In mast furling

[Ralph18422]

Control

We have inmast furling on our Catalina 350. We love it. We also have never had a jam. I am very careful to furl and un-furl with tension on the sail using the wind OR tensioning with the opposite control line. I also do not un-furl the sail by letting the wind rip the sail out of the mast. I always have control of the furling line.I have used this technique on other boats as well ie. Hunter 38. No problems.

 

[Rick I]

JB you've got a good point

I usually cruise with two other "buddy boats". They both have conventional (old fashioned) rigs. I'm usually sitting in my cockpit having a drink when they're wrestling with their sails, furling and covering. It's a lot easier and faster to roll it up! Rick Ihttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/beneteau393/beneteau393 : Beneteau393 Group

 

[Deadline]

Pressure point

On my H320, it's important that the boom vang is pulled tight to get the best wrap inside the Selden mast. If the boom vang is slack, the main tends to bunch up ever so slightly, enough to jam. My point is that the wrap is contingent on more than tensil strength at the clew.

 

[Rich (P303)]

Selden

I purchased a used boat with a Selden after market furler. Basically, it attaches to your existing mast and has an extrusion that pop rivits to the mast to cover the unit up. Being new to a furling system... and having know one show me how to use it... It was trial and error. It has jammed a few times... however as I later figured out... it was operator error. (cam cleats not fully disengaged; main luff caught on extrusion; etc...). I have nearly busted a gut on occasion getting the sail in and out. Indeed you need to have tension on the sail when you take her in (I have to be coming in off a starboard tack... sail needs that bend to get started) ... and conversely need to pull both the out-haul and furler control lines together to get the main out (will not come out on out-haul only). I am sure there are other tricks that I have let to learn. All in all... I am very happen with the system. When you put a new sail on the furler... it might be difficult to get the sail out the first time... as it was flaked in a bag and not on very tight. To answer your question... was the sail put on the furler in the correct direction (mine winds counter-clockwise). Are you using the furler and outhaul to pull the sail out?

 

[sailaway78]

Selden & Hunter

I have a friend with a new Hunter 36, with the Selden in mast system, which can be a problem. If not rolled in correctly, and tight, it will wrinkle and jam when trying to pull it out. His previous boat, a Hunter 33, with the same system, used the same size mast cross section, and it was never a problem. Apparently, when more sail, such as on the 36, is rolled into the same space as on the 33, a problem occurs. You have to furl that thing tight, or it will wrinkle and then jam on the way out.

 

[abe]

I have a H36 and in addition to what Nice & Easy

says...now that it is nice and tight inside the mast, the sail tends to loosen up and unroll. That means you have roll it in tight before you unfurl or else too much friction prevents it from unrolling.abe

 

[Jim Seamans]

Must be doing something wrong

We will be finishing our 5th sailing season with the H356 and haven't had any problems with the in-mast furling. Last weekend I was even rolling it in with 20kts of wind on a starboard beam reach. No problems.JimS/V Java

 

[RichH]

There is always the question of 'potentials'

Yes cirumnavigators have used in mast furling successfully.Yes you can incrementally reef, unlike slab reefing which limits you to 'fractions'Yes the sails used on in-mast furlers are cheaper, dont have problems with battensYes you dont have to know how to 'shape' a sail, dont have to leave the cockpit, etc. etc. etc. BUT ... in-mast furlers DO sometimes jam. I dont want those odds especially if Im many hours or days away from 'help'. I want it bombproof simple so I can fix it ... even under the worst conditions. About 5 years ago I got caught in a developing weather 'bomb' that formed over the lower Chesapeake and HAD to sail, etc. in F8 gusting to F10 for well over 12 hours. Nearing the mouth of the Patuxent I noticed a boat in BIG trouble - a large 'hunter' .... I didnt know the skill of skipper, nor the condition of the rig nor boat ............ but his mast furler was totally and obviously jammed, the boat was uncontrollable .... until he dismasted. Soon he drifted into the shoal (where the Cedar Island Lighthouse used to be) so all I could do was 'standy by' far out in deep water and be unable to 'help'. The US NAVY (Pax is a large USN base) were the ones who finally affected the rescue. In all that time during my 'standby' (hove-to ) I couldnt help thinking over and over to myself .... that he could not simply PULL THE DAMN SAIL DOWN and save himself. Perhaps before that incident, that skipper would have probably given all the 'support' argument for in-mast furling. Im pretty sure he wouldnt be so 'pro' after that event. Keep it 'simple', you can usually FIX 'simple'. Convienience that exposes you to additional risk (no matter how small the risk) is certainly something that you SHOULD deeply consider.

 

[Bill C320 Papillon]

Rich

most folks would have figured out they had a problem before the wind kicked up to those speeds because they would have tried rolling up the sail well in advance. This is the first eye witness report I've ever heard of where an in-mast jam was the cause of an accident. Although it is easy to sit here at my keyboard and second guess someone who is in an emergency situation but, had the skipper simply cut the outhaul, the loose footed mainsail would have instantly depowered. Granted it would be flogging around a lot but it wouldn't drive a boat much and if you could get pointed into the wind, there is a good chance that the crew might be able to wind the sail manually around the mast and get it somewhat secured.

 

[RichH]

As I remember, the clew was completely torn out ..

the sail was flogging and the main eventually wrapped itself around and entangled one of the cap shrouds. It appeared that the 'hammering' of the caught sail eventually broke the cap shroud and over went the mast. On my boat, Just about a 1/2 hr. earlier, while under triple deep reef and storm staysail an upper (triple stitched and glued) seam blew out .... and all I could do was to totally drop the main and run on storm stay only. A staysl on a cutter rig is at the CE so I could still somewhat beat into the wind, etc. At least I could bring down the 'pieces' of the main. I sail a 'heavy' boat so such wind and waves are not as bad as would be on a light weight 'coastal' boat. When nearing the entrance to Pax. River (earlier than when my main 'zippered'), I made the decision NOT to drop any sails as I considered that the wind drag on all the rigging (cutters have toooo much 'wire' aloft) would have been too much for my engine alone.