Roller Furling, Genoa Sailing characteristics

[Ahmet]

I had my Mac26X out again this weekend, for the first time with the roller furling.For some reason I had a much more difficult time close hauling. twice, I had to fire up the motor and pull it out from having gone too close to the wind where the genoa cought it from the other side. This did not happenb to me with the jib.I wonder if this is in any way related to loose rigging. I can not assess how tight the shrouds should be. with the furling, I have no more access to the turnbuckle, and the bottom of the mast, without the sail, is about 1/4 inch off from touching the deck.The instructions say something about adjusting the tension with the backstay instead, but that would pull the mast even further back.(THe furling was installed by the dealer)Can someone tell me if the tension on the stays ans shrouds should be.Thanks a lot...

 

[Kevin Barry]

Furler

Hi, I think the general concensus on the mast rake is about 2 degrees aft of plum. The factory setup comes at about 4 degrees. You might want to check this with a level and plum line at the mast base. You may need to gain access to the turnbuckle. You can get access without dropping the mast by letting the sail out...on a calm day preferably...and then lifting the furler mechanism. If that dosen't work you'll have to drop the mast and adjust from there.  Just on another note, as soon as you begin to see the genny luff (flap at the forward edge), turn away from the wind. You can't point very high in the mac, so don't judge by other sailboats. The dealer suggests running the genny between the shrouds to gain "5-7 degrees" of pointing, but I haven't found this too effective.  Good luck... Kevin