By an odd stroke of luck, I managed to buy a 150% genoa to fit my O'Day 19 on EBay. It was advertised as being a hank on sail, but, on arrival, I discovered that it has been retrofitted for roller furling, with steel cable and thimbles attached to the luff. I have purchased the Harken Hi Load small boat furling system, which is rated for boats up to 20 feet, and am now wondering what is going to be the best method of installing the roller furling. Namely, should I keep using the forestay (it seems like things might get a bit crowded when I want to furl the entire jib), or should I remove the forestay and use the luff cable and halyard in it's place? Does anyone here have experience setting up roller furling on an O'Day 19, or something with a similar rigging? I would appreciate any wisdom that you can share. Thanks.
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My 192 has that type of furling
You can either replace forestay or set up the furler behind it. On the 192 they are seperate and, doing it that way allows sail changes without dropping the mast. On my Potter 15, where I only use one size jib, the wire in the jib takes the place of the forestay. Since the jib is a 150, you may want to buy the larger Harken drum so you have enough line capacity. The small drums will handle a 110 using a 3/16" diameter furling line, but you would have to use a really small (and uncomfortable to handle under load) line to get enough wraps to roll up the 150. On the 192 I use the larger Harken unit with 3/16" line and it rolls up my 135 with enough spare capacity to handle the extra wraps a 150 would require, I think.
You can either replace forestay or set up the furler behind it. On the 192 they are seperate and, doing it that way allows sail changes without dropping the mast. On my Potter 15, where I only use one size jib, the wire in the jib takes the place of the forestay. Since the jib is a 150, you may want to buy the larger Harken drum so you have enough line capacity. The small drums will handle a 110 using a 3/16" diameter furling line, but you would have to use a really small (and uncomfortable to handle under load) line to get enough wraps to roll up the 150. On the 192 I use the larger Harken unit with 3/16" line and it rolls up my 135 with enough spare capacity to handle the extra wraps a 150 would require, I think.
Furler
Roger, Make sure that you use toggle fittings with toggle straps on both ends of your fore stay. T Ball fittings in a mast slot will break with a furler attached to it. If your mast has tangs, then you only need the toggles and straps for your fore stay. It sounds like you have a great furler. My friend Wayne added a bracket to his bow and ran an extra fore stay to it from the top of his mast, when he installed his CDI Furler. I've been thinking seriously of installing a new Jib halyard sheave above my fore stay and just have my Jib halyard attached to the forward part of my bow rail. That would save my mast from falling backward on my head if my fore stay ever broke. My mast sheave is plastic and I need something more heavy duty for mast raising, anyway. I think that I may go for it even if I have to replace my halyard in the process. Joe
Roger, Make sure that you use toggle fittings with toggle straps on both ends of your fore stay. T Ball fittings in a mast slot will break with a furler attached to it. If your mast has tangs, then you only need the toggles and straps for your fore stay. It sounds like you have a great furler. My friend Wayne added a bracket to his bow and ran an extra fore stay to it from the top of his mast, when he installed his CDI Furler. I've been thinking seriously of installing a new Jib halyard sheave above my fore stay and just have my Jib halyard attached to the forward part of my bow rail. That would save my mast from falling backward on my head if my fore stay ever broke. My mast sheave is plastic and I need something more heavy duty for mast raising, anyway. I think that I may go for it even if I have to replace my halyard in the process. Joe
Interesting Ideas
Those are some interesting ideas, Dave. The forestay mounts so close to the pulley for the jib halyard, on the mast, and there isn't much space between the holea for the forestay and the clew of the foresail, at the bow. I would like to continue using the forestay as a backup, in case the halyard ever chose to let go. Plus, using the luff of the sail in place of the forestay seems like it could change the tuning of the mast in varying intensities of wind. What has been your experience with your Potter? Clearance between the furling drum and the forestay will be very close, even with the smaller drum. The larger drum would definitely not work with the forestay in place. But I probably will not be changing sails often, if at all. The 150 genoa is as big as I will want to go, and the roller furling will allow me to reduce it to the size of a storm jib in heavy weather. So perhaps dispensing with the forestay is the best option. I doubt whether there would be room between the luff and the forestay to completely furl the 150 anyway, regardless of which drum I use. I have considered re-positioning the forestay to the top of the mast to buy myself some room. I chose the smaller drum because I was concerned that the larger one would be too "tall" to allow me to fully raise and tension the genoa sail, due to the length of the luff. Your concern about whether it will hold enough line to completely furl my 150 is something that had not occurred to me. It will hold 10 feet of 5/32" dacron line. I will have to work out the math and see whether that is enough to completely furl the 150 or not. Thanks very much for your input and ideas. Roger
Those are some interesting ideas, Dave. The forestay mounts so close to the pulley for the jib halyard, on the mast, and there isn't much space between the holea for the forestay and the clew of the foresail, at the bow. I would like to continue using the forestay as a backup, in case the halyard ever chose to let go. Plus, using the luff of the sail in place of the forestay seems like it could change the tuning of the mast in varying intensities of wind. What has been your experience with your Potter? Clearance between the furling drum and the forestay will be very close, even with the smaller drum. The larger drum would definitely not work with the forestay in place. But I probably will not be changing sails often, if at all. The 150 genoa is as big as I will want to go, and the roller furling will allow me to reduce it to the size of a storm jib in heavy weather. So perhaps dispensing with the forestay is the best option. I doubt whether there would be room between the luff and the forestay to completely furl the 150 anyway, regardless of which drum I use. I have considered re-positioning the forestay to the top of the mast to buy myself some room. I chose the smaller drum because I was concerned that the larger one would be too "tall" to allow me to fully raise and tension the genoa sail, due to the length of the luff. Your concern about whether it will hold enough line to completely furl my 150 is something that had not occurred to me. It will hold 10 feet of 5/32" dacron line. I will have to work out the math and see whether that is enough to completely furl the 150 or not. Thanks very much for your input and ideas. Roger
Bow Bracket
I'm interested in how your friend, Wayne, added a bracket to the bow of his boat, to attach an extra forestay. I would prefer to use a forestay together with the roller furling, for just the reason that you mentioned. If the sail or furling chooses to let go, I would like to have a backup. My existing forestay doesn't go all the way to the top of the mast. It attaches about 75-80% up the mast. I have considered modifying the forestay so that it fastens to the top of the mast, and it would be very beneficial if I could add a bracket to the bow of the boat so that the bottom of the forestay moved 4-6 inches forward. Was Wayne able to find a bracket available commercially, or did he have it fabricated? You might not need to replace your plastic sheave, depending upon the quality of the plastic. Some plastics are extremely strong, and offer a lubricity that you don't get with metals. Torlon bearings, for instance, are very durable and trouble free. If you move the sheave and the bow mount for your sail ahead of the forestay, then the forestay will interfere with the foresail. I'm pretty pumped about putting the furling system on this boat, with the new (used) genoa. I had roller furling on my 505 racer, and it made the boat much easier to single hand, and saved my butt a couple of times when storms blew in out of nowhere. Thanks for the ideas, Joe. Roger
I'm interested in how your friend, Wayne, added a bracket to the bow of his boat, to attach an extra forestay. I would prefer to use a forestay together with the roller furling, for just the reason that you mentioned. If the sail or furling chooses to let go, I would like to have a backup. My existing forestay doesn't go all the way to the top of the mast. It attaches about 75-80% up the mast. I have considered modifying the forestay so that it fastens to the top of the mast, and it would be very beneficial if I could add a bracket to the bow of the boat so that the bottom of the forestay moved 4-6 inches forward. Was Wayne able to find a bracket available commercially, or did he have it fabricated? You might not need to replace your plastic sheave, depending upon the quality of the plastic. Some plastics are extremely strong, and offer a lubricity that you don't get with metals. Torlon bearings, for instance, are very durable and trouble free. If you move the sheave and the bow mount for your sail ahead of the forestay, then the forestay will interfere with the foresail. I'm pretty pumped about putting the furling system on this boat, with the new (used) genoa. I had roller furling on my 505 racer, and it made the boat much easier to single hand, and saved my butt a couple of times when storms blew in out of nowhere. Thanks for the ideas, Joe. Roger
Wire luff furling does not allow reefing!
With the wire luff type furling, reefing the jib does not work well. The furling drum rotates only the tack of the sail, the top "free-wheels". If you roll the sail part way and cleat the line, the tack will stay put, but the pressure on the sail will unroll the top. The resulting shape is, well, awful. On the one-wire arrangement, like on my Potter, you do lose the ability to loosen the luff in light air unless you reduce tension on the entire rig, which I find a little un-nerving. With the separate forestay you can loosen the jib halyard in the conventional way for a fuller sail. On the 192 the furler drum does not attach to the stem fitting with the forestay. There is a transverse U-bolt mounted through the deck a few inches behind the stem fitting to which the furler drum is shackled. I suspect that moving the forestay to the top of the mast might create more problems than it solves. The shrouds and spreaders will still be in their original location and that may create some support and stability issues for the spar. You'd also lose the ability to bend the mast favorably if the backstay is pulling directly against the forestay.
With the wire luff type furling, reefing the jib does not work well. The furling drum rotates only the tack of the sail, the top "free-wheels". If you roll the sail part way and cleat the line, the tack will stay put, but the pressure on the sail will unroll the top. The resulting shape is, well, awful. On the one-wire arrangement, like on my Potter, you do lose the ability to loosen the luff in light air unless you reduce tension on the entire rig, which I find a little un-nerving. With the separate forestay you can loosen the jib halyard in the conventional way for a fuller sail. On the 192 the furler drum does not attach to the stem fitting with the forestay. There is a transverse U-bolt mounted through the deck a few inches behind the stem fitting to which the furler drum is shackled. I suspect that moving the forestay to the top of the mast might create more problems than it solves. The shrouds and spreaders will still be in their original location and that may create some support and stability issues for the spar. You'd also lose the ability to bend the mast favorably if the backstay is pulling directly against the forestay.
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