Bent Furlex furling forestay

[Frederik283]

Hi all,

It seems I've somehow managed to bend my furling forestay when raising the mast.

As you can see on the attached image it is quite crooked.

At first I went aloft to check it out, as I thought the block for the spinnaker halyard was stuck, causing the forestay to extrude too far forward, but it is not in the way.

We then tried hoisting the Genoa and sailing close hauled for some time to see if it would straighten the forestay, but with no success.

Anyone on here with some experience on this or suggestions?

By the way it is a Furlex TYPE B Mk II on a 31 foot boat with a 10 meter mast.

[nuku34]

Sorry to have bad news for you, but that alloy extrusion is stuffed. You will never be able to get the kinks out. Get a new one.
BTW, its NOT the forestay that bent, its the alloy foil extrusion that fits over the forestay. The forestay is the wire inside the extrusion.

[SVSOLITAIRE]

Just a heads up on that furler. I just rebuilt mine a few months back. Parts are impossible to find online and discontinued via furlex (now seldon). I lucked out and found one laying around a boatyard that’s I was able to salvage parts from. I would suggest starting to comb through any yards in your area or putting up some wanted posts on this or other forums.

If it’s in the budget, a new furler would be the best option but be sure to salvage any of the parts off that one in order to help someone else that finds themselves in your current position. The good news it that if it’s just the extrusion any size you find can be cut to the needed dimensions. It’s the extrusion connectors that are really tricky to find.

Best of luck.

[SVSOLITAIRE]

As a side note. If a new roller furler is not in the budget and you absolutely can’t find a replacement it may be cheaper more, more pragmatic to have your sails converted to hank on. This would obviously change the overall sailing experience; and would be ill advised if your sails are brand new. But, if it’s a choice between $300 or so to convert the sails or 1,400+ for a new furler; it may be worth considering.