F*****g roller furler

[John Boelte]

The Profurl roller furler on our 26.5 kicked our asses yesterday. At this point we've got the Genoa about 12 ft up the foil and it is stuck, won't go up or down. One of the links between the foil sections separated as we were raising the genoa. We should have raised it while the boat was on the trailer. Hopefully I can get up there (somehow) and get things fixed. Otherwise, the boat has to come out of the water again. :cussing:

 

[Brian M H23]

Use a spin halyard to hold the mast up - loosen the shrouds...unpin the forestay and spin the turnbuckle off..slide furler assembly down the forestay...repin forestay...

I actually had a similar moment with my CDI furler. I took it off, drilled holes in the luff tape, bought a grommet kit and some hanks from west marine. Done!

 

[saltygator]

John,

This happened to me last month with a Harken furler. Just get up there in a chair, you have to wrap a line around the forestay to stay forward. Bunch the sail up between your legs. Then put something between the foil sections to keep them separated as you and a partner lower the sail. Re rivet the sections and rehoist the sail. The trick is keeping the foil sections apart while you remove the sail.

Good Luck,
John

 

[Alan]

The sections of headfoil on the ProFurl are held together with recessed Allen screws. They are supposed to be installed with Loctite to prevent them from backing out and allowing this to happen. The installer may have forgotten this or overlooked it. After you retrieve the headsail I suggest you check each of these screws so this doesn't reoccur.

 

[John Boelte]

Thanks for the replies and support. My plan is to support the mast with the spinnaker halyard, disconnect the furler and bring it closer to the mast where I can lean a giant ass step ladder against the mast and reach the spot where it's stuck. Should be fun...

 

[BrianW]

Alan is right. For 6 months, I noticed a gray stain on my jib. Upon closer inspection, I saw that one of the allen screws had loostened and exposed the bearing/gray foil splice piece. The foil sections slightly parted and the plastic splice piece rubbed against my jib, discoloring it. I removed each allen screw one at a time and re-Loc-tited them and tightened them. Could have been worse! BrianW

 

[John Boelte]

Woo Hoo! A buddy helped me get up to the problem section. The set screw was loose. All good now. When we drop the mast at the end of the season I'll go through all of the set screws.

I got to sail her today too! Awesomeness!