Spinnaker Halyard fouls headsail furler at swivel

Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
Hi.
The above has happened to me a couple of times - yesterday when I needed
to furl the headsail in a squall.

The headsail started to furl but after a few turns it would turn no more!

It had happened before so I looked up at the top of the forestay and
sure enough there was a turn of the spinny halyard wound round the top
part of the headsail.

Obviously the spinny halyard should have been tighter!! Though it
certainly was not loose..

Any tips to prevent this happening?

I just secure both ends of the spinny halyard to a cleat on stbd side of
mast.

On a previous boat I maybe took the working snapshackle end forward to
the bow pulpit - but that boat did not have a furling headsail...

Thanks

John

--
John A. Kinsella Ph: +353-61-202148 (Direct)
+353-61-333644 x 2148 (Switch)
Mathematics Dept. e-mail: John.Kinsella@...
University of Limerick FAX: +353-61-334927
IRELAND Web: John Kinsella's Website
 
Jan 31, 2009
122
Hi John - Have you checked the bearings in the top and bottom swivels of the furling gear,

Some years ago I had some similar problems and the top and bottom ball bearings had corroded and seized up. I had only had the boat a short while and had made no effort to check the bearings or lubricate them largely due to their inaccessability. I would imagine the lower swivel has turned but not the top one causing the halyard to wrap itself round the sail.

Mike

________________________________
From: John Kinsella John.Kinsella@...
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, 9 February, 2009 5:06:48 PM
Subject: [AlbinVega] Spinnaker Halyard fouls headsail furler at swivel

Hi.
The above has happened to me a couple of times - yesterday when I needed
to furl the headsail in a squall.

The headsail started to furl but after a few turns it would turn no more!

It had happened before so I looked up at the top of the forestay and
sure enough there was a turn of the spinny halyard wound round the top
part of the headsail.

Obviously the spinny halyard should have been tighter!! Though it
certainly was not loose..

Any tips to prevent this happening?

I just secure both ends of the spinny halyard to a cleat on stbd side of
mast.

On a previous boat I maybe took the working snapshackle end forward to
the bow pulpit - but that boat did not have a furling headsail...

Thanks

John

--
John A. Kinsella Ph: +353-61-202148 (Direct)
+353-61-333644 x 2148 (Switch)
Mathematics Dept. e-mail: John.Kinsella@...
University of Limerick FAX: +353-61-334927
IRELAND Web: John Kinsella's Website
 
Jul 18, 2002
41
Hello John:

I have had similar problems with the spinnaker halyard fouling the jib
roller reefer. I have taken to the habit of securing the spinnaker
halyard shackle to the mast stay fittings on the outer edge of the
deck. If the other end halyard is drawn tight and secured to the mast,
I find that the jib reefing swivel clears both runs of the spinnaker
halyard and there is no fouling problem. It may not be as pretty as you
would like, but it has worked for me.

JGB

John Kinsella wrote:
 
Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
Hi JG
if I understand you right you secure the spinny halyard shackle fitting
to a mast shroud fitting on the sidedeck?

I'd prefer not to block one of the side-decks in case I need to get
forward to the foredeck in a hurry!

Or do you secure the spinny halyard to the forestay deck fitting?

Or to one of the back-stay securing points?

Sorry if I am being slow here!

Thanks again,

John

JG Brisson wrote:
 
Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
Hi Mike
the furler is (relatively) new - 2004 and the boat has been on a
freshwater lake since so I'd be surprised if corrosion was the problem.

But life is full of surprises!

I think it is a consequence of the geometry - it seems to happen when I
harden up the backstay in stronger winds- obviously pulling the masthead
back slightly?

I hope I can get away with resecuring the spinnaker halyard shackle to a
different point on fore-, side- or after-deck as JGB sugggests.

thanks

John

MICHAEL FREEMAN wrote:
 
Jul 18, 2002
41
Hello John:

I mean where the shrouds connect to the "chainplates" on the sidedeck.
If the halyard is placed over (not around) the length of shroud that
extends between the spreader and the mast head and the halyard shackle
is connected to the aft-most mast shroud (on the "chainplate"). This
way the halyard is entirely outside all the shrouds. On my rig, the
halyard clears the roller block, and there is no (additional)
obstruction on deck for a frenzied run to the fore deck.

I hope this helps, let me now if it works on your rig.

-John

John Kinsella wrote:
 
Oct 31, 2019
562
Hi.
I secure the spinnaker halyard on the bow pulpit- up to the mast and back down to a cleet on the mast. I use the spinnaker a lot, never had a problem.
Wilhelm, V-257
 
Oct 30, 2019
1,459
I have had similar problems. My furler is an old CDI and has an
extruded aluminum foil with an internal halyard, with a bit of
a "goose neck" / pulley arrangement at the top, for the halyard. The
goose neck has quite an arc and can snag things like spare halyards.

I take my spinnaker halyards (tied together at the ends), bring them
out around the stays on the starboard side, then stand back on the
coach roof and flick them over the fitting holding the top of the
starboard main shroud. Then I pull them tight and cleat them to the
stbd. side of the mast. To tighten them a bit more I pull them over
to the port side of the spinnaker pole eye on the mast.
A bit of an inconvenience, but it seems to work ok.

If I ever have the foil off again I'll shorten it by 3", as my jib
has plenty of deck clearance. I think that'll bring the top of the
furler down low enough to avoid tangles.

... or maybe I need a new furler ;-)

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
Thanks to all who replied.

As always, living 100M from the nearest Vega, this list is an invaluable
resource.

John V1447 Breakaway
 
Nov 8, 2001
1,818
Hi All

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