By loosening aft and all 4 side stays still can't get enough slack to pin jib furler turret. Have had same problem since purchase in '13. This is on a 1998, 25' Catalina 250 trailerable, tall mast, fixed keel.
advice: suggestions for attaching furler to bow eye.
- Thread starter Chief RA
- Start date
Use a spare halyard (spinnaker or main) attached to bow near the stem head fitting. Tighten the halyard to pull the masthead forward.
Have applied jib halyard and drawn down with it as Sue suggests but 1/2" too short! 3/8" shrouds appear to be all stock. Forestay in this case is the entire sail furling unit and it is original as well. Mast rake appears normal as well. It appears that the aft stay is fully extended before it should be but can't detect why that is so. Chief
A toggle can be added to effectively lenghten the forestry. However I wonder why the forestry is too short. Also ⅜ inch shrouds seem rather heavy for a 25 foot boat.
Double check your spreaders. The Cat 250 has swept back spreaders. If your upper shroud is too tight, it will affect how far forward you can tip the mast.
Correction 3/16" shroud lines, sorry about that. ALL shroud lines are loosened, yet stern one gets too tight to mount furler. Spreaders are not the problem or shroud lines would be tight.
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Is the mast deck stepped or keel? If stepped on the keel maybe the partners at the deck are not arranged correctly putting the mast too far back?
I don’t know if this will help but the issue seems to be the same one
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31087
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31087
If nothing else works, you can use your main halyard to keep the mast from falling forward and detach the backstay completely. usually, the forestay with furler is more difficult to connect. Once your forestay is attached, you can pull the top of the mast backwards with the halyard (use a winch) and attach the backstay.
Have you tried lengthening the forestay inside the furler?
Your previous posts don’t mention lengthening the forestay.
Your previous posts don’t mention lengthening the forestay.
It may be the sequence that is causing the problem. When the mast is stepped, attach the fore stay first, then the cap shrouds and finally the backstay. This will keep the mast up right while the lowers are attached and the rig tuned properly. There should be plenty of slack in all the shrouds until all of them are connected. Trying to "perserve the rig tuning" by only taking a few turns off the turnbuckle often causes more work than it saves.
At my marina, we have to unstep the mast every year, that's about 35 years of mast stepping and rig tuning.
The Catalina 25 even on the tall rig is a pretty light mast. We used to take them down all the time by hand in the last yard. Take it down and put it back up with the forestay attached first. Should work
PD, you won't walk this mast up by hand! Wish I could, but must be winched up. Have tried everyone of your concepts except for DrJudyB's, Thanks, will look into that next time I bring her down.. Chief
Is there a turnbuckle in the furler drum? Could you adjust that? Also, was there any hardware on the backstay chainplate? I remember my 272 had a chainplate extender that the PO forgot to tell me about. We had to fashion one quickly at the marina the first time we launched.... the furler toggle would NOT reach the forestay chainplate without the extender on the backstay chainplate.
Chief;
Do you have a CDI FF2 furling unit on your boat as this will be related to @DrJudyB suggestion? Can you take photos of the mast up from a broadside view in the water and also the aft stay turnbuckle.
I use to be a Catalina dealer selling the 250 wing keel and water ballast versions but not the deep keel version. Do you have a wing keel?
Is your trailer the kind with a mast raising system and if so, describe it a little as there were two styles, the first being like the Hunter version.
Crazy Dave
Do you have a CDI FF2 furling unit on your boat as this will be related to @DrJudyB suggestion? Can you take photos of the mast up from a broadside view in the water and also the aft stay turnbuckle.
I use to be a Catalina dealer selling the 250 wing keel and water ballast versions but not the deep keel version. Do you have a wing keel?
Is your trailer the kind with a mast raising system and if so, describe it a little as there were two styles, the first being like the Hunter version.
Crazy Dave
What I was told, was that each year when you remove standing rigging, boat settles a bit. You sometimes have to stretch things a bit to get the forestay to connect. Then for the next week or so you have to keep checking the tension on the standing rigging.
Mike
Mike