Furler line too short on H170

[Shorefun]

I have not commented much this summer.
Got my 170 in the water at the Yacht club. Have a few more hours on it. Honestly I spent more time on a Sunfish. Lots of fun plus the club was running fun races on Friday.

One problem I have been having is furling the jib. Either it would not fully unfurl or I could not get it furled quite enough. I figured the line was likely original so it had to be right and it was something I was doing wrong.
After the end of the season I thought to check the manual for the correct line length. Well It was supposed to be 15 foot long, but I know it was way further then 2 feet from the stern of the boat. Well I just remembered to measure it and it is just a bit over 12 feet long.

Another item on my list of things to buy this winter for boats. I am up to 6 boats right now. I have 4 Sunfish and an Opti right at the moment. When they come up too cheap you have to buy them, right?

A little aside, my 170 came up with a bunch of cracks. About one tubes worth of repair.

Now back to sanding and prep for varnish on Sunfish rudders. The problems with really really cheap, they need some work.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I just went through this same thing. The three things that worked for me was putting tension on the line while furling the sail, removing some core from it and repositioning the block just before the spool. You may also benefit from a smaller sized line if your spool is filling up

 

[Shorefun]

Some more details.

It is likely that the Harken 162 furler drum (the kit is 434 with the upper swivel) has too large a line on it. The manual says to use 3mm line but the specs on the advertising page say you can go up to 4mm.

https://www.harken.com/gallery/f1c0c100-4e3f-441f-8d95-e6912523a3c3.pdf

 

[stickinthemud57]

+2 to the previous comments. With my 170, I was having trouble getting the sail to fully furl, then I learned to put 3 or 4 wraps of the jib sheets around the "noodle" so as to cause more rope to be spooled on to the drum as you unfurl.

Also, I learned that the easiest way to furl the sail was to sail downwind, putting the jib in the shadow of the main. That was much easier to manage than trying to do it going upwind.

Like Project said, keep some tension on the jib sheets while furling to get a good tight wrap.

 

[Shorefun]

UPDATE......

I bought a 18' length of 3mm line, in red- I know the color is not important.

I put it on Monday and tested on the hard.

HUGE difference!!!!!

In and out easy and full!!!!!

The furler cage does not totally fill up with line. I can fully extend the jib and pull in with 2 wraps of line.

I urge you to make the change it will make everything work easier. Who knew following the manufacturer recommendations will just work right.

A little aside.

The Capri 14.5 uses the same furler. A guy at the club just bought one with it and the 4 or 5mm line like my 170 had. His was not going fully in and out either.