Roller Furling question/use

Status
Not open for further replies.
r.w.landau

r.w.landau

.
Jun 2, 2004
1,438
Oday 25 pittsburgh
Rob, My guess

is that you tried to furl with the jib sheeted in. You have to let the sheets almost totally free to furl the sail. Never use a winch to furl! You will ripe the forestay off the boat, or load up the swag fitting beyond thier capabilities. Head up into the wind until it luffs or let the jib sheets free until the sail luffs then retrieve 2 or 3 feet of the furler line at a time making sure to pull when the sail luffs. The other thought is, is your rigging tight? If the forestay and back stay are loose, there is a big sag in the foil making it difficult to furl. r.w.landau
 
S

sailortonyb

roadtool and Ross

I had a version of the CDI where my 'bearings' were a washer shaped piece of somekind of plastic....no rollers. I guess different versions are/ were available. Roadtool....Please dont compare the use of a CDI furler on a 25 foot boat and a 30 Catalaina. As i stated earlier, CDI works fine on 25 to about 27 footers., but on my Catalina 30, it just wasnt built rugged enough. catalina 30's have quite massive sails. Now, there are smaller 30's that they may work on , but the author stated he had a Catalina 30.
 
D

Doghouse

.
Oct 3, 2005
159
Catalina 387 Hampton, VA
Had same type problem with harken this weekend

I had neerly the same problem, thunderstorm comming and could not get the sails to furl. Come to find out the halyards had been loosened on both the main and the jib. This caused both of them to slip in their tracks, and jam! I had to walk to the bow of the boat and manualy roll the jib, putting folds in it to get it in while being tossed around in the waves. The main would not go in at all until I found the fold at the base and ground the halyard taunt again. Lesson learned, if a furler has problems, check the tension to make sure your halyards are up and the backstay does not have too much tension on it to bind the workings. Nothing like comming off the deck a couple of times to teach you a lesson fast!
 
R

Rob19574

.
Feb 4, 2005
524
Catalina C-30 Mattituck, NY
Thanks All!

I appreciate everyone's feedback here. I think I did several things wrong: 1- Used my winch - something I will never do as I realize the dangers. 2- My standing rigging was all replaced this winter and is still very loose....I need to tighten everything up as yes - there was a major sag in the headstay. 3- In a 20 knot blow - a little wind on the sail is a lot of pressure so I need to try some of the tactics mentioned below. Also- I had my main down ahead of the jib and lost my ability to hold a straight course. I was able to reduce the pressure on the head sail but once the wind/waves pushed me back downwind - the sail filled and I lost the 3-4 turns I was making by hand. Lets just considor myelf lucky on this one as I got the sail in and home saefly with no damage. Thanks again everyone - Rob
 
S

sailortonyb

Roadtool

Smaller in displacement, beam and sail area. The 150 sail area of a Catalina 30 will Dwarf the sail area of a Grampian 150. I also at one time owned a Macgregor 25 and later a Catalina 25. Trust me, the MacGregor was smaller in all respects.
 
r.w.landau

r.w.landau

.
Jun 2, 2004
1,438
Oday 25 pittsburgh
I have had only one problem with my CDI in the four years

that I have owned it. About two weeks ago I was sailing partially furled and the furler line tucked in under itself like on a winch with too many wraps. I could not furl the sail. It took a couple minutes to find and solve the problem. I think it was caused because I did not keep tension on the furling line when I unfurled the Jib. r.w.landau
 
ClownPilot

ClownPilot

.
Jul 11, 2004
160
Macgregor 25 Saint Cloud Florida, City Marina
Just a thought ...

If you are using the FF2 model CDI, I believe the standard package does not include a torlon bearing assembley in the furler drum. Did you upgrade to the bearing. I understand that it makes the process of furling a bit easier. Tom
 
S

Steve Dion

.
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
not impressed with CDI

I am not impressed with the CDI furler either. I have one one our HV'36 and it is not the easiest to furl any time. My plans are for a new Spin-tec unit that they sell on this site. In my opinion this is one of the best furlers on the market. If you are considering a new furler take a look. They have a large drum (no tin), open, no ball bearings (all derlin) no disimilar metal touching each other. No halyard wrap. If you have not seen one of these go to one of the show and take a look. Simple and very heavy duty. They have all the features to make a great unit. This is going to be my next furler.
 
P

Peter

impressed with CDI

I can't say for a larger boat, but our C27 has had a CDI since 1985 and it works great. Our annual maintenance consists of pouring a kettle of water over the unit every spring, that's it. We've never used a winch with it, and never had any problems. Peter
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom