At wits end.....

[Weasel]

First I hope that everyone had a great holiday on the water and your sailing was relaxing and fun.

We have a problem with our 2004 331 with in mast mainsail furling. The main sail must be winched out. We keep a bit of light pressure on the furling line but the unfurl line is a tight as a violin string. Our dealer has offered several suggestions that did not work so I am hoping that someone across the country can help us.

Eased the main sheet and vang, raised the topping lift to about 15 degrees to angle the boom. (Did not work).

Eased mainsheet & vang and leveled boom, (did not work)

Lubed the stew out oif eveything that moved. (3 cans of McLube) Nada

We always raise the main directly into the wind or slightley off the wind onthe port side so the wind will help unfrurl the sail. No dice!

Had the boat blessed by a priest, shook bones over the mast and boom and sacrificed a virgin. Nothing worked.

If one of you brothers in sail can offer a suggestion that works we will send you a bottle of highly prized Jack Daniels GREEN label from our state of TN.

Thanks in advance,

Weasel and the Lovely and Talented Rebecca

 

[DougM]

I don't happen to have in mast furling, but one thing I've heard was that you had to keep the main halyard tight.

Once you get the sail unfurled tighten the main halyard, then make sure that the furling line is not overriding on itself in either direction. keep some tension on the outhaul as you furl the sail and try to keep the wrinkles out of it. Hopefully the mainsail itself is not stretched all out of shape.

I've stayed with a conventional main because of the reputaion of in mast furlers to sometimes be problematic. That doesn't mean that the conventional mains are totally trouble free...

 

[DancingDays]

On my 31, the last thing you want is a tight mainsheet when unfurling or furling. When the sail unfurls, it lifts the boom. If you have a lot of sheet or vang on, your pulling against that when you try to unfurl.

Mine works best when I let the boom float, both furling and unfurling. OTOH, I've always had to winch it in either direction. I'm starting to think the boom on the 31 is really too short for the a furling system, and that the outhaul pulls too much down against the clew of the sail, and not enough out. I've also got the vertically battened sail, which I think adds quite a bit of friction.

 

[mac1840]

Age of furling line?

We had a 331 until last year and found letting the boom float worked best. It was still never "easy" pull out but it did get rid of the violin string problem. If letting the boom float doesn't help, check the wear and age of the furling line. I've seen past postings where replacing the line helped due to the tight clearances of the furler inside the mast.

Have you checked your furler bearings?

Mac

 

[Mike B]

Does it have the same resistance from the start of the process to the finish. Or does it it get progessively more difficult as you crank it out? Once it's unfurled so you have the same issue furling it? If so then you have an issue with bearings or some other machanically induced drag. If not then you'll need to find what is causing the drag on the trailing side as you unfurl it.

 

[larryw]

I found the best way to unfurl the main is just go up onto the cabin top and pull it out along the foot while someone takes up the slack of the outhaul. Can be a pain to singlehand, but when I singlehand, I never use the main. The 150 genny does fine all by itself. Trying to unfurl with the outhaul makes the whole kit and caboodle try to get out the slot, jamming it. Put the wind on the starboard bow. My boat has a rigid vang, FWTW. To furl it, put the wind on the starboard bow, put the furling line on a winch, and start cranking. Control the slack in the outhaul with the other hand by pressing it down on the cabin top. This makes a nice tight roll inside the mast. That's basically how I've been doing it for the last 15 years. If this works for you, I'll let you know where to send that bottle of Jack.

 

[Mike B]

Larry why would you leave the cockpit to furl/unfurl the main? That's the benefit of having the system, so you don't have to do so.

 

[larryw]

I know, but one day I just jumped up there and did it out of frustration, and have been doing it that way since.

 

[Mike B]

Larry, after getting roller furling on our last boat and of course this one as well I do enjoy staying in the cockpit. Especially on those days where the wind is really honkin

 

[Bum]

Do you keep preasure on the outhaul line as you are bringing in your main?I keep mine fairly taunt as I am rolling the sail in.Just a thought,Good Luck.

 

[gord331victoria]

hello, fellow 331 main furling owner.

#1. This size of sail should go in and out by hand. Winching means you have a problem.

#2. The boom must ride above perpendicular to the mast when furing, have a friend lift it a foot with their hand, then you attempt to bring it out using the outhaul.

#3. I discovered the furling small diameter line is routed poorly and actually pulls down on the boom when you are trying to pull the sail in, very bad. I added an extra pully at the mast end of the boom and reroute the line. So you say you are winching this, very bad.

#4. You might as well add a pully at the mast side of the boom for your mainsheet as it will snag the dorate vent at the wrong time.

#5. The home position of your rigid boom vang should be 10 degress high. I found that over time, the fittings wear, and I am horizontal to slightly low. I have not fixed this yet. A number of way to do this (new longer unit, move the boom fitting closer to the mast etc).

#6. Halyard being to tight/loose. Rember the entire sail is has a bolt rope in the grove of the furling foil. You can't tighten or loosen it to change the shape of the sail. Pop it loose from the rope clutch then retighten just enough to rasie the sail to the top, then another 1/8 of a turn, andy more will bind the whole unit. If the halyard is loose the enire sail will side down the foil, and only casue a problem when it runs out of free space at the base (about and inch).

#7. Furling line streching. I read that these lines strech and cause problems. A streched line has a smaller diameter, so how does that cause more binding I do not know. What you want to do is replace it due to wear points being very hard on it at certial boom angles.


#8. Add 3 sailing telltails on your trailing edge (one a the middle, then #2 and #3 halfway up and down). Then add on draft telltail halfway along the middle of the sail horizontally. Move your travller to windward when beating, tune your sail shape with your outhaul and vang two get them flying and your enjoyment will increase 10 fold. You are not realising the full sailing potential of our beautiful bennies. I have these but have not yet installed them.

Hope this helps, enjoy!

Gord
331
SYNAPSE

 

[gord331victoria]

I forgot #9, when the sail is furled, if #3 above is the culprit, your entire sail has been furled crooked and now jammed in the mast. Grab the end and pull it out like Larry says. Once out, get that furling line rerouted with a pulley at the mast end of the boom. Hopfully the sail is not trashed. The previous owner of my boat bought a new main due to this, and never fixed the root cause.

I am happy to speak with you. I can send you pics of how I rerouted my furling and mainsheet lines.

Gordo

 

[sailaway.b]

We had the same problem, tried lots of stuff. Finally a rigger friend replaced the old fuzzy furling line, with a slightly small diameter. Now it works like a charm, even the kids can furl the main. Apparently as the line got older and "fuzzier" there was greater resistence when winding it.

 

[Weasel]

Thanks Sailaway. Thats just what we did. Now we have no problem. Many thanks to all whao answerd. I hope you alkl have a very Merry Christmas and a safe, peaceful, and blessed New Year.

Weasel

 

[Weasel]

Sailaway.b:

What is your address and I will have your coveted bottle of Jack green on your way to you.
Weasel

 

[bob_pattison]

Furling Main issues

Guys,
There have been many good ideas here and I'd like to mention a couple of others.
1. Bearing. This should be serviced. The guys at US-Spars are great and have a very good deal to do this work if you send them the drum. (under $100.00 I think) Otherwise, I've attached their maintenance blurb.

2. Sail age: At 6 years now, you are into the latter half of a typical dacron sail. As they get older the cloth softens up and it's ability to resist stretch lessens. This means that during furling the now softer sail is more pliable and tends to move around as it is furled. This can cause some problems...generally the older the sail the more temperamental it becomes.

3. Tack of the sail: We have found that with the shackle/soft webbing attachment at the tack and with out pretty tight halyard tension, the tack will float or 'rock' back towards the opening in the mast. This kind of acts like a jam cleat, making the first turn really hard to do. I have a great fix for this...that anyone can use and I'm happy to mail it to them (and you) It's a 1/2" webbing strap with velcro both sides (fuzzy and hook). By opening up both mast ports on either side of the tack on the mast, you can take this strap around the tack webbing and the furler extrusion. With a couple of wraps it won't come apart and what it does is keep the shackle and webbing snugged up against the extrusion... not allowing it to drift back. This simple fix works really, really well.
The newest US-Spar sections coming on the new Beneteau boats have an additional extrusion bit at the tack and we have a 12" piece of the luff tape that fits into the section at the tack...which now does the same as our webbing...locking the tack in place. But for older boats...the webbing is a nice fix.
Email me at: bp@neilprydesails.com and I'll be happy to send you one.
Attached PDF shows how this webbing works.

Best,
Bob Pattison
Neil Pryde Sails Int.

 

[James Simmonds]

Thanks to all

This was a very interesting topic to read and although i don't seem to have had the problems (yet!) that others have experienced with the furling main, I have picked up some great tips on preventative maintenance. I too have a B331 and given that I am on the hard for the winter, the spring would be a great time to replace the infurl line. Bob do you know the exact length for a B331?

Also last spring, a few of the short bolts that hold my inspection plates blew overboard as I was rigging the mast. I have had no luck in this land of metric that I live in, in finding replacement flat head bolts. Your guidance Bob would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your PDF documents, they are great.

 

[bob_pattison]

This was a very interesting topic to read and although i don't seem to have had the problems (yet!) that others have experienced with the furling main, I have picked up some great tips on preventative maintenance. I too have a B331 and given that I am on the hard for the winter, the spring would be a great time to replace the infurl line. Bob do you know the exact length for a B331?

Also last spring, a few of the short bolts that hold my inspection plates blew overboard as I was rigging the mast. I have had no luck in this land of metric that I live in, in finding replacement flat head bolts. Your guidance Bob would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your PDF documents, they are great.

Hi James,
I'm not sure of the length, but the folks that will and can supply you with the bolts are Rick or Julian at US-Spars: 800-928-0786

**Another reason to replace the mainsail furling line: I've found with the furling lines. As they age, they are more able to flatten out under load...getting wider as it were. This creates more friction in the wormgear than a nice firm round profile.. ***