Changing 302 Isomax furler to something else

[Mackaroni]

I had someone out to measure sails today and he was perplexed by the Isomax furler for the Genoa. Said that he hadn't seen this setup before.

I know this is what the boat originally came with, but has anyone changed it out for a better system? He said that before building a sail for this system that I should consider changing to one that will allow me better control over the sail.

He was able to describe in much more detail his reasons than I am able to recreate here. However, his main point (I think) was that by not being able to change tension on the halyard, it limits shaping of the sail.

Thoughts?

 

[the_alpine]

One option that would avoid a complete change out is to replace the locking car with the more traditional halyard swivel - thereby leaving your halyard connected and allowing for adjustment...

See rigrite for details:
http://rigrite.com/furling/Isofurl/ISOFURL_Main.html

 

[Jackdaw]

The Isomat furlers were frightfully complex and over engineered systems. They worked fine, but had LOTS of moving parts and systems. That being said, no reason to replace a system that is serving you fine. The part Alpine points you to will solve the issue your sailmaker brings up perfectly. But if you never thought of adjusting halyard tension to move your draft before, why start now?? ;^)

If your sailmaker has not seen an Isomat before, MAY SURE he sews a tripline for the top lock into the luff of the new sail!

 

[Mackaroni]

I actually haven't done much sailing on it as the boat is new to me. I had it out for a couple of months before the main sail ripped (original sails if you can believe it). I didn't have money to get new ones this season and it wasn't worth repairing the old one. So, in the few sails I took, I never needed to adjust the draft.

I am in the process of trying to get new ones made and didn't want to spend a great deal on a sail for a furling system that wasn't up to snuff. Maybe that Alpine part will solve my issue.

Just something gnawing at me though and I can't figure out what it is.

 

[the_alpine]

You can patch your sails quite effectively using strips of dacron and 5200. Sounds ghetto, I know, but it really does work.

My main ripped in half in the Bahamas due to an uncontrolled jibe. Still going strong on the 5200 and dacron patch!

 

[Bluemoon27]

While many people haven't had a problem, Isomat recalled their Isoful jib furlers and went bankrupt over dismastings. With a little deferred maintenance, the mast may land in the cockpit. After a careful inspection, I trashed mine and bought Harken.

On my furler, the rod foil replaces the forestay. The jib halyard attaches to the top of the upper swivel, and the jib attaches to the bottom on the swivel. There is no backup or safety device. If the swivel fails, the mast falls.

The swivel bearings are robust and not likely to break, but they do rust and jam. Attempting to turn a jammed bearing can cause the mast to fall.

The swivel is made in two concentric pieces that screw together and are "locked" by a set screw. In my case, I bought a used boat with a loose set screw and a rusted upper bearing. The furler jammed while sailing, I tried to force it, but gave up and docked with the jib luffing. Pure luck...

The upper swivel is hard to inspect, but the lower one is identical. Take a very close look. If you keep it, inspect frequently.

 

[Mackaroni]

Thank you all for the responses. Interesting post Bluemoon. I will take a close look at them this week just to see, mostly out of curiosity. The boat is out of the water for the season.

I am looking into a new furler system though, and it will take me a while to cut through the jungle to find what I really need/want.

 

[Mackaroni]

Bluemoon,

I have been looking online and haven't found much information about Isomat's recall. I was wondering if you might have any info? I saw where Beneteau recalled its furlers in 1989, but that is all I have found.

I want to change the system out, but so far the estimate I have to change it is about $2500. Not sure I can spring for that right now.

 

[jibes138]

Mackaroni. it might be better to just add hanks to your sail/s and just go with a new headstay until you can afford a new furling system. You can easily add a boltrope and hanks to the existing sails yourself inexpensively and at least feel safe that you aren't risking a dismasting.

 

[Mackaroni]

I might consider that, but I also need to replace the genoa as it is original and not in the best of shape. I hate to order a new sail (I think my current is 135%) and then have to recut it for an added furled later. But, I might just have to.

I was quoted $2500 for a new Profurl c290 and a new headstay (including install). I am going to look around some more and maybe get another quote from somewhere else. People seem to like the Profurl, but I noticed that there seemed to be some complaints about customer service on the web. Also, the C290 only has one groove, which would limit the ability to go wing and wing (not that I am currently setup for this or even intend to.) I just don't know how important that would be to me in the future for downwind sailing.

I guess what has been troubling me too is the difference in strength between the isofurl extrusion and a headstay. Either way if one breaks, the mast may come down. I would assume that the headstay has some elasticity and therefore the ability to absorb shock loads better than the isofurl?

 

[Bluemoon27]

Costwise, we're in the same boat. $2500 is a good price, but a huge dent in any budget. I ended up with a Harken ESP Unit 1 for $2000 + installation + head stay + cutting down my genoa, which came to $3500 total. Ouch!

Profurl is cheaper than Harken, but the headstay bears all of the load, so a headstay failure will bring the mast down.

Isofurl doesn't have a headstay, so a furler failure will bring the mast down.

Your existing Isofurl should be OK with very good maintenance, but I bought a rebuilt boat and almost lost the mast. Apparently the rebuilder didn't know much about Isofurl and I didn't either. Later I discovered the lower housing of each swivel assembly consists of two pieces screwed together and "locked " with a set screw. Study the cross section diagram on the Rig-Rite site. The set screw was loose, and the bearing jammed. My fruitless attempts to furl the sail started unscrewing the housing. If I had persisted, the mast would have fallen.

The solution is (a) frequent inspections and good maintenance or (b) a new furler. A complete rebuild of the Isofurl would have been expensive, so I went for the new furler.

I don't have a good reference on the dismastings. From what I could piece together, Isofurl was stock equipment on some Beneteau when there was a highly publicized dismasting that caused Beneteau to recall all of their Isofurls. The Isomat company went bankrupt soon after.