Roller Furling - dumb question

[Bill P.]

Sorry folks but bare with me please...I just finally got my sails back from Sailcare and when they work working on them they said that the sunguard fabric on the luff of the roller furling jib was installed on the wrong side and they would fix it - it was white (well sort of) so I didn't even know I had it - anyway they indicated they would do it right and installed blue.I installed the sails today and when I furl the jib the sunguard still is rolled to the inside!! I have a Hood roller furler that when I pull on the furler line (runs down the port side) the drum rotates counterclockwise. Is this correct? The line comes out at a nice tangent to the drum to the first fairlead but is it as simple as rolling the line around the drum the other direction? The sunguard fabric is on the starboard side of the sail. Help!!!!Thanks,Bill

 

[Bayard Gross]

This should be correct

With the blue sunguard on the starboard side of the sail and the furler turning counterclockwise when furling, everthing should be O.K.What you are probably seeing is the sunguard roll inside the sail as you furl it, yet at the same time covering up the sail. With white sun protection you would not have noticed this. When the furler is completely furled, you should just see blue sunguard. Then as you unfurl it, you will start to see the white of the sail appear around the furler until it is all white after it is entirely unfurled.As you furl your furler, it is a good idea to move your jib cars forward to provide a proper angle to the clew that is rising upward as well as forward.

 

[Bill P.]

Barber Pole

I must not have got the rotation correct - when furled - I see stripes not a solid blue???

 

[Vic]

Right hand/ left hand ...Try it the other way ...

With a number of furlers it seems that which side to apply the sunguard depends on which way the the furling line has to be directed to run clean out of the unit. If the line crosses over to the port rail I would wind clockwise ... if it crosses over to the starboard rail I would wind counterclockwise. But if the opening is wide enough so it is not rubbing on the line ... you probably can do it either way ... and I have without noticing any difference except that the guard is on the inside one way and outside the other. But maybe with hood it only goes one way. If you get a candy cane it may be because they didn't make the sunprotector wide enough. Vic

 

[Bob]

I hope they didn't install the sunguard

on the luff, but rather on the leech and foot. If you get a candy cane, make sure there is a little tension on the sheet as you furl it so that the sail doesn't have slack in it as it rolls - the tighter it rolls, the less guard material it takes to cover the sail.