Furling Blues going away

[John Dodge]

I got down to the boat today and began with an inspection of the furling on my 1984 Hunter 31 ( forgot to add the make and model last time) My halyard was frayed so bad I was ashamed to show anyone. It was frayed at abot 8 inches away from the end. I am replacing both halyards, Main and Jib. I think that was the problem with the roller furling not rolling all the way in. Now I have noticed on some boats the Halyard comes out the top of the mast and travels down the mast through a (something ??) I don't know what it's called and then over to the roller furling. One guy told me this would keep the halyard away from the drum. Any ideas??

 

[Wayne Estabrooks]

Roller Furling Jib Halyard

John,When the jib halyard is parallel to the forestay at the top it would have a tendency to wrap around the forestay in this situation. Therefore the jib halyard is led a short way down the mast and through a fairlead. This arrangement puts the jib halyard pulling away at an angle from the top swivel of the furler and prevents the halyard from wrapping around the forestay when furling. The fairlead is a possible source of chafe on the halyard.Another way is to put a short wire pennant at the bottom of the jib to get the top high enough that there is sufficient angle so the halyard is not parallel to the forestay. My previous boat was a masthead rig, not fractional and the jib halyard came out of the mast very near the top and I once had a halyard wrap problem after replacing the furler. I added a length of wire pennant where the jib attached to the bow so the jib would hoist higher and that put the halyard at an angle and prevented the wrap problem. Hope this helps.

 

[Bayard Gross]

Waynes idea, but put wire at head

Adding a wire pennent to the head of your jib will do the same thing as adding it to the bottom as Wayne does.Adding the pennent to the top as opposed to the bottom keeps the foot of the jib closer to the deck.And I know the mast head fair lead part you mention, but for some reason I can't think of its name right now either. That also is a good idea if your furler is full hoist, that is it leaves no room for a wire pennent.

 

[Clayton]

It's called a halyard restrainer

Not sure exactly how they work since I don't have a furler, but it is called a halyard restrainer. Good Luck,Clayton

 

[Kevin]

Try the Schaefer Haylard restrainer

John, Based on a tip I receievd on this site over the winter I went with the Schaefer Haylard restrainer on my 27 foot boat. Their part no. is 78-75. Far cheaper than Harken and Furlex and no moving parts.