Furling Mainsail Halyards

[captmaddog]

I just purchased a Hunter 420 Passage with an in-mast furling system. The previous owner never ran a halyard from the mast to helm so when you furl the mainsail, you have to do it on the mast itself. How do you run the halyard from the mast to the helm so you don't have to go out to crank in the mainsail? It is a 2003 Hunter 420 Passage CC. Thanks.

 

[Mulf]

Not a Halyard

Are you sure what you need? With the furling mast system, once you have installed the sail into the furling mast, you never need the halyard again all season. What you should have led to the cockpit is the "furling line" that rolls the sail in, which is generally a continuous loop from the furling drum into the cockpit. You also need the sail outhaul line. On my boat, Hunter installed both of these and ran them to the cockpit when they built the boat.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Mulf is correct. Do you have an owners manual for the boat ? if not you can download one from the Hunter website. It will include a diagram of how the running rigging is organized and specify the correct size of lines etc. The mainsail furling line will need to be spliced into a loop on the boat.
good luck, Bob

 

[captmaddog]

Thanks Mulf and Bob. There isn't a furling line loop to the cockpit. I thought there was suppose to be something like that, but it's not on the mast. I see where it should run and I had downloaded the manual earlier but wasn't sure of the instructions. I probably should see if there is still a Hunter dealer here and have it done for me since it is a continuous loop. On the test sail, I went out and cranked the mainsail back in on the mast and saw there was a place for the loop to run, it's just not installed. Or it had deteriorated and was never replaced. Will check. Thanks again.

 

[kjretlaw]

Here's the, How to on making a continous furling line splice

I made one at home before attempting on the boat.

Good Luck !

 

[captmaddog]

Thanks kjretlaw, That is exactly what I needed. I have extra sheets at home from my old sailboat,(they are 20 years old, so great to practice on). I'll try it and the PDF attachment is very much appreciated.

 

[captmaddog]

Got the furling line loop made and installed. It was really easy to make, just took about 1 1/2 hours. It is really easy to use, but the cockpit winch is really slow. Much faster on the mast itself. I need to install a 2 speed winch or a powered winch!!