Furling Mains About to go into the water?

Oct 27, 2010
119
E-22 e-22 Stratford
All,
Over the last year I have run into an issue that has surfaced again and again and I think it is due mostly to the age of the fleets.
The aft outhaul sheave in the boom of any of your boats from 2009 and before is now 10 years plus old. This Delrin sheave is in the weather 24/7 has age hardened and I have come across a LOT of them that are cracked, split, broken, jammed and otherwise not working. And this leads to significant issues in being able to furl your mainsails as if it's any of the above, the outhaul will not really be working in the way it should and instead compounds the friction in system.
The sheave replacement by and large is a simple fix; US-Spars has them in stock. You or a rigger can easily install a new one prior launching this spring.
And I'd bet if this hasn't been replaced, nor has the inhaul and outhaul lines...10-20 years old maybe? Stiff,unyielding, hard on the hands? Well, they also add to the difficulty in furling and all of these small things add up to furling issues.
So replace them as you would tires on your car, get new line, a new sheave, scrub the outhaul track with a green srubber, clean and smooth. High pressure the outhaul car bearings and when everything is dry, give a quick shot of mclube.
You'll be happy you did.
Bob Pattison
Neil Pryde Sails Int.
 
Mar 20, 2016
594
Beneteau 351 WYC Whitby
Actually I did, machined all new delrin sheaves new outhaul and inhaul lines, however the biggest change came from changing the flat delrin balls in the outhaul car to torlon balls
 

arf145

.
Nov 4, 2010
484
Beneteau 331 Deale, MD
Actually I did, machined all new delrin sheaves new outhaul and inhaul lines, however the biggest change came from changing the flat delrin balls in the outhaul car to torlon balls
So, the outhaul car comes apart, Mechone? Hard to do? Source for the torlon balls?
 
Mar 20, 2016
594
Beneteau 351 WYC Whitby
yes it comes apart the end caps have 2 screws each. Better to take the boom off and lean it up against a wall so the car is vertical . Take upper end cap off pushing in new balls and old ones push out. Binnacle.com harken H177 balls they are .250 or 6mm for my boat 21 in a pack ,I think I needed 3 packs
As a side note the car had 2 self tapping holding the end caps,which is crap,I drilled and tapped the extrusion for stainless cap screws
 
Last edited:
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Plan on having the boom off here soon, I purchased all new lines for the outhaul, furling want to start fresh with the new main sail, would have been down there right now if it hadn't snowed last night and is still on and off today, damn weather.......