat furlers. They are sized according to the diameter of the forestay. Three models cover 3mm (1/8"), 4 (5/32"), and 5mm (13/64") rope wire. The Hunter 23 has a 5/32" forestay.
With Harken parts, the OP could get rid of the homemade gizmo at the top of the stay add a halyard block underneath the forestay, and install an upper swivel on a 5/32" forestay, if he already owns the the lower drum. That would be sound rigging practice.
Selden sells a simlar product line to the Harken Small Boat Furlers.
I strongly agree with CrazyDave and others that the modification shown in the picture might cause the forestay to fail, dropping the mast and causing injury. If he wants to be able to remove the jib, it’s reasonable to consider installing a CDI FF2 or a Schaeler SnapFurl, or upgrade the old Harken with new parts. It just depends on what your priorities are.
JudyB
Thank you for pointing this out. I have been out of the business for a long time. Again we appreciate the further explanation as it more helpful but still have a safer application what I saw what you presented. Again thank you for the clarification.
As for what I saw on the Hunter 23 I would never use it. The initial request was posted in two areas. I saw another but different photo. The separate halyard with the green line wth the sail up will cause the terminal eyes be cocked sideways probably causing more wear and tear on those what appear to be threaded bolts which those threads also cause wear and tear.
As we all pointed out which I am grateful for your confirmation that what we saw is not recommended. Further you have too provided excellent advice for which I am grateful
GregP, the best advice is to go for a proven system that is safe to use as all of us err on the side of safety. Over the years I have seen so much as a dealer I shiver seeing your modification. Even the attachment of that masthound where the forestay/swivel is in question. For the record I was the top dealer in sales for that boat.
I would ask anyone owning a current Hunter 23 to post a photo of the forestay attachment showing the original attachment to the mast. Thanks
As for what I saw on the Hunter 23 I would never use it. The initial request was posted in two areas. I saw another but different photo. The separate halyard with the green line wth the sail up will cause the terminal eyes be cocked sideways probably causing more wear and tear on those what appear to be threaded bolts which those threads also cause wear and tear.
As we all pointed out which I am grateful for your confirmation that what we saw is not recommended. Further you have too provided excellent advice for which I am grateful
GregP, the best advice is to go for a proven system that is safe to use as all of us err on the side of safety. Over the years I have seen so much as a dealer I shiver seeing your modification. Even the attachment of that masthound where the forestay/swivel is in question. For the record I was the top dealer in sales for that boat.
I would ask anyone owning a current Hunter 23 to post a photo of the forestay attachment showing the original attachment to the mast. Thanks
I agree with all comments - that looks like a dangerous approach that is not likely to work. I may be at my boat later to take pic of forestay fitting, and I have a circa 1991 Harken furler (that may be like the part the OP got used).
On my Z-spar mast, the stay attaches using an eye fitting at the top of the stay to an aluminum bracket embedded inside the mast extrusion. That (cast) aluminum fitting has a clevis pin that the eye attaches to. The stay goes through the furler foil extrusion and supports it, and of course the mast. The lower part (drum and swivel assembly) of the Harken furler acts as a turnbuckle and is tightened to tension the stay, similar to what would be done with a standard turnbuckle on a hanked on jib. To get the mast adjusted, that has quite a bit of tension.
I can't figure out what GregP intends to do with that assembly. If the idea is to use the green halyard to support the stay, I think that'd be very dangerous - way too much tension. I do see a stay in the photos, so maybe that would go through the furler extrusion (need pics of lower assembly of that stay). I see what looks like welding above the fitting. It is possible that the cutout in the mast that had the aluminum fitting for the forestay eye was removed and was welded over (no idea why, and what that hound and all the other stuff is for). The green line looks very light for a halyard.
If your ebay Harken is complete (pics of it would help) and has the swivel at the top, you may not be bale to get that halyard high enough to pull it up, which also hauls up the sail. On my mast, the halyard sheave exit is a bit below the fitting for the stay's eye, and must be in line with the stay (more or less) and tensioned so it is not too tight (or else the swivel doesn't turn) or too too loose (or else the halyard wraps around the stay and prevents the sail from furling or unfurling). I suspect you will not be able to get that with the side mounted halyard.
Do you want to just be able to just remove the sail or the whole furler? If the sail, and you have a complete Harken, that is not hard, as noted - if you have a proper halyard (maybe you don't) then you just lower the sail, the top swivel slides down the extrusion, and the bolt rope comes out of the slot in the furler. A bit harder than a hanked on jib, but not hard. But if your sail has a protective cover on the luff, why not leave it furled - that cover would protect the sail.
Does not look workable to me, but good luck.
On my Z-spar mast, the stay attaches using an eye fitting at the top of the stay to an aluminum bracket embedded inside the mast extrusion. That (cast) aluminum fitting has a clevis pin that the eye attaches to. The stay goes through the furler foil extrusion and supports it, and of course the mast. The lower part (drum and swivel assembly) of the Harken furler acts as a turnbuckle and is tightened to tension the stay, similar to what would be done with a standard turnbuckle on a hanked on jib. To get the mast adjusted, that has quite a bit of tension.
I can't figure out what GregP intends to do with that assembly. If the idea is to use the green halyard to support the stay, I think that'd be very dangerous - way too much tension. I do see a stay in the photos, so maybe that would go through the furler extrusion (need pics of lower assembly of that stay). I see what looks like welding above the fitting. It is possible that the cutout in the mast that had the aluminum fitting for the forestay eye was removed and was welded over (no idea why, and what that hound and all the other stuff is for). The green line looks very light for a halyard.
If your ebay Harken is complete (pics of it would help) and has the swivel at the top, you may not be bale to get that halyard high enough to pull it up, which also hauls up the sail. On my mast, the halyard sheave exit is a bit below the fitting for the stay's eye, and must be in line with the stay (more or less) and tensioned so it is not too tight (or else the swivel doesn't turn) or too too loose (or else the halyard wraps around the stay and prevents the sail from furling or unfurling). I suspect you will not be able to get that with the side mounted halyard.
Do you want to just be able to just remove the sail or the whole furler? If the sail, and you have a complete Harken, that is not hard, as noted - if you have a proper halyard (maybe you don't) then you just lower the sail, the top swivel slides down the extrusion, and the bolt rope comes out of the slot in the furler. A bit harder than a hanked on jib, but not hard. But if your sail has a protective cover on the luff, why not leave it furled - that cover would protect the sail.
Does not look workable to me, but good luck.
The OP stated that he wanted to be able to drop the jib because it was being damaged by UV exposure when he left it stored furled. As many folks already know, one common way to address that problem is to put a sacrificial cover on the leach and foot edges. Another way is to hoist a tube shaped sail cover over the furled sail.
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Thanks. At first the boat had a Kenyon Isomat mast and then switched to Z Spar. Now for a photo of the keyon isomat mast forestay stem mast fitting