Profurl Halyard Swivel jammed

Jun 9, 2012
40
Beneteau 352 Centerport, NY
1999 Beneteau 352 with Profurl headsail furler.
The halyard swivel is jammed at the top of the foil and won't come down.
No problem using it heavily all season- set and furled normally until I went to take the sail off for the winter- couldn't get the swivel to come down or go up.
Rigger went up but could not free it so now they're saying I need to take the forestay off and bring the furler down to get the swivel off and see what went wrong.

Any ideas out there? Thanks in advance.
 
Mar 29, 2017
576
Hunter 30t 9805 littlecreek
They are the pro's not hard to take entirely down loosen rig pull all haylards forward and tighten till slack the headstay pull pin. Unscrew turnbuckle slide furler off down dock. You need be parked headin to dock to do this
 
Sep 25, 2008
961
Macgregor & Island Packet VENTURE 25 & IP-38 NORTH EAST, MD
Profurl foil lengths are attached together with set screws I believe. If they come loose, they will get in the way of the swivel and jam it. Also check the very top of your luff tape, as it could be frayed from inserting into the luff track many times over.
 

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
Good luck getting the furler off the forestay, if that needs to be done.
at least in my case thee is no turnbuckle under the furler drum. There was a Norseman fitting that had to be disassembled in order to slide the foil off.
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,521
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I had "stickage" when I tried to lower my jib. It had been up in some 30knt breezes during the season. At first it would slide 4-6 inches then jam. When we determined after finally pulling it free was that the halyard, shackle and link connections at the top of the furler were hanging up. Once we realigned them the sail went up and down smoothly. These furlers do (from time to time) need to be serviced. Clean the furler extrusions, tighten the screw connections, and use sail lube on the tracks. Things get loose, dirty, and hang up.

You can use a halyard to temporarily replace the forestay and then remove the forestay and furler to service or repair the unit. This will save you from removing the mast to do the work, but will require having the needed halyards and a mast monkey to do the mast top work.
 
Apr 27, 2010
970
Beneteau 352 Hull #276 Ontario
I have the same boat and had the same problem. There are 2 bushings in the swivel that wear over time. If they haven't been changed it's probably time to do so. The swivel has turned on the extrusion and got stuck. If the bushings have worn badly enough, there are 2 steel guide pins in the swivel that can dig into the extrusion and prevent the swivel from sliding down.
The bushing are available from ProFurl and fairly easy to remove and replace. Unfortunately my hard drive crashed and the pics I had are gone.
I dropped the mast at end of season to do the work.
Good Luck
PS Just found a pic that shows one of the bushings
 

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Nov 20, 2017
17
Hanse 400e Nanaimo
Did you try disconnecting the sail to take the strain off the swivel? I had a similar problem (not ProFurl) once and was able to free it up by going up the mast, and disconnecting the sail. It was hung up on the top of the foil and wouldn't move without taking the weight off it. Could be a different problem from yours though.
 
Jun 9, 2012
40
Beneteau 352 Centerport, NY
Thanks Joker- that looks like it could definitely be the problem. Maybe I should buy the parts and they might be able to take it down, fix it and put it back up right away. I'm wet storing (Long Island) this season and have nowhere to store the rig if it has to be down for any length of time.