I raised my head sail today for the first time this season. When it wasn't wrapping correctly I wanted to lower and and look at the swivel. The sail would not come down. The halyard was released and when I pulled down on the sail it would not move. Has this happened to anyone before? This is the second season for this brand new furler.
Harken Furler won't lower
- Thread starter jaydog5000
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I hope what happened to us did not happen to you.
A couple of seasons ago we mistakenly used our spinnaker halyard to raise the head sail. Not surprisingly we experienced problems right away as the sail would not go all the way up and the winch was used which further compounded the issue. The sail would not fully deploy nor could it be lowered. We went around in circles for a while to manually wrap up the head sail and headed back to the dock.
It turns out that the spin halyard provides the wrong angle to raise the head sail and will allow the dreaded halyard wrap condition to occur. We also discovered that the old block at the top for the spin halyard had succumbed to the pressure of the winch and the line had jammed the sheave. We had to drag out the Boasun's chair to remedy this but valuable lessons were learned.
If it is not that the wrong halyard was used then you may have other issues with your jib halyard's sheave at the top of the mast. Also, your furler likes to be lubed once a year per mfr's instructions.
Good luck.
A couple of seasons ago we mistakenly used our spinnaker halyard to raise the head sail. Not surprisingly we experienced problems right away as the sail would not go all the way up and the winch was used which further compounded the issue. The sail would not fully deploy nor could it be lowered. We went around in circles for a while to manually wrap up the head sail and headed back to the dock.
It turns out that the spin halyard provides the wrong angle to raise the head sail and will allow the dreaded halyard wrap condition to occur. We also discovered that the old block at the top for the spin halyard had succumbed to the pressure of the winch and the line had jammed the sheave. We had to drag out the Boasun's chair to remedy this but valuable lessons were learned.
If it is not that the wrong halyard was used then you may have other issues with your jib halyard's sheave at the top of the mast. Also, your furler likes to be lubed once a year per mfr's instructions.
Good luck.
Hope it isn't this
Last summer I broke a headstay, and couldn't get the sail down. When the stay broke, it kinked a foil on the furler, which pinched the sail and wouldn't let it down. Hope yours is much simpler.
Last summer I broke a headstay, and couldn't get the sail down. When the stay broke, it kinked a foil on the furler, which pinched the sail and wouldn't let it down. Hope yours is much simpler.
Get
Get out your binoculars and check the halyard and foil near the top. If it is wrapped you'll need to unwrap it before the sail will come down.
Get out your binoculars and check the halyard and foil near the top. If it is wrapped you'll need to unwrap it before the sail will come down.
My old Harken had a foil retaining pin partially come out of the topmost foil connection and the swivel would not come down past the pin. I don't know how the new Harkens are held together but check the joint where the top stub connects to the next lower foil section.. for a small mismatch or something in the joint .. like Maine sez, binoculars are a real help as is a high res digital photo that can be zoomed in and blown up for good detail.. Hope ya find it!
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Halyard wrap is a common problem for furlers with a swivel. You really have to haul the sail up as far as possible to minimize the incident angle where the halyard meets the swivel. See your manual for explicit instructions, but insufficient angle is a recipe for halyard wrapping.
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