I have a Selden Furlex 100 on an O'Day 322 (1987) that I have owned since 2005. Recently the jib would jam about 1' from the top trying to get it down. Looking aloft showed the top section of foil out of alignment with the rest of the foil and the sail head jamming in the twist. With some manual turning of the base, could line it up and get it down. There are some older posts on this forum with the same issue indicating the connecting plate between the sections had broken allowing the top foil section to lift above the joint sleeve when the sail is raised and turn independently from the rest of the foil section. They also indicated removing the forestay etc. to repair this (which I was prepared to do but wanted to avoid).
I ordered the connecting plates and went to the top of the mast. The diagnosis was confirmed. However, with the foil in the vertical position there is a conundrum replacing the connecting plate (because it is on the inside of the foil and held in place cleverly by the joint sleeve). I raised the upper foil and joint sleeve to insert the connecting plate in the hole in the lower foil section and lowered the joint sleeve to hold it in place. I was stuck at this point as the upper foil will not go over the connecting plate. Much head scratching..... and another day
Enter the dental floss. I put a loop of dental floss around the connecting plate so that I could hold it inside the foil sections, lower the top foil section over the connecting plate; the plate's connection in the register hole in the lower foil worked to push the joint sleeve up inside the upper foil section. Once the two foil sections aligned I used the dental floss to pull the connecting plate outwards and fit into the register hole in the upper foil. Immediately the joint sleeve slid down inside by gravity and held it all in place. I then removed the dental floss. The strength and thinness of the dental floss was ideal for working within the small tolerances in space between all the metal components in the foil sections.
Hope this is helpful to anyone having the same issue. I recognize each situation is unique and the broken connection plate may not be the root cause of the problem - lots more fun hours sailing on the bay will tell.
Phil B
I ordered the connecting plates and went to the top of the mast. The diagnosis was confirmed. However, with the foil in the vertical position there is a conundrum replacing the connecting plate (because it is on the inside of the foil and held in place cleverly by the joint sleeve). I raised the upper foil and joint sleeve to insert the connecting plate in the hole in the lower foil section and lowered the joint sleeve to hold it in place. I was stuck at this point as the upper foil will not go over the connecting plate. Much head scratching..... and another day
Enter the dental floss. I put a loop of dental floss around the connecting plate so that I could hold it inside the foil sections, lower the top foil section over the connecting plate; the plate's connection in the register hole in the lower foil worked to push the joint sleeve up inside the upper foil section. Once the two foil sections aligned I used the dental floss to pull the connecting plate outwards and fit into the register hole in the upper foil. Immediately the joint sleeve slid down inside by gravity and held it all in place. I then removed the dental floss. The strength and thinness of the dental floss was ideal for working within the small tolerances in space between all the metal components in the foil sections.
Hope this is helpful to anyone having the same issue. I recognize each situation is unique and the broken connection plate may not be the root cause of the problem - lots more fun hours sailing on the bay will tell.
Phil B
