322 Headsail Change
On my '87 322 the roller furling gear is a Cruising Designs. Assuming yours is the same, it has an wire rope halyard internal to the furling gear. To change the headsail, do the following. I have never done this while underway, only at the dock. It helps to do this when the weather is calm and you have someone to help. 1. Undo the tensioning line at the tack of the sail, at the bottom of the furling drum. Be sure to note the way it is rigged so you can put it back the same way. 2. Roll out the sail 3. Attach a line of about 75 to 100' to the lug that slides in the headstay track. You will see it near the bottom of the track in the groove that doesn't have the sail in it. 4. Remove the pin holding the lug in the track and begin hauling the sail down. The lug with the line attached will rise up as you haul down the sail. It may help to apply some silicone lubricant. The sail will come out of the groove in the track and bundle up on the foredeck. 5. When the sail is down, remove the halyard from the head of the sail. 6. Remove the sheets from the clew. 7. Slide the new sail into the groove on the forestay and attach it to the wire halyard. 8. Haul the sail up by pulling down the rope you attached to the lug. To get the proper tension you may need to put the rope though one of the blocks at the foot of the forestay and winch it up using a cockpit winch. 9. When the lug is down, remove the rope and replace the pin through the hole in the track to hold the lug in place and keep tension on the halyard. 10. Re-attach and secure the tensioning line at the sail tack. 11. Re-attach the sheets and roll the sail back up. Make sure you keep tension on the sheet while you do this so the sail rolls up tightly. Hope this helps, David, S/V Rogue
