In mast furling jamming
- Thread starter Akapeterc
- Start date
jamming
Most reasons for jamming is because the sail needs to go in nice and flat and when you furling into mast need to keep tension on the outhaul while furling sail in.
But more info will help out more,what year boat and what shape sail is in.
Nick
Most reasons for jamming is because the sail needs to go in nice and flat and when you furling into mast need to keep tension on the outhaul while furling sail in.
But more info will help out more,what year boat and what shape sail is in.
Nick
The "furling wheel" is equipped with a socket which will accept a standard winch handle. This will allow you to use the furler without the furling line. You should be able to get the sail out with he outhaul and then furl it again with the winch handle. Be sure to set the selector to "freewheel" rather than "ratchet"
Furling jam
Practice, practice & more practice. My 456 furler gets jammed if I don't get it right going in and out. It becomes dangerous if you are in a blow. Good luck.
Practice, practice & more practice. My 456 furler gets jammed if I don't get it right going in and out. It becomes dangerous if you are in a blow. Good luck.
Also pay attention to the angle of the boom (slightly up on the outboard end). Also on some, works better on starboard tack (slot is asymetrical). Good luck.
I've marked the main halyard at the clutch. When i furl the main I always check the mark to insure the tension is right. The one time i had issues was after a mate had inadvertently released the main halyard clutch and quickly locked it back. Needless to say, the line slipped about a 1/4 inch and the main sail didn't furl correctly; had problems getting it back out as well.
I seem to have found the solution to my jamming main sail. I have found that I need to actually push the sail out in small amounts by pulling on the furling out line and then taking it up using the out hall line. If I just try and pull it out using the out hall line it pulls out extra loops of sail and jams. Has been working well but is a bit of a pain if by myself as I have to keep jumping across from winch to winch, the joys of sailing
What point of sail are you on. Furling always needs to be done with wind ahead of beam. Always furl on starboard tack. Deploy on either tack.
Never had to use furl line to get the sail out.
Never had to use furl line to get the sail out.
The mainsail should deploy easily using a bit of tension on the outhaul. If not it indicates a problem with the way it was furled or an issue with the bearings in the furler or the mast could have been setup with too much bend.
The sail should furl smoothly without any wrinkles going in using the winch and furling line, some tension on the outhaul and the boom raised a bit with the topping lift. Each boat seems to have a sweet spot for the boom position when furling, often the topping lift line will be marked to indicate this spot.
Bob
The sail should furl smoothly without any wrinkles going in using the winch and furling line, some tension on the outhaul and the boom raised a bit with the topping lift. Each boat seems to have a sweet spot for the boom position when furling, often the topping lift line will be marked to indicate this spot.
Bob
If the line slips on the wheel it is usually because the new line is the wrong size, check that, Bob
I'm a huge fan of the WinchRite electric winch handle. Using that to furl (or haul out) the main means I can keep a sharp eye on exactly what the sail is doing the entire time. I keep both the Inhaul and Outhaul running thru my hand, and always keep some tension on whichever line is not on the winch. (Unlike a powered winch, the WinchRite gives you a really good feel for how much tension is on the line going around the winch. If you've done something dumb, like forgotten to unlock the clutch on the other line, you'll know it immediately.)
We can reinforce the comments regarding use of the furling line while deploying. It is not always necessary but, whenever we encounter a problem deploying where the roll gets pulled into the slot along with the exiting sail, working the furling lines back and forth always solves the problem. We can also confirm the comments re: proper furling. Always furl with slight tension on close reach starboard tack.
I had this problem with my 13 year old Hunter 420 and was told by my rigging man that eventually the main gets to the point of not working well...and he suggested a new main which I paid for reluctantly. Old mains go in as they say, with boom at an angle, but eventually, it has to be replaced or resown.
My Doyle mainsail was stretched out after 4 yrs of weekend only sailing on my new Hunter 45CC. The sail was trimmed be the sailmaker, worked a few times, then jammed again, especially when trying to get the mainsail out.
Bought a new sail from Mack Sails (send old one in for correct size!) - works beautifully!
What I do: stay on slight port tack when furling in and out. i loosen the minsheet and boom vang a little. Always keep tension on lines.
When furling out I use the outhaul and keep some tension on the inhaul furling line. If it really does not come out go to the furling line drum and wiggle in and out - shat should do it!
When furling in, I stay on slight port tack, keep tension on the outhaul and use the electric wintch to furl the main in tight with the furling in line.
I also applied Sailkote to the entire sail to make it slippery as recommended by Mack Sails.
I placed the stopper for the boom car closer to the mast - the angle between outhaul and foot and leech of sail has to be the same!
Each boat is different! I am not an expert but I finally fixed my problems with the furling mainsail!
Good luck!
Viktor
Bought a new sail from Mack Sails (send old one in for correct size!) - works beautifully!
What I do: stay on slight port tack when furling in and out. i loosen the minsheet and boom vang a little. Always keep tension on lines.
When furling out I use the outhaul and keep some tension on the inhaul furling line. If it really does not come out go to the furling line drum and wiggle in and out - shat should do it!
When furling in, I stay on slight port tack, keep tension on the outhaul and use the electric wintch to furl the main in tight with the furling in line.
I also applied Sailkote to the entire sail to make it slippery as recommended by Mack Sails.
I placed the stopper for the boom car closer to the mast - the angle between outhaul and foot and leech of sail has to be the same!
Each boat is different! I am not an expert but I finally fixed my problems with the furling mainsail!
Good luck!
Viktor
I had many problems for two years With my furling. I had a rigger replace my windex and on his way up the mast he noticed too much bend in the mast and yelled down and asked if I had any furling problems. Of course he straitened my mast and that was the end of my problems
I had the same problem on my 2006 41. It seemed particular to go in and out. You had to have the boom set just right and tensions on outhaul and furling lines just right. I brought it to my sail maker. here is a picture and his take on it.
Sail Shape —
The cloth this sail was made from is soft and "mushy" and by nature not great for shape retention. This, combined with a simple cross-cut construction exacerbates the situation. Suspended, with no pressure on the sail other than it's own weight, the sail is about three times deeper than it should be. This excess depth makes for a very draggy shape. It causes excess heeling, forcing you to reef early. And it's slow. Just sayin'.
Functionality —
1. The excess depth impedes the sail from rolling in and out cleanly. The crescent creases you see in the photo below are caused by the "fat" folding over on itself as you roll the sail into the mast. This folding over makes fat irregular wraps causing the sail to choke in the mast opening and can lead to major problems when you need to furl.
2. Note the rippled foot tape. This happens because the whole foot is on the bias and therefore completely unable to resist stretch when you pull the sail in and out. If the sail is reluctant to go in and out, the load and stretch on the foot is increased.
3. The clew block is really small. If the outhaul rope is any fatter than 3/8" that will be an additional source of resistance when you want the sail to go in or out. i don't know for sure but I'd be surprised of the clew outhaul was that size. You could downsize the outhaul by up-spec'ing it.
4. The sail shows a mildly sunburned edge where the cloth is exposed in the mast slot.
You mentioned high effort furling the sail and the lack of a proper slide for the clew outhaul. Certainly that is the biggest effort related issue but it has no bearing on whether the sail folds over on itself and whether it might choke in the slot.
This was his recommendation:
It just so happens we have a solution to the issues laid out above —
1. We prefer to make our into-mast mainsails with a tri-radial cut.This prevents stretch through the belly of the sail so it will not "grow" at all for it's entire life. A Radial tack and clew puts the foot cloth on the thread line not on a bias. Thus the structure of the cloth is properly used to resist the pressures on it. T-R sails can use lighter fabric in the "front" so they roll up smaller. Of course this makes them lighter as well.
2. We suggest laminates rather than woven fabric for it's greater stability and reduced mass (which translates into volume)
3. Being flatter and because they don't "grow", they roll up neater. Neater on Day One and all the way through the sail's life.
4. We recommend an upgraded clew block with more room in the swallows to a suitable outhaul line.
5. We put sun protection on the leech edge of the sail
Of course, these solutions are not the low cost way to do it. We can also make a more conventional cross cut sail out of firm cloth that isn't so mushy and stretchy. We can skip the edge cover and reuse the clew block. We can "trip" the first panel so the foot edge is on thread line. These build options will save quite a bit and the result will still be much better than what we saw today.
I have never been happier with a set of sails. The furling works perfect ever time and the sail unfurls like butter. I do one wrap around my port cabin top and tail the outhaul onto the starboard cabin top winch. I pull the line from the center as it is streached over the companion way. I pull it one handed and I'm done in 30 seconds. The sail shape is always excellent and they look good to boot. Way over kill for a cruiser but I keep up with a buddies 47.7 Bene. I don't tell him his main is streched and it's an wind anchor I like walking him till he puts up that big spinnaker
I used to reef around 14 knots and could never get the sail flat, now I reef at 17 and can get the foot dead parallel with the boom. I have a lot less heel at all wind speeds when close hauled and this makes it more enjoyable for guests.
My sail maker is in Stamford Connecticut and makes racing sails. But I always suggest finding a local sail maker, not one that just takes dimensions and copies what is essentially an old stretched sail. I'm sure you will find a lot of opinions about sails but I find this works well.
