Storing a furling jib

May 15, 2019
9
Hunter 260 Caryle lake
I recently purchased a Hunter 260 with a CDI flexible furling fib. It is still in my driveway, waiting to go to the lake while I do some minor repairs. My question is. What is the best way to store, and transport the jib? The previous owner had it coiled in the cabin for storage, it sat on the hard for two years. I am concerned the flexible pvc luff extrusion may have some twisted in it. Right now I have it laying flat stretched out in my garage.
Should I lash it onto the mast when transporting it, or just coiled it in the cabin?
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Unwrap either on a dry grass or driveway. Uncoil and remove the sail. Leave the forestay alone. To help straighten it if it remains coiled up after untying, coil it in one big loop the opposite direction tying together with multiple tie wraps in the sun for a day and then uncoil and leave out for a few more hours. Store the furler on top tied to the stanchions making sure you secure the drum most important and suggest that you put protection around the metal drum to keep it from banging and marring the boat. Reattach when you raise the mast. Keep it straight in line the mast and PLEASE DO NOT, DO NOT HANDLE THE MAST RAISE POLE HELPING IT UP OR DOWN AS IT WILL COLLAPSE THE MAST RAISE POLE IN THE CENTER.

Also, about 60% with the mast up, hold onto that line or tie it off and go and shake the shroud turnbuckles to make sure they are not binding. When you release the mainsheet which is under tension, use your foot with shoe to push down to release unless you want your fingers or toes to be caught in the jam cleat and that is a major ouch.
 
May 15, 2019
9
Hunter 260 Caryle lake
thank you Dave. The pvc extrusion appears to be straight. I can lay it out straight in the yard. When I transport it, I will store it on top tied to the stanchions as you suggested.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Any minor bends will be pulled straight once the mast is up and the forestay tensioned.
 
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DJN51

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Oct 26, 2009
377
Hunter 23.5 East Chicago In
On my 23.5 I leave it furled on furler.For trailering I took a 5 ft piece of 4 in PVC and cut it lengthwise in half and bolted them together to make back to back U cradle , put it on mast when down sticking it out front about 3 ft to cradle furler.Made bag out of sunbrella to keep furler from maring deck and front window when rigging and keeping debris out when trailering
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
The last time I trailered my rolled up head sail, I went to Lowes and purchased a roll of that cling wrap used to secure boxes on a pallet. I then visqueened the entire thing.... furler and all. I worried that 70 mph on the highway would turn that into shreds but it held up very well.
 
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Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
I am a CDI distributor, and I've sold hundreds, if not a thousand, of them. I have installed many of them. I've had a CDI or Schaefer Snapfurl for decades on my trailerable sailboats, too. And in those 20+ years, I have broken one extrusion (a dumb mistake) and permanently bent another (too lazy to take proper care to store it properly).

I have tested a bunch of leftover sections of extrusion for both the CDI and the Schaefer Snapfurl, and I can state definitively that you cannot straighten out a a kink in the extrusion by placing it flat leaving it in the sun, or by putting it in a black PVC pipe and leaving it in the hot sun. I define a kink as a bend in one direction followed by a bend in the opposite direction, or a sharp bend. with a radius of less than about 5 feet. Nor can you strighten a sharp bend out by bending the extrusion in the opposite direction.

Seriously folks, I have tested sections of plastic extrusion to the point of destruction! And I have never heard of a customer who successfully straightened out a kinked extrusion. I do however, sell a few replacement CDI and Snapfurl extrusions every year.

The most important thing to remember is that plastic furler extrusions MUST be stored straight, without any short droops in or revere bends in a row. What you need to avoid is a curve in one direction followed by a curve in the other direction. If you leaveit like that for a few days, it will be permanently noticable.

You can store it a) hanging by the ends from a rafter in a gentle, large diameter curve, or b) for a couple of days in the cabin bent into a very gentle u-shape, or c) lashed straight to the mast (or a pipe or on the ground) with padding near the drum, and with a support where the furler drum hangs past the foot of the mast.

If you last it to a mast or pipe, take care to use bungies or ties about every 12-18" apart so it doesn't droop inbetween the bungies. Also, if you have spreaders, lash the furler underneath the spreaders. Don't drape it on top of the mast and over the spreaders. If you leave the furler bent over the spreaders, the extrusion will develop a permanent deflection that you'll see when you're sailing.

It's a personal choice whether to remove the jib during trailering. I always left the sail on the furler and strapped the furler to the mast. Where it extended past the mast, I bungied a boathook pole to the mast. Leaving the sail on the furler saved me 15 minutes or more during setup and take down. The sail had a UV cover. Some times it got a few bugs on it when I drove past rice fields, but nothing that didn't wash off. Take care to avoid chafing a hole in the sail.

There were a couple of times that I put the furler inside the cabin for a long road trip cross country, with the middle of sail and extrusion sitting in the vberth and with the ends of the furler going aft on both sides of the a settee. It is not an "offically" approved way to store it, but the 7 or 8' wide curve in the middle never seemed to hurt it.

Leaving a gently curved extrusion straight in the sun is effective when you've have left the extrusion coiled tightly in the box for a week or two or more after it was delivered. That will relax the coil enough for you to install the furler, and the luff will be straight enough to use.

You can cover the drum with a towel (or an old crew sock for the smaller models) to keep it from banging on the deck gelcoat during mast raising and lowering.Or make a cover for it.

Or set up your mast raising system so it can't hit the deck, but that's a whole separate topic.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Judy;
I knew the first owner and founder of CDI and learned a lot. The original furlers ordered came in a small box wrapped up and what I saw in the instructions is what I described how to uncoil and bend backwards in lone loop tying with tie wraps. The amount of people needed to do this safely was an issue with me as I had more folks helping as I got hit in the face one time. The instructions left in the sun pretty much in warm weather, not cold, uncoiled the extrusion not straight as an arrow but close enough for government work and then up pretty much straightened out. The new owner in Canada now ships those extrusions in larger boxes and pretty much unfolds out straight much more. Instructions are close to the original. Why in boxes is of course shipping costs which are much higher if shipped in long lengths. Look under boat information for the CDI FF2 system on the Hunter 260, page 4 for uncoiling.
I introduced the small CDI furlers to Beneteau, Catalina, Hunter, Precision and others as well as a dealer who learned from the original owner of CDI
However, if the furler is seriously bent by the owner, you are correct that bend cannot be worked out and a new extrusion is necessary.
Crazy Dave
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
The last time I trailered my rolled up head sail, I went to Lowes and purchased a roll of that cling wrap used to secure boxes on a pallet. I then visqueened the entire thing.... furler and all. I worried that 70 mph on the highway would turn that into shreds but it held up very well.
Thanks pretty common practice... when we shipped the 36.7 from Texas to Minnesota, on advice of the driver I went to Uline and bought bubble wrap and a gun that rolled out that cling wrap. Wrapped the entire mast. When the truck pulled in not an inch of it had come off. Black power coated mast was perfect.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Both @Jackdaw and @rgranger are correct. As a dealer shipping across country or overseas was most critical. You have no idea the diesel fumes exhaust comes out hitting the trailer and boat behind which is why this is most important. I also thru a coat of pure wax as well to help protect the boat if not shrink wrapped.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Thanks pretty common practice... when we shipped the 36.7 from Texas to Minnesota, on advice of the driver I went to Uline and bought bubble wrap and a gun that rolled out that cling wrap. Wrapped the entire mast. When the truck pulled in not an inch of it had come off. Black power coated mast was perfect.
I had two reasons I wanted to wrap my mast and furler system.
  1. I didn't want my new headsail's sacraficial cloth to get covered in highway bugs and grime
  2. I didn't want a turnbuckle or other piece of equipment to to slowly unwind and drop out on the highway.
When I got the boat to Alabama, I realized I should have also wrapped the bimi... the bimi cover was pasted with little nats and moths and other flying insects. Luckily it was just the cover and I could put it in the wash. If I ever to a long haul with this boat again, I might just wrap the entire boat. The filth from the road is no small consideration... especially if it rains.