Jib Furling dificult

Bill Roosa · Jul 3, 2015

You do have to unload the jib by pinching or letting the sheet out till the jib is almost lufting.

Jake N Eggs · Jul 3, 2015

I have a 33 which is quite a bit smaller but I did have an issue one year when I had the jib halyard too tight. In heavier winds it is a little harder to furl in. Try loosening the halyard a little.

Nice boat by the way.

quadrille38 · Jul 3, 2015

I've made the halyard too tight mistake before. Made rolling almost impossible.

Another thing I found as I was working through trying to figure out why is that the furling line was rolled onto the drum in the wrong direction. Boat was delivered that way. When I got the manual out I learned that the direction it rolls clockwise / counterclockwise is determined by which side of the boat the line is run and which side of the sail the sunbrella is on. Mine line is on starboard which means drum should roll counterclockwise according to the manual. It wasn't and as a result it overlapped and bound and was hard to roll.

Sailgunner · Jul 3, 2015

I roll mine up via the power winch when the wind is blowing. Just have to be careful and not put to much pressure on the sail.

kappykaplan · Jul 4, 2015

Try turning downwind so the apparent wind is about 150. This way, the main blankets the jib and takes most of the wind load off. Should make furling much easier.

Mulf · Jul 4, 2015

Lubricate the furling parts

When was the last time the top and bottom furling swivels were lubricated?

Cool_Change · Jul 4, 2015

Unless you instructed the yard to lube the furling mechanisms they very likely didn't. I lube the lower ends of the main and jib furlers at least once a season and the uppers in the spring before raising the mast. Depending on the type of jib furler you may need to take the line and drum off to reach one of the lube points altho that one doesn't have to be done as often. If you have manuals check those for frequency and instructions. Makes a world of difference...first time I did the main shortly after getting the boat I went from winching to easily furling by hand! I don't think the PO ever did it....

ice breaker · Jul 4, 2015

Tflight:

I had the same issue as you in very high winds. Since I single hand a great deal, I re routed the furler line from the stanchion mount to a straight in mount and an now am able to use a spare rope clutch and the winch if needed. It has made all the difference. most times hand pulling the furler line is plenty, as the clutch keeps the line form slipping back, but there are many times that the winch comes in very handy for furling the jib.

quadrille38 · Jul 4, 2015

ice breaker said:
Tflight: I had the same issue as you in very high winds. Since I single hand a great deal, I re routed the furler line from the stanchion mount to a straight in mount and an now am able to use a spare rope clutch and the winch if needed. It has made all the difference. most times hand pulling the furler line is plenty, as the clutch keeps the line form slipping back, but there are many times that the winch comes in very handy for furling the jib.

I didn't reroute but I did buy a block with attached cam cleat for the line. Serves the same purpose and allows for it to be pulled in without fighting. Attaches to the base of the arch.

Stu Jackson · Jul 4, 2015

What manufacturer of furler?

Kings Gambit · Jul 4, 2015

TFlight said:
I was in a 20kt blow and was trying to reef in the jib and it was almost imposable to pull by hand. I know this is a much bigger boat than I'm used to but should it really be that hard?

Yeah--it can be (and is) that hard. To help, I eventually shackled a turning block to a pad eye outboard the aft (spinnaker) winch that allows me a fair lead from the final stanchion sheeve to the winch if I need it to adjust the amount of sail out. Otherwise, or to furl in all the way, I just stand up in the cockpit and pull from the block using my weight until the first couple of turns are on; then it gets easier. Last year, I swapped by 135 furlling genoa for a 120--THAT helped a lot!

bobscaggs · Jul 9, 2015

I had a very similar issue this weekend with my relatively "new to me" H426. We were in a 25 knot blow with gusts higher on July 4, I had only about one third of sails out on jib and main. Trying to keep the boat headed up into the wind while I furled at these wind speeds was difficult to say the least. While furling the jib to put it away, I lost control of the furling line and with the sheets only eased she took off and unfurled completely in a matter of seconds. Now we are in a fix with huge wind and a full jib. First things first, heave to for a minute to catch breath and determine best course of action. After a few minutes of rest while hove to, I tried to point back into the wind and furl. The luffing was incredibly strong as I tried to furl, somehow the sail got twisted on the furler and a portion of the sail at the top was still out while rest of the sail was furled. Not wanting to get back into the situation with the full sail out again, I let it be and headed back on course for about thirty minutes. Unfortunately a seam ripped loose and damaged the sail before I could get it unfurled and furled correctly. Couple lessons learned here:

1. Some sort of ratcheting mechanism on the furling line would have been helpful in this condition (maybe that big round shiny thing mounted right next to it) but even a cam cleat or rope clutch would have been a lot of help.

2. Fix problems as they occur, lest they become bigger or more expensive problems.

3. Train passengers to act as crew members.

4. Read this forum every day. Had I seen this thread on the 3rd, it may have helped me out on the 4th.

weinie · Jul 9, 2015

I was on a friend's hunter 410 last year in about 25 knots of wind when he opted to furl it. Despite warning him on previous trips, he insists on using his winch on the furling line. Well, of course it jammed and the wind was building even higher. His second mistake was to motor into the wind rather than sail off it causing the jib to flog like mad and the sheets to rap themselves into a gordian knot. I convinced him to let me go forward drop the jib completely (he actually wanted to motor into the slip with the jib flailing and the wind honking). Of course, by the time I got the jib down, the jib was ready to go to the sailmaker for major re-stitching along the seams.

Moral of the story... head down wind and let the main blanket the jib to unload the pressure. Then furl. The difference in apparent wind alone by heading downwind is very significant! And don't use the winch!

weinie · Jul 9, 2015

bobscaggs said:
I had a very similar issue this weekend with my relatively "new to me" H426. We were in a 25 knot blow with gusts higher on July 4, I had only about one third of sails out on jib and main. Trying to keep the boat headed up into the wind while I furled at these wind speeds was difficult to say the least. While furling the jib to put it away, I lost control of the furling line and with the sheets only eased she took off and unfurled completely in a matter of seconds. Now we are in a fix with huge wind and a full jib. First things first, heave to for a minute to catch breath and determine best course of action. After a few minutes of rest while hove to, I tried to point back into the wind and furl. The luffing was incredibly strong as I tried to furl, somehow the sail got twisted on the furler and a portion of the sail at the top was still out while rest of the sail was furled. Not wanting to get back into the situation with the full sail out again, I let it be and headed back on course for about thirty minutes. Unfortunately a seam ripped loose and damaged the sail before I could get it unfurled and furled correctly. Couple lessons learned here:

1. Some sort of ratcheting mechanism on the furling line would have been helpful in this condition (maybe that big round shiny thing mounted right next to it) but even a cam cleat or rope clutch would have been a lot of help.

2. Fix problems as they occur, lest they become bigger or more expensive problems.

3. Train passengers to act as crew members.

4. Read this forum every day. Had I seen this thread on the 3rd, it may have helped me out on the 4th.

why didn't you just furl it when you were hove to?

Pat · Jul 9, 2015

We had the same problem on our O'Day...finally, reading Lay-line from Harken, they
recommended that people have the core removed from the front (first part to roll in) of the line then when you are reefing it in high wind, it rolls on to the spool very easily...It worked...solved all our problem reefing in high winds....the other end (cockpit) end keeps it's core so as to make the line much easier to handle.....it really makes terriffic sense once you put on the new line....West Marine has take the core out of our
5/16th inch line several times....Try it! Good Luck !!