Tension on rollerfurling main

[Bill O'Donovan]

Heard a horror story about someone who failed to keep tension on the rollerfurling main, in which the sail eventually creased and got jammed.On my new-to-me Hunter 320, I've been pulling out the main with the continuous line while keeping some tension on the outhaul, but sometimes it just flies out. The victim of the above incident suggested cranking the outhaul on the winch while holding tension on the port inhaul, but that seems laborious. Corollary is to winch it in on the continuous line while holding tension manually on the outhaul.The last thing I want to do is create a permanent crease or let the main become "fat" in the mast. Any suggestions on these procedures? Thanks.

 

[Bill]

Wrapping is important

I found it very important to keep a little tension on the out haul while wraping up the main. Two reasons, one, to keep the wrap tight, two, to keep the angle of the wrap correct. The foot needs to be working its way up the furler a little as it wraps, if not the hems starting stacking and it will jam. The boom should angle up between 5 & 10 degrees. As far as pulling the sail out, no problem, yank on the out haul. If you need to use the winch to pull the main in something probably needs to be checked.