roller furling

[rudym]

I have a 1983 S 2 9.2C that I bought last Fall. The Genova is rigged with a roller furling. This is the first boat I have owned with a roller furling and it has worked just fine until recently. On the last two sails, when trying to pull in the sail I can only roll it so far and then it won't coil any further. I've checked the line and there are no snags. When I pull on the line it feels as though a spring is coiled as tight as it can go and won't go any further even though the sail is only 70% rolled. Is there a spring in this mechanism and could it be that it is wound too tight or is something jammed? Needless to say this makes pulling in the sail very difficult; any insight appreciated.
rudym

 

[victorhoisington]

Ok, I'll ask a couple of questions some of which may be obvious but worth verifying:

Whenever I have this problem I also have to check the off jib sheet to ensure it is lose. Make sure to maintain slight tension on the jib sheet but not enough to prevent furling the sail.

Have you checked your halyard tension? Is there a halyard wrap at the top? If the halyard isn't tensioned properly and you are getting a halyard wrap up top you may experience the problem.

One other thing to check, before you go out, while sitting at the dock, does the sail furl properly both in and out?

These are the most obvious issues (or at least the ones I've run into).

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find,

Victor

 

[Warren Milberg]

I know you said you checked the furling line "and there were no snags.," but this sounds like the classic line overwrap problem to me. When this happens, the furling on the drum -- at some point in the furling process -- slips under one of the loops below it (usually due to loose furling line) and will jam giving you the symptoms you described. The only way to deal with this is to (1) get the furling drum fully unloaded by either hand furling the sail or dropping it and (2) getting to the cause of the overwrap. As mentioned in other posts, this is usually caused by not keeping a bit of tension on the furling when unfurling, or not keeping some tension on the jib sheets when furling up the sail.

So, when your sail is 70% furled and won't go further, go forward and look at the wraps on the furling drum and see if any are overwrapped on the line below it. You can usually undo overwraps with a smooth bladed screw driver. Good luck with this.

 

[RichH]

rudym -

This 'may' be a common problem especially with boats like the S2 9.6 which uses various luff length jibs/genoas. The common problem is 'halyard wrap' around the top swivel of the furler. This halyard wrap is prevented by following the directions of your furler manual: "halyard lead angle".
What happens is IF the top swivel is not at near the *VERY* top of the foil, the halyard can 'toggle' around the top swivel, thus jamming it.
There are several solutions if the top swivel is NOT at the very top of the foil when carrying a foresail:

1. when the top swivel is not raised to near the very top, your furler manual will most probably state: the addition of a halyard 'diverter block' mounted to the front of the mast and so arranged that the angle that the halyard goes to the top swivel connection should be no less than 'such and such' degrees to the top swivel, etc. .... or something to this effect.

2.
A. Disconnect the sail from the drum and raise it all the way up with the halyard.
B. Accurately measure the distance between the raised sail's tack connection and the connection on the furler drum.
C. (for YOUR boat) Subtract 3 inches from the dimension found in B above.
D. make up a rope pendent (including shackles used) to the dimension found in C. Use many 'wraps' of strong 'small dia. line/rope' - make the pendent a 'lashing'. The pendent makes up the distance to get the top swivel near the very top of the foil
E. Place the pendent between either at the head/top of the sail and the top swivel ... OR between the tack of the sail and furler drum connection - your choice. Racers like the pendent at the top; cruisers like the pendent at the bottom for enhanced 'visibility' under the sail.
F. raise the sail, add some 'strain' to the halyard and ensure that the top swivel is quite close to the very top end of furler foil ... just an inch or two of foil showing above the top swivel. Use binoculars to verify that 'just a teeny section of foil is sticking up beyond the top swivel'.
Rx: using a pendent will get the top swivel into proper position on the foil with respect to the 'halyard lead angle', if this doesnt remedy the problem the next step is a 'diverter block' as in #1.
Rx (simple speak): if the top swivel on a furler is not nearly all-the-way to the top of the furling foil, the furler can easily and occasionally jam.

The S2 9.6 has a specified luff dimension for a genoa at 39.96ft. and for a 100% jib at 33.65 ft. So, without the pendent on such a jib and with the top swivel attached directly to the head of the jib, the top swivel will be approx 6 feet 'too low' and the all important 'halyard lead angle' to the top swivel will be approaching ZERO ... and the halyard will easily 'toggle' around the top swivel.

hope this helps. If this isnt all that clear to you, lemme know.
Hope this helps to get you 'good 'furling'.

 

[rudym]

Thanks

Wow, what great advice from all! I think the problem is most likely halyard wrap, I'll head down to the marina and confirm and hopefully remedy. Thanks for the help
Rudym

 

[skipper66]

I failed to install the "Halyard Tamer", a stainless band fitted to the mast to insure proper halyard lead angle on a Schaefer Snapfurl CF500. Dumbest thing I ever did! Got a severe halyard wrap arounf the top of the headstay and damaged both the halyard AND the headstay.
Best advice I can give: (especially to all of us guys) FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!

 

[JonnyQuest]

This just happened to me too on my last outing. I had friends sailing with me and one substituted for my usual first mate (wife). With a new hand in higher winds I know I was experiencing alternately both too much jib sheet tension and then waay too little tension. It was a long day and late and didn't want to try it a third time so I removed the genoa to figure it out later. In retrospect, I'm sure tension and over wrap was my problem. Of note, I furled it completely without problem before departure and again midway at anchoring site. Good/easy winds that time, and I furled it solo.

Good luck and let us know what you find!