broken forestay in furler help

[JimGeddes]

I have a tall rigged catalina 27 and wile i was unfurling my sail today my forestay broke. It looks like the cable pulled out of the connector at the top of the mast.. couple questions

- Do i have to have a custom forestay made up b/c i have a furling system (harken unit 0) .. it looks like im going to have to

- How much trouble is it going to be to take this unit apart to replace this forestay??

- How would i go about making something like this, or who do i go to to buy one?

- Do i have to replace the whole cable or could i cut some off and butt another cable up to it then swage them together, or have an extra long swage fitting that would go down passed the part that slipped out ??

- What could have caused this? backstay to tight ??

I hate to say it but i don't have much money and i would like to do this on the cheap, although that might not be the best thought i'm a handy man and im sure i can fix it right..

thanks

 

[Alan]

Jim,

This is not a place to be cheap. You will need a new headstay. Take it to your local rigging shop. They can make you a new one and tell you why this one failed.
To support the mast for the time being you can attach your genoa halyards to the bow cleats and tension them. You could also run a line over the spreaders and around the mast and secure that to the bow cleats or anchor roller. This will support the mast while you are replacing the stay.

 

[Hermit Scott]

I have a C30. The headstay was about 42'. I bought a little longer cable, 2 mechanical fittings that I could put on myself. I used my old stay to get the length right. The total with shipping was $162. The stay on mine is 1/4". So if yours is 3/16" it will be cheaper.
www.Riggingonly.com Their service is flawless.

 

[Ken Palmer]

I have just gone through a similar situation with my Hunter 33.5. First thing I did was to take the mast down. This was done at the yacht club for free. A marina is going to charge you of course. I then took the old headstay to the rigger at my marina. They built a new one, about 45 feet, for $220, including the fittings at top and bottom. I am being forced to replace my roller furling since some replacement parts on the old one are not available any longer. Cost, about $1000.

It doesn't come cheap, but worth the life you may save if the mast should ever fall down.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Jim~ Knowing a Harken 0 furler, you are saying that the mast is staying upright because of the headsail halyard and sail? You must first get the furler off the boat, whether you drop the mast or use a halyard as a substitute forestay.


http://www.harken.com/charts/identify.php

http://www.harken.com/pdf/FurlingManuals.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFhnYQmRYs


There are a couple of helping links for you to use. Replacing the forestay is easy, but you must know what you are doing! All you need is to have the proper eye swaged on to the wire and cut a few extra feet beyond the existing length. Inside the drum there already is a swageless fitting to attach the lower. Once you disconnect the lower part of the wire, pull thru the foils. Feed the new forestay back down thru the foils and cut to the proper length and reattach the swageless fitting.

I know what it is like to be on a tight budget. But this is a crucial component, please do not attempt unless you are absolutely sure of your capabilities.

 

[JimGeddes]

Alright i think i can handle this.. I called rigging only and the fello i talked to gave me some confidence. I was just worried at first b/c i have no clue how this furler is put together.

He said it probably broke b/c there is no toggle on that end just an eye, the wire fatigued. makes since to me

- I'm wondering if there is some way to just put a longer swagless fitting on the end that broke instead of replacing the whole wire... anybody know anything about this ?? like put a fitting with a turnbuckle that connects to the top of the mast, it would just need like 2 or 3 inches ..

I like this idea b/c i would not have to snake the wire back through the tube... it seemes like it would be fairly easy and much simpler to do. I also don't see how it would be any weaker..

Here is my idea
-Unhook the wire from the swagless fitting at the bottom. Push it up through a little so i can grab the wire that is still good at the top, after i trim off the frayed end. Then atatch the longer fitting and push it back through into the swagless fitting at the bottom. Why cant this happen ??

I just don't want to spend $1000 on a new furling system that's like 1/4 of what i bought the boat for >$200 for a wire is fine

 

[MrBee]

Not sure why you think you would need to buy a new Furler just because the wire broke ??
If this is a furler that has "tubes" that slide around the Stay then you should just need a Stay.
But i can't see what you got there so it's up to you.

 

[Ron20324]

The rigging fello could be right if there is a toggle that allows movement in one plane (like fore and aft) only at the top end of the stay. There needs to be two toggles to allow movement in ALL planes- like a universal joint does. From what you first posted, the wire just pulled out of the upper fiiting, so maybe you did not lose any length of wire. If inspection shows no damage to the wire, you could put a new fitting on it- if you must keep to low budget. Also, can you let out some slack if there is a turnbuckle at the lower end of the stay?

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Jim- First of all there was something wrong with the swage that it let loose!!!! Secondly a swageless extension and swageless fitting WILL NOT fit in the foils. Get a new forestay with a swaged eye on it and a few extra feet to properly cut the length for the internal swageless fitting inside of the drum!!! I know what Im talking about here!! Dont mess with any short cuts!!!

 

[Warren Milberg]

I agree with all the other posters stating that you need a whole new forestay -- quickly. Cheapest method, IMHO, would be to get the exact pin-to-pin measurements and either make up the stay yourself (assuming you either have swaging equiipment, can borrow it, or use the more expensive Norseman fittings) or have a rigging shop, or RigRite, or West, make it for you -- and you are able to install it. I believe you'll have to take down your headsail and furler, and perhaps your mast, to install the new stay. I would not chance doing this yourself unless you really know what you are doing.

Another factor to consider is what caused the forestay to fail. It may be that your entire set of standing rigging is coming to the natural end of its life. While this may be an expensive piece of information for you to digest, a rig failure would be even worse. I think you need to get on top of the entire situation as soon as possible. Good luck with this.