De-coring a furling line

[Boat Babe]

sorry for this basic question. I just upgraded to a Hood 707 line drive furling from my old LD system. It's such an improvement. However, they call for 5/16" line de-cored for first 1/3. The installer and I thought it was ok without being de-cored, however occasionally it winds up unevenly and gets too thick for the drum. I've moved marinas and the installer is too far. Any advise on how to decore this line myself? Thanks, Steph

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

decoring

Cut an 1/2" inch or so from the end of the line you wish decored. This will allow the inner core to slide back up inside the outer covering.Pick the point in the line where you want to start taking out the center of the line (the inner core).Bend the outer liner sharply and with a marlin spike separate the outer covering to access the inner core.Hook and pull out a small loop of inner core, then keep pulling so that is comes out from this opening in the outer line. You will have to 'milk' it as it goes to keep it from binding.When it is all out, cut the inner line on the bias so that it tapers slightly then milk the outer core to 'suck' the taper back in.Discard the inner core, and re fuse the end of the outer core so that it does not fray. This is the part that attaches to the drum.Good luck. It truely is as easy as it sounds.

 

[Ross]

Save the inner core as polyester twine.

you can pick out indivdual strands for sewing purposes.

 

[Ken]

How strong is the

line (outer sleeve) after decoring ? I thought of decoring my spinnaker sheets to make it lighter for light air days.

 

[Warren Milberg]

Steph: Roger has the process

of decoring right, however, a lot depends on how your furling line is attached to the drum. On my Furlex, for example only, the line (to include the core and cover) is secured to the center of the drum and I would have to release it prior to trying to de-core a third of the distance back as the core would not slide back to the exit point if that is not done first. Not sure how Hood secures the furling line, but you may want to take a look first.

 

[Landsend]

why not drop down to 1/4" furling line?

nm

 

[David11054]

Hmmm...

I thought most of the strength was in the core, and the wrap is just to protect the core, and give the line a better"hand."DavidLady Lillie

 

[Calif. Ted]

Pretty much true David, but a 5/16 inch line

is probably good for 1500 Lbs. or so and you don't need that much on a furling line.Edited: Just checked and Sta-Set is rated at 3000 lbs. for 5/16, more then needed anyway.

 

[Alan]

In double braid Dacron...

...50% of the strength is in the core and 50% in the cover. Not so with high tech lines where the bulk of the strength in in the core.To Ken, if you strip your spinnaker sheets you would keep the core and toss the cover. The strength will be the same but with a smaller diameter at the end you don't need to handle. This will be lighter with less weight on the spinnaker clew for those light air days.Stripping a halyard is an excellent way to reduce line size on the mast sheaves and keep that ever present friction to a minimum while keeping the hand hold end more comfortable. This is only really feasible on high modulus line however, because the real strength of that line is in the core.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Landsend

1/4 " is small and very hard on your hands.Tony B

 

[r.w.landau]

The point is that the strength is not needed. The reason for the

decoring is to fit on the drum while allowing a nice hand hold for operating the furler. Yes, ask any of the MFG's. That is the reason for decoring.r.w.landau

 

[Boat Babe]

Thanks everyone

Good points...thanks for the tips on how to decore. The reason Hood said to decore is so that it will fit on the drum. 5/16" is indeed easier on the hands... otherwise 1/4 would make sense. Warren,, the drum end of the line just passes thru a hole on top of the drum and is knotted (see photo in original post). They also agreed that not that much strength is needed for a furling line so decoring should still work... now I know HOW! Thanks again.

 

[Warren Milberg]

Steph: more thoughts

In looking at the pic of your new Hood furler, it occurs to me that you may want to try to unwind the furler a bit to have less line on the drum when the sail is furled. One turn would do. This will create more space on the drum for the 5/16th line when you unfurl the sail (and wind line onto the drum). I would try this before decoring the line. I would also recommend that you keep some tension on the furling line when you are deploying your headsail as this will decrease the possibility of a line jam and allow the line to wind on the drum more efficiently. Finally, make sure the exit angle from the furler to the first fairlead is 90-degrees. Good luck with this. Let me know if you need some help.