Kinked roller furler luff...and "extra" forestay?

[vizwhiz]

Pulled the CDI roller furler out of the boat where it had been stored.
Discovered that it had probably been stored there for a VERY LONG time.
It was kinked into an "S" shape...
Checked the CDI website and called them - apparently they can be straightened out if you do it right (stick it into a pipe and sit it out in the sun for several weeks).
Anyone here have any experience straightening out a roller-furler?

Also, boat does not have a stand-alone forestay of the traditional type, only the roller-furler mentioned above (with forestay inside). Would anyone recommend me getting a backup forestay? I'm thinking I might need it, but I'm also a complete newb and don't need to waste the money if I'll never be putting the hanked-on jib back up...

[Fxwg80hd]

I have not straightened the roller furler, but have read up on it and it appears to be pretty straight forward. Just takes time, sun, and warm temps.

A second forestay is a good idea, but at the bare minimum connect your Jib Halyard to the bow plate as a backup to the main forestay. If the main forestay breaks, the jib halyard will keep the mast from coming down. I learned the hard way on that one.

[Rick Westlake]

Since I use the "regular" jib halyard for a whisker-pole topping lift (when sailing) or the genoa sleeve (when not-sailing), I added a dedicated spinnaker halyard to Bossa Nova's masthead. When I'm not using the chute, I tie it off to a spare mast-tabernacle bolt through the "ears" on the bow pulpit. I found out that I need to cleat it off very taut, after I rolled it up in the jib - once!

[vizwhiz]

Sounds good - planning to use a backup to the forestay in the form of jib halyard (have one) and/or add a line for the spinnaker I don't have yet.
I'm thinking of buying a hank-on forestay to keep on the boat just as a backup in case the roller furler does something...bad. No telling how old that furler and forestay is, or how well (not well?) it was cared for. Forestay cable shows to be about $42 on BWY...
I'm not liking the looks of the kinked-up luff on the furler right now.

[mikelinmon]

Hi,
CDI was very good about replacing foils that "kink". Just give them a call. Free for life?
The exta forestay idea has one or two problems. Any tension on the "extra"" stay comes off of the actual one the sail is on. Gives poor pointing from the getgo. My own MacGregor, the one I race, has two forestay but they are tensioned while sailing according to which one has a sail on it, adjustable under sail. The dormant stay is slack. Unless you do that, there is poor pointing for sure. 2nd problem is the roller firller will foul on the extra stay.
Mike Inmon

[vizwhiz]

I really appreciate you weighing in on this! I called CDI and they were very helpful about how to work on straightening it out - I'll do what I can and go from there - ultimately, I can always buy a new luff (about $200) and put it to rest, but since I have a little time, and plenty of sunshine**, I thought I'd try to follow their recommendations for straightening it out first.

As for the second forestay, my plan for that was to roll it up and store it below! I tried to say that in my previous posts, that it was just a backup in case something happened out on the water, but apparently I didn't get that across! The reason I was considering the investment was just because I don't know the quality of the cable under the kinked luff on the CDI furler I have in my hands...thought it wouldn't hurt to have a backup forestay on board. Sorry about the confusion!

I really appreciate the advice on it - I'm thinking that later (down the road a little) I might try rigging it up cutter style, as some of the guys on here have done successfully, but I really suspect that this classic will be fast enough I won't feel the need to do that.


**right now, gloating about Florida's wonderful sunny weather is just too fun to pass up!

[Sumner]

......As for the second forestay, my plan for that was to roll it up and store it below! I tried to say that in my previous posts, that it was just a backup in case something happened out on the water, but apparently I didn't get that across! The reason I was considering the investment was just because I don't know the quality of the cable under the kinked luff on the CDI furler I have in my hands...thought it wouldn't hurt to have a backup forestay on board. Sorry about the confusion!.....

This is an easy fix that would relieve any worries and is not expensive. Pull the forestay out of the furler and take it into..

http://www.newjsi.com/default.aspx

...who must be very near to you and have them duplicate it or mail it to riggingonly.com. Use the new one and save the old one. Now you have a new one and no worries. You don't want to have the forestay break even if you do have a backup.

I called them this morning and they are going to make a 20-25 foot cable for us from lifeline so that we can lock the dinghy to the boat or dinghy dock when needed. They have good cable prices also on line. Hey you got a boat now, so the fun part begins, spending money on it ,

Sum

Our Trips to...

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Mac-Venture Links

[c130king]

VW,

When I first moved to London back in 2007 I left my boat in a storage yard in Jacksonville FL for 18 months before I got back to it. The furled genoa was strapped down to the mast this whole time. When I finally got the mast back up there was a pretty obvious "kink" formed into the furler. But I pretty much ignored it. Took a little extra effort to get it connected to the bowplate. But it worked with a kink in it. This was Christmas 2008. Put the boat back away...still with a kink. Came back to FL for the Jax Mac Get Together in Sept 2009 and put the boat back together. Still had a kink. But after a few days in the warm sun the kink was 90% gone. And it never really impacted performance...or not enough that I really cared.

So maybe you don't need to do much but get it set up and let it sit in the sun being stretched tight. Just a thought.

And I use a sock to cover my furled genoa and have a genoa halyard to raise the sock up and down. When sailing I use this halyard as a kinda/sorta extra forestay. Never needed it so not sure how well it would work. Like Rick mentioned...have to keep that fairly tight or the turning top part of the furler will catch this halyard and start wrapping.

Good Luck.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König
Sailing on König YouTube Channel

[Terry]

As for the second forestay, my plan for that was to roll it up and store it below! I tried to say that in my previous posts, that it was just a backup in case something happened out on the water, but apparently I didn't get that across! The reason I was considering the investment was just because I don't know the quality of the cable under the kinked luff on the CDI furler I have in my hands...thought it wouldn't hurt to have a backup forestay on board. Sorry about the confusion!

I have been carrying around my spare forestay for a couple of years now and am wondering what for? I purchased the Schaefer Snapfurler which required a 5/32 forestay wire for the foil. When I went to a rigging shop to get the work done the rigger suggested I also upgrade the turnbuckle for an additional $40.00 which I agreed to after comparing the difference to the oem one. So now I have this beefier forestay & turnbuckle which I would never consider replacing with the old original oem one unless it was some kind of emergency. I don't ever imagine my new replacement failing and when it is worn I will replace it with the same size again, so now what to do with the spare that you think might be a good backup. I will likely put it to some other use because I no longer consider it having any value as a backup, just too inferior to my replacement. In your case you may just purchase another of the same so the spare backup may be a viable plan or using it as part of a cutter rig may also have some merit.

[keith]

This is my spinnaker haylard which i use for mast raising only and clip to mast base hound when sailing and i never had a problem.
Last time i went out after seeing beene/highlander vids i thought thats a good idea i'"ll tie the haylard to the bow rail right at the front and being a trucker and knowing how to tighten a line i tensioned it till the furled genoa just started to lose tension and tied it off.
Went motoring for the morning and in the afternoon with the seabreeze behind us i unfurld the 150 genoa.We were blowing along at 4.9knts and having a good time.
When i furled the sail in it turned a few times and then stopped.I thought the furling line was jammed in the drum.I go forward for a close up and the drums full of line and a bit messy so i think its just stuck and needs a bigger pull.I go back to the cockpit for another yank on the line,still wont move so i use the winch and the line breaks.Back up the the bow i go to furl the sail by hand and thats when i look up to see the sail tangled with the haylard.
This took place in 15-20knt winds , 1.5-2 feet seas and was no fun.It took 3 hours to get the sail in,motor to small island about half a mile away to sort out the mess so i could drop the mast to get under a bridge to the marina.
Lessons learnt,buy some sailing gloves,put another hound for extra forestay higher or lower and keep away from furled headsail.

[Highlander]

Here's the top of my mast notice three mast hounds, these are made for the Mac factory by Garhauer & you can buy them from them for half the price from them than the factory !


these are three of four mast hounds on my mast !!

J
PS .If you must know I have three forestays on my Clipper Rig, Yep went from a Cutter Rig to a Clipper Rig !! actualy I can switch back & forth in minutes

[vizwhiz]

Hey you got a boat now, so the fun part begins, spending money on it

No kidding! Was looking at prices of new lines last night and was surprised at what I found...I'm going to post a new thread to ask everyone about "discount marine supply houses" that we can consolidate into one post - maybe turn it into a sticky so we can refer back to it easily enough?

And it never really impacted performance...or not enough that I really cared.

This is kinda what I'm thinking after talking to the guy at CDI. Granted, it's too kinked right now to put up, but I'm going to follow his advice to get it mostly un-kinked ("he's not dead - he's mostly dead") and then go ahead and put it up as you mentioned, and if it works, that's good enough for now!

I have been carrying around my spare forestay for a couple of years now and am wondering what for?

I suspect I'll get to that point too...hopefully, I'll be able to get everything tensioned correctly and working right, and won't have to worry about it. I liked Sumner's suggestion of buying a new one and putting THAT on the boat, and just keep the old one as the back-up...

Yep went from a Cutter Rig to a Clipper Rig !!

...gonna have to see some vids of that in action...I'll check into the hounds, though, as I have an..."arrangement"...at the moment that the original guy put on the boat when he did the roller-furler... I have to do some measuring and figure out what this guy did...

[Catigale]

And if they got caught, you can 'release the hounds"

[Captain Steve]

vizwhiz,

Check on eBay, there is a guy who sells lines for Macs. They come with a shackle on an eye splices on the end. In the sailing parts section. He knows all the required lengths. I have also bought lengths of line with a shackle spiced on the end, random lengths or specified lengths.

[vizwhiz]

Okay - bought a running rigging package from ebay...thanks Steve. Since I have that coming, I took all the running rigging off the boat and washed it so I can use it for other stuff! Very nice now...they're soft, white, and smell like fabric softener!! I now have a nice selection of various rope sizes/lengths...

Took the roller furler system off the forestay today. Forestay looks great! I suspect that the roller furler has been there for a long time...no sign of deterioration on the forestay or turnbuckle at all...flexible - rolled up into a nice easy coil so I could store it until the rain passes and I can step the mast again - and dismantled the rest of the furler system to inspect it (and wash the ropes). Everything looks fine. Only the luff is all wompy-jawed...and kinked in one spot.

Thinking that the investment in a new luff for the furler might not be a bad way to avoid a lot of time trying to make this one work, and also to set it up for a nice long new life of sailing...

As for the forestay attachment (and the hounds of macgregorville)...it is my understanding from reading that it is not necessary to have a different location for the forestay attachment when using a furler (uses the same forestay attachment point I thought). Probably should post a picture of this, but somewhere in its past life, someone moved the original hardware about 2-1/2 inches below the location of the original attachment points (new hole/bolt), and in its place mounted a...a...not-a-hound...at the original hole. It's like there are now two in almost the same spot. Thinking that I could/should just remove the non-standard one and re-install the original hardware back up on the correct hole and go on from there...I only have one forestay so I'm not sure why (at this point) a second attachment point would be necessary for me. I guess I could route steaming light wires out of one hole...hmmm...