In mast roller issues

[CarlF]

While it's likely to be one of the other issues such as boom angle, do check the pre-bend. I bought a boat with a Selden furler and had occasional jams until a rigger told me there was too much prebend. After he took it out, I never had another jam. Check pre-bend by attaching the halyard to the boom tack and sight up the mast. The halyard should ideally be a constant distance from the mast track.

Another thing that helps is to get the sail to furl more tightly. The best way to do this is to send the sail off for cleaning and treatment with McLube Sailcote Plus. This will also reduce the risk of mildew stains.

Sailkote PLUS: Dry Lubricant and Anti-Mildew Coating for Sails, Canvas and More - McLube

But I've also had luck getting a tighter roll by spraying the sail with a few cans of regular McLube. On a calm day I went up in a bosun chair and sprayed 18" of sail, rolled in the sail another 18" and did it again. I only did one side and only the forward 1/3 of the sail.

[Garethk]

Had an issue with my seldon in mast furler in that the previous owner must have accidentally dumped the main halyard when the sail was fully out and under load which made the insert collar for the top bearing drop out. A rigging company in NZ wanted to drop the mast to fix the problem at $3000 plus so I removed the sail completely ,which gave myself access to the top bearing and I reseated the collar and placed two small grub screws to hold it in.
No problems for over two years and no clunking noise.

Also check vertical batten pockets as they can bunch up if they are starting to let go as mine did.
Cheers
SV MAD

[Kerry1]

Originally Posted by dMAC

I have a 2010 Jeanneau 53 with an in-mast roller. Lately I have been having issues when trying to bring the sail out with my out haul where the sail will jam up in the vertical slot in the mast. I have to work it back in and out, sometimes pulling the sail out by hand. I have tried tighten up the main halyard as tight as I can make it but that didn't seem to help. I also try in hauling the sail tight when I bring it in, but that doesn't always help. Any suggestions? Comments as to the benefits and negatives of in mast rollers or other systems can be a topic for other threads, just constructive suggestions are appreciated, Thanks

I have a Selden in mast reefing system on our Bavaria 38. The only issues I've had with it is a) If I don't keep tension on the sail as it is rolled in, it goes in too loose and everything binds up inside the mast and b) if the kicker tension is not sufficient or topping lift too tight the sail actually folded over near the head which made it impossible to roll up until I got that tension right. I'm not sure if that would have been eliminated if I had had the vertical batten in place. I had removed the longest vertical batten to make a repair and was sailing without it. (Even if the sail doesn't fold over, it may be the leech is too loose and causing heavy wrinkles which leads to too much bulk going in the mast.) Hope you get it sorted. It certainly is a concern if you can't reef or roll up the main engine. With all the vertical battens it is not a two minute job to pull the main down.

[Akapeterc]

I used to have problems with my in mast furler jamming until I discovered that if you use the out furling line to push the sail out first then just keep tensioning with the outhaul it works great.

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

I struggled with my in-mast furling system big time when I bought my Beneteau 343 6.5 years ago. It took a while to figure out how to operate it with ease. My best practices are:
- Tension the furling line as the out-haul is cranked using the cabin top winch to deploy the sail
- Have decent tension on the out-haul as I crank the furling line on the cabin top winch when furling in the sail
- Never try to do it without the control of the winches; while it can be done by hand that has led to trouble
- Release the vang and have enough slack on the main sheet to allow the boom to angle fairly freely. I actually push up on the boom before I deploy to sail to make sure it can angle up freely.
- Never let someone else do it if you can avoid it unless they are trained in the above best practices.

Keeping lines tight, the boom fairly free, and others away from the task leads to success for me.