1994 33.5 Recessed Hood Furling system rubbing

[gotons]

Hi all, I've looked through the forums and I see some people talking about tension with their furler. I discussed with the surveyor a couple methods to repair or alter, but I was wondering if anyone has had success with an adjustment OR something to look for to recenter this. It looks like the angle isn't quite matching up with the recess.

The boat is getting moved in two weeks, so having the mast down and doing some work with the head stay isn't a huge deal since it'll be down anyway for the move.

Picture included to get an idea of the angle of the furler to the recess.

 

[jssailem]

I would look at the way the furler is secured in the hole. I suspect you will see some damage in there. It screws or bolts may be pulling out. The location of the bolts securing the forestay should be such that the furler drum is centered in the deck hole.

If not you should reinstall the furler base to correct for this problem.

 

[Hollyberry]

Perhaps more rake in the rig than originally set up??

 

[dsalvail]

My 1989 Hunter 33.5 had the same problem a couple of years ago. Exactly the same positioning, rubbing against the aft part of the enclosure. The rubbing was severe enough that I had to walk over to the furler and manually assist the furling by pushing it off the side the hole. The rig tuner looked at the mast and said the rake was too pronounced, and eased that a little (my 33.5 has split backstays). I also tightened the headsail halyard to keep the furler assembly as straight as possible (no sagging, which it did a little before). I gained a little angle there, and that sufficed to eliminate the rubbing. All good since.

 

[jssailem]

tightened the headsail halyard to keep the furler assembly as straight as possible

This is a good action when using the furler. It may not be optimal when trimming for best sailing. A little sag will shift the draft of the foresail. When a little off the wind it can give you a bit fuller shape.

Finding a way to shape the sail and still adjusting for best performance of the furler is the challenge.

 

[dsalvail]

Losing top-notch sail shapes is the compromise with all furlers, right? The convenience offsets the drawback, and I like to play with my sheets and their blocks, moving them up and down the rails to get the best shape in headsail.
And you know, if I lose 1/4 knot of speed in exchange for a furler that moves freely when I need to roll in the sail, I'll live with the tradeoff...
I also heard of owners who extend the base attachment of the furler in the chain locker to lift the furler sheet casing just above the deck. Takes care of the problem, but you'll want to check your sail: you'll essentially be losing 6 inches of length. If your sails are due for a change, it may be an option.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Over the years I have seen the rake too far back. I readjusted the tuning like @dsalvail suggested which worked. The other course was extending the drum out of the hole with two heavy tangs. How old is the rigging?

 

[gotons]

My 1989 Hunter 33.5 had the same problem a couple of years ago. Exactly the same positioning, rubbing against the aft part of the enclosure. The rubbing was severe enough that I had to walk over to the furler and manually assist the furling by pushing it off the side the hole. The rig tuner looked at the mast and said the rake was too pronounced, and eased that a little (my 33.5 has split backstays). I also tightened the headsail halyard to keep the furler assembly as straight as possible (no sagging, which it did a little before). I gained a little angle there, and that sufficed to eliminate the rubbing. All good since.

This is interesting and didn't consider the rake of the mast and keeping the halyard tighter to keep the furler straighter. I have to do the same exact thing to help with the furling. I've had a couple people mention just cutting out the enclosure a little bit more, but it seems like such a hacky way of fixing it.

 

[gotons]

Over the years I have seen the rake too far back. I readjusted the tuning like @dsalvail suggested which worked. The other course was extending the drum out of the hole with two heavy tangs. How old is the rigging?

The rigging is all replaced in the last year. I'm going to talk to a tuner and see what they think about the rake and see if I can't straighten up the forestay.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Keep us posted

 

[Terry Cox]

Unsure from the picture whether our Hood problem was the same as yours. Wrote an article awhile ago about our restriction and what I did to fix it. Made that fix several years ago and it remains a breeze to operate, unlike before the fix. Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades

 

[gotons]

Unsure from the picture whether our Hood problem was the same as yours. Wrote an article awhile ago about our restriction and what I did to fix it. Made that fix several years ago and it remains a breeze to operate, unlike before the fix. Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades

I think I saw your post when I was researching ways to handle this. I think they're a little different as the drum is actually rubbing against the fiberglass in the recess...unless I'm misunderstanding the issue you were having as well. If I am, my apologies!

 

[gotons]

Figured I'd post an update....sort of. I haven't resolved the issue yet.

I did have a tuner look at it and he didn't think the rake was too much. There are a few other Hunters on my pier, however, and everyone with a recessed furling system is rubbing. One of them has rubbed so much the top part of the furler has wedged UNDER the lip. Still trying to figure out the best resolution for this.

 

[jssailem]

When I first saw the image of the drum going thru the deck I wondered if the way the drum was secured to foredeck chain plate was a bit off. The system of construction would require precision to assure the chain plate, fasteners to chain plate, deck hole and securing deck to hull were all in proper alignment or the furler housing would rub as you describe.

While Terry explained a different problem, the approach he took might also help resolve your issue. It would help you to align the base of the furler a little further forward, positioning it in the center of the deck hole.

A second thought would be to cut back the hole some to give the furler more room. It appears to be close to the stern edge of the hole, having more space towards the bow. This would require additional shaping and finishing to achieve a proper shape and appearance when completed.

The additional fiberglass work leads me to think I’d examine the fix on the chain plate first.

These are just ideas for you. I have only seen your single image and the comment posted about the riggers observation.

Good luck. Keep us apprised about your solution. Sounds like this may be an issue other owners have experienced.

 

[gotons]

I just wanted to post another update with an additional picture. I've got some janky stuff going on down in the recessed area, which I think is going to lead to me cutting some of the foil off the furler and trying to raise it up that way. I have some room at the top I can remove (I think). This chainplate is also the source of a leak. It has six bolts, three on the top and three below. The three on the top are holding water due to the design and thus allowing some seepage into the bottom of the top three bolts.

As for how the furler is attached to the chainplate...well, here is the picture of that. Ignoring the highlighting, I was trying to show someone how the plate is seated with it completely pushed over to the starboard side of the boat and faired in with, what I can tell, is some sort of sealant.

 

[Hollyberry]

That chainplate looks like a tough shape to modify to try to bring the forestay forward a tad... the attachment point appears to be an athwartships plate with a fixed position. One should not have to modify the deck, really, so I'd be back to looking at mast rake and forestay tension...

 

[gotons]

That chainplate looks like a tough shape to modify to try to bring the forestay forward a tad... the attachment point appears to be an athwartships plate with a fixed position. One should not have to modify the deck, really, so I'd be back to looking at mast rake and forestay tension...

Agreed...I think though I'm going to have a go at raising it out of the recessed area and being done with it (hopefully!!)

There are a couple Hunters with recessed furlers and every one of them is having this issue.

 

[Hollyberry]

We also have a recessed furler.. I like the clean look but suspect down the road at some point it will be an issue. Our deck cutout has been modified, but for anchor stowage rather than furler issues.

If you bring the drum up and shorten the foil it may well require modifications to the headsail luff length as well.

 

[Terry Cox]

As for how the furler is attached to the chainplate...

In looking at how your furler attaches to the chainplate, it appears to me that if you were to attach it in the same way that I did might solve your problem, but rather than attach it to the aft horizontal bracket like I did, the forward bracket. The current connection appears to make for a very sloppy arrangement. Using a SS bar Like I did might move the drum forward just enough to clear things up.

Raising the drum above the deck does complicate matters, but that might work also. You would need to have the headsail recut as well as the furler. I got the idea to redo mine from another boat where the drum was above the deck and a long SS bar connecting it to the chainplate.

 

[gotons]

Finally got some decent weather in the weekend to deal with this. Is this black disc just operating as a “stopper” for the furling drum? I have a enough room with the foil and head stay to pretty much raise it up to where I need it, so could I just adjust this stopper up so keep it permanently raised up?