Jib Halyard
From your question, I have a feeling your jib furler might be like the one I had on my O'Day 302 ... when the jib is hauled up, it is on a fitting that snaps into place at the top of the furler. The halyard is attached loosely to the fitting with an open-ended hook that also has a light retrevial line attached. Once the sail is snapped at the top of the furler, the halyard is lowered by the retrieval line and not used until the next time the sail needs to be hoisted. To lower the sail, my jib had a wire trip line inside a pocket running the length of the luff, which was attached to the halyard fitting at the top of the furler. When that line is pulled at the bottom of the sail, the fitting unsnaps from the top of the furler, and the sail slides down for removal. If this all sounds like your arrangement, the trick to raising the sail and retrieving the halyard is the special retrieval hook I mentioned above. Mine was made of stainless steel, had an open hook on one end, and attachment points for the halyard shackle and the retrieval line. The end of the hook is inserted into an open slot on the sail fitting, and the hook is held in place by the tension from the halyard as the sail is raised. Once fully hoisted and snapped in at the top, pulling on the retrieval line would dislodge the hook from the fitting, and you then pull the loose halyard down with the retrieval line. My rig was an Isofurl made by the Isomat company. Check out the web site link, below, for more info. The special hook I refered to above is officially called a "Halyard Hoist Hook." Hope this helps. Best regards, Pete s/v Sh'boom (Hunter 356 #53)
