Explain me furling

[jbinbi]

OK. I am not dumb. I have been sailing for 45 years.

Just got a 1 yr old e33, but no instructions as how to use it, so I am coming to you guys for advice:

My last boat had a furling main, but it was not a continuous furling system like hunter. There was an outhaul for the clew to pull the sail out. And separate furling line to pull in the main. To reef when the sail was already out, I just un stopped the outhaul, and furled as much as wanted, stopped the furling line, then tightened the outhaul.

When I try to furl on the hunter, with the winch at the mast in 'free' I seems that the sail just spins out again. I have gotten furled and sailed reefed, but it takes forever.

What is the procedure for
a. You know its blowing hard when you leave so you only want to pull out some of the main
b. you have the whole main out, but the wind kicks up, and you want to reef.

That continuous line is baffling me;-). Thanks.

 

[Sailvayu]

I am not sure I fully understand but it sounds like you need furl the sail to where you want it and then set the lock before letting go tension on the furler intake line. Perhaps a photo of your system or a better description or the name/brand of you system would help.

 

[Sailgunner]

Do not use the winch at the mast. All furling and unfurling is done in the cockpit. You need to keep tension on both sides of the furling line (don't let it spin in or out). Pull the outhaul at the same time you are pulling on the "out" side of the furling line. But again, keep tension on the "in" side of the furling line. Pulling the sail in, reverse the process. Try this at the dock and you will get the hang of it.

 

[Hello Below]

OK. I am not dumb. I have been sailing for 45 years.

Just got a 1 yr old e33, but no instructions as how to use it, so I am coming to you guys for advice:

My last boat had a furling main, but it was not a continuous furling system like hunter. There was an outhaul for the clew to pull the sail out. And separate furling line to pull in the main. To reef when the sail was already out, I just un stopped the outhaul, and furled as much as wanted, stopped the furling line, then tightened the outhaul.

When I try to furl on the hunter, with the winch at the mast in 'free' I seems that the sail just spins out again. I have gotten furled and sailed reefed, but it takes forever.

What is the procedure for
a. You know its blowing hard when you leave so you only want to pull out some of the main
b. you have the whole main out, but the wind kicks up, and you want to reef.

That continuous line is baffling me;-). Thanks.

Here is a link for the Selden In Mast Furling Manual (pdf):

http://www.seldenmast.com/_download.cfm?id=6597&download=8013095&filename=595-059-E.pdf

Once you have the main unfurled to where you want it, the furling winch should be set to "Ratchet". This will allow the main to be furled in but not unfurled. Normally, a winch should not be required when furling in the jib or furling main. Last year, I went out with a good friend that had many years of sailing boats. In fact he was a lead engineer for the Hobie Cat sailboat for many years. Anyway, he showed me how to furl both the jib and main … with ease.

For the main, let the boom out by freeing the main sheet (either end, at the companionway or arch), head up to around 30° apparent or less on a starboard tack and ease the Rodkicker. Those steps are important. The starboard tack will keep the main from chafing or rubbing on the right hand side of the slot. Freeing the main sheet will allow the boom and sail to point to the wind and thus relieve it of any tension. Easing off on the Rodkicker takes the tension off the leech and allows the main to furl in real easy. Keep a bit of tension on the outhaul to allow the sail to furl in tightly and Bob’s your uncle.

As an aside, the couple of times we had reefed the sail, we could never get the foot of the main tight. Even with the use of a winch. My friend told me to loosen off the Rodkicker, the boom went up and took the tension of the leech of the sail and allowed the foot to be hauled taut without a winch. Because the boom was being held down by the boomvang, the leech of the sail was not allowing the foot to be tightened. I had the service manager install an additional clutch on the starboard side of the companionway so I could run the boomvang control line aft. I also installed a Rodkicker gas spring at the same time. It didn’t make sense that when reefing all the lines except the boomvang were lead aft.

Good luck.

 

[jbinbi]

thanks for the link. does it make any difference which side of the continous furling line i use to furl the sail? also, following the manuals instruction for reefing, my understanding is that if both sides of the continuous line are stopped under tension, the luff / extrusion cannot move and no more sail will be able to be pulled out.

So to reef,
1. leave both sides of cont line locked
2. ease outhaul a bit
3. unstop left side of cont line
4. pull in right side to furl sail to where i want it
5. lock left side of cont line, making sure both side under tension
6. tension outhaul

correct?

 

[Hello Below]

Always use the right side of the continuous line to furl your sail in. Never the left. My right is labelled Inhaul and the left is labelled Lazy Inhaul.

I agree that if both of the rope clutches are jammed and the lines are under tension and firmly on the winch drum then a reefed sail under a stiff breeze "shouldn't" unfurl. If the furling winch is in ratchet it "won't" unfurl.

Your steps 1 - 6 are correct, but always keep control of the outhaul and you should never have to use a winch to furl a sail.