I have a prfurl furler on my O'day 27 and yesterday I noticed a twist in the for stay at the top of the mast just abve the furler. Any Ideas of what would cause this and what to do about it? Thanks. Orbill
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It was probably caused by a halyard wrap around the stay when furling the sail and it will require you to replace the forestay. Sailing with it kinked like that isn't safe, and may cause you to lose the rig, which is far more expensive a repair than just the forestay.
I'm not sure that it is kinked, it just has a spiral in it. I have never had a problem furling and nothing has ever jammed or needed to be forced. I will take the mast down and have the stay checked and replaced if necessary but I don't want to have to do it again. Could there be something wrong with the furler?
If it is indeed a ProFurl unit
('cuz the spelling was unclear), then a halyard restrainer is NOT required for these units because the top section of these ProFurl units (we have one) is different than any other furling system. The "Darth Vader" black top section provides the same protection that a halyard restrainer for all other types of furlers.
It could be that you have allowed the halyard to stretch or drop, thus moving the top connection of the halyard to top swivel piece below the Darth Vader halyard twist protection point (I know, there's probably a better term for it, but the manual is on the boat) and thus potentially twisting the extrusion and possibly the forestay. We always check the height of the raised halyard and sometime have to tighten the halyard to assure that six inch long halyard-top swivel connector piece is positioned properly to be in the right position compared to Darth. We're on a first name basis!
Unless you have super low stretch halyard material, you HAVE to do this on a regular basis.
('cuz the spelling was unclear), then a halyard restrainer is NOT required for these units because the top section of these ProFurl units (we have one) is different than any other furling system. The "Darth Vader" black top section provides the same protection that a halyard restrainer for all other types of furlers.
It could be that you have allowed the halyard to stretch or drop, thus moving the top connection of the halyard to top swivel piece below the Darth Vader halyard twist protection point (I know, there's probably a better term for it, but the manual is on the boat) and thus potentially twisting the extrusion and possibly the forestay. We always check the height of the raised halyard and sometime have to tighten the halyard to assure that six inch long halyard-top swivel connector piece is positioned properly to be in the right position compared to Darth. We're on a first name basis!
Unless you have super low stretch halyard material, you HAVE to do this on a regular basis.
I do not have a manual for the profurl. WHat is the correct distance between th the top swivel and the darth vader. At this time there is about 8 inches
Re: If it is indeed a ProFurl unit
I had the same problem with a Profurl on my Hunter 26, even with the StopWrap (Darth Vader). The problem was caused by a combination of two things. 1) top foil of furler too long (too short length of exposed forestay length from top of foil to terminal fitting on mast), 2) jib halyard slightly slack. The halyard can still wrap even with the WrapStop, especially if the halyard to not tight. It can also be caused if any of the furler bearings freeze up and don't allow the forestay to turn inside the foil when you furl the jib. BrianW
I had the same problem with a Profurl on my Hunter 26, even with the StopWrap (Darth Vader). The problem was caused by a combination of two things. 1) top foil of furler too long (too short length of exposed forestay length from top of foil to terminal fitting on mast), 2) jib halyard slightly slack. The halyard can still wrap even with the WrapStop, especially if the halyard to not tight. It can also be caused if any of the furler bearings freeze up and don't allow the forestay to turn inside the foil when you furl the jib. BrianW
Where is the twist? ... on the furler or on the stay?
If you see a spiral on the STAY, its usually either one of 2 items:
1. one of the strands (1 or 2 etc. of 19) of the wire rope has discolored (due to atmospeheric exposure) differently than the others ---- not a problem.
2. one of the stands has come loose from the swaging, etc. and is now 'disconnected' ... (partial stay failure - 1 of 19 strands broken) Requires a trip aloft to carefully investigate.
The top swivel should be as high as it can go to the underside of the Darth Vader. The halyard connection to the swivel with the ring on the tang must be above Darth.
Thanks everyone
I did require a new forestay, The old one was badly damaged. I downloaded the manual for my Pro Furl off the internet and that was a big help. After a bit of fussing, all is back to normal I hope and if it would stop raining we would like to give a try.
I did require a new forestay, The old one was badly damaged. I downloaded the manual for my Pro Furl off the internet and that was a big help. After a bit of fussing, all is back to normal I hope and if it would stop raining we would like to give a try.
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