Pendant for autofurl

JRR

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May 19, 2021
19
Catalina 30 Minneford YC
Hello, wish everyone's having a fantastic season. i am replacing the 150% 39' luff genoa with a 135% 37' luff. i was told that i would need a pendant so there is no tangling up. i chose the 37' luff for better visibility, the sailor advised to attach pendant to head of sail. Wouldn't it work if i raise sail as high as possible and clear lifelines without a pendant? i've read in stingy sailor that you can't use a pendant on an autofurler. Could pendant be installed at the tack connecting to furler? It's the first time i'll be using a furler and first time i bought a sail. The furling line was tangled up in furler and was cut not realising it is a continous line. i imagine i have to splice the line now.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
The tack of the sail should be attached to the furling drum so that it furls correctly. The head of the sail simply follows the tack.

You'll need to replace the furling line. Used line is not easy to splice.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Could pendant be installed at the tack connecting to furler?
That would be where I would attach a pendant to accomplish what you state is the desire (Raise the tack of the sail to improve vision under the sail foot). I would then try it and see how the furler function processes. I would think it will work. I would use a stiff pendant and one that is as short as feasible. You may need to put extra wraps around the drum to satisfy the furling of the sail.

The furling line was tangled up in furler and was cut not realising it is a continous line. i imagine i have to splice the line now.
Yes you will need to do a splice. The splice needs to be one that does not add thickness to the line.
Here is one way to do a splice for a furler line.



11. Continuous loops

Loop of double braid polyester - equal thickness
The core is not used in this splice and that leads to an equal thick rope.
However this loop is reduced in strength. E.g. use it for furlers.
Rope: Cruiser XTS
 
Jul 19, 2013
384
Pearson 31-2 Boston
I have had several jibs converted from hanks to tape so I could use them with a furling system. The sailmakers added the pendants to the head of the sails and extended the luff tape up along the length of the pendant.

Regardless of where you place the pendant, the furler swivel needs to end up at full hoist or you may have problems furling the sail.
 

JRR

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May 19, 2021
19
Catalina 30 Minneford YC
My apologies for having forgotten i asked for help thru this forum. Thanks for all of the replies. The genoa hasn't been installed yet, need to tune rigging, get spreader boot, find a furling line and 4 stanchions. i was going to learn from previous owner but he killed himself a couple of weeks ago. i like the wheel but it gets in the way, both winches and ignition panel aren't easily accessible from helm. Does it make sense to change to tiller? Can't sail with people all the time, was spoiled on the O'day25, tiller was easy and didn't need help when sailing. Any affordable ascending gear? Is 3/8" strong enough to climb mast? Should i change halyards to 1/2"? The jib halyard is a cable and i've been advised not to use it when climbing, leaving me with the halyard used for main. Is it recommended to use a dacron halyard instead of cable? Wish everyone fair winds and following seas, have a fantastic season.
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
Does it make sense to change to tiller?
Probably not, maybe you can switch to smaller diameter wheel if the current steering effort is light.
Any affordable ascending gear? Is 3/8" strong enough to climb mast?
Google “mast climber”. Yes, 3/8” is strong enough. 1/2” might bind in the sheaves.
Is it recommended to use a dacron halyard instead of cable?
Use a rope halyard that has a core of Dyneema or Spectra, with Dacron cover material.
Good luck.
 
Jul 19, 2013
384
Pearson 31-2 Boston
... Should i change halyards to 1/2"? The jib halyard is a cable and i've been advised not to use it when climbing, leaving me with the halyard used for main. Is it recommended to use a dacron halyard instead of cable? Wish everyone fair winds and following seas, have a fantastic season.
Yes, get rid of the wire-to-rope halyards. The reason you were advised not to trust such a line is the wire-rope slice slowly degrades over the years until they suddenly fail. You want to use a low stretch line for your halyards, and go smaller in size rather than larger. See the line advice in
 
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