Tightening the jib halyard

[Broke sailor SV Marcell]

On my H-27 the jib halyard comes down to the base of the furler and is tightened down with a knot attached to a shackle. The luff of the jib is loose and needs tightening. Taking up on the knot then trying to reeattach the shackle is a struggle and so far has been unsuccessful. I have thought about using a turnbuckle but reading in catalogs it looks like these are intended for shrouds and lifelines. Any ideas out there? Thanks

 

[Benny]

I would re-route the halyard backto the

mast and use a cleat to tie it off. This may entail replacing the current halyard to one of adequate length and adding a cleat. This way you can pull on the halyard straight down and cleat off without loss of tension. I have always wondered if there is a valid reason for a setup as the one you describe. To hide the halyard or single handedly raise the sail? The result is that it would be very hard to tighten. Do not overtighten or put undue pressure on your furler.

 

[Drew]

Hand Hoist

I've had the same issue on mine. The "halyard" on a roller furler is very small and subject to stretching. What has worked for me is to untie the halyard from the shackle and pull it down steady and hard, with a helper on the foredeck whose job is to help push the jib up the furler slot. Two of you working together will get the job done. You may have to re-visit the process once more as the halyard stretches out.Goes without saying, but do it when there's no wind so you can unfurl the sail at the dock before you get started. Good luck.

 

[Drew]

Whoops

Didn't see Benny's response, below, before I posted. You can't tie off a roller furling halyard anywhere except at the base of the furler, as designed. The entire system needs to be able to spin freely to work properly. If you decide to go the cleat route, you may as well 86 the furler and go with hanks.

 

[Mike]

What brand furler?

I have a CDI on my C22. It has an internal halyard that is used to hoist the jib to the top of the foil. After that is secured, I then pull down on the tack to properly tension the jib. I installed a small bullet block to the top of the drum, and take the line up thru the tack cringle twice to give me a lot of purchase power and control. If you provide the manufacturer's name and model , someone might be able to help.

 

[Seattle Scott]

I have an old CDI furler

with the internal wire halyard. Sail is hosted to top of foil and cleated off on small cleat on furler above the drum. Now the sail is hanging from the head. Luff tension comes, like Mike said, from tensioning or lowering the tack. On my set up, the tack attaches to a pin that runs through a two sheeve "spit apart" block that is connected with a 4:1 lower double block on the furler. So either set up the system to lower the tack to tension, or pin the tack then rig up a small double block system that runs between shackes on the end of the halyard and on the furler, with one of the blocks having a cam cleat, like a dingy mainsheet system, to tension the halyard.

 

[Broke sailor SV Marcell]

Mine is a CDI furler also, do not know the model but they all seem about the same. Bullet block? Happen to have any close up pics?

 

[Mike]

Her's a link to CDI

http://www.sailcdi.com/ffmain.htmCheck the link to the appropriate manual and they'll explain how to tension the jib. I put the block on to make it a little easier. If I can get pictures tomorrow, I'll post them.