Roller furling headsail. Why do I struggle with it?

[Bounty]

Layard tension adjustment solved this problem for me. Unfurl, adjust tension to conditions. When time to head in just ease tension slightly and it nearly furls itself. This on a Catalina 320.


Brian

[Peterbreit]

Lanyard ??! Do you mean halyard?

[BBill]

Kinda sorta depends on the wind speed on how easy it should be. I had a 42 x 24k cutter with twin 100s on roller furling with twin poles...strickly set up for downwind trades. It had dedicated winches for each furler and was the easiest no effort setup ever. As far as damage using a winch it was no different than winching sheets. The boat sailed the west coast, South Pacific and around to Florida with this rig without issues.

[Bounty]

Halyard it is - fat fingers and auto connect.


Brian

[capn_billl]

I had to install guide rollers on the lifeline stantions to get mine smooth.

Use the good ones like Harkin with bearing rollers, not the cheap ones with just a loop.

[OS2Dude]

Find a knowledgeable dock mate or a local rigger to take a look. The angle of the lead from the railing to the drum is important. If it is wrong, it will lead to over-wrap as mentioned previously.

Our furling line is 0.25", but it is not that hard to furl unless it is blowing REALLY hard. (In fact, we usually have to keep pressure on the genoa sheets while furling to ensure it wraps nice and tight.)

[Capt Y Knot]

Our Pearson 303 also has a Harken MK1 furler that gave me trouble while furling in the headsail. Try the following:

1. If the furling line stopper knot exits the top of the furler drum then the stopper knot may be hitting the shackle that attaches to the headsail tack.

2. Check that the headsail halyard snap shackle is fully closed. If the shackle has sprung open it will not furl, you may not see the open shackle from the deck, so lower the headsail and check the shackle. Place nylon ties on the shackle so it won't open.

3. If the furling drum can't handle all the furling line then de core about 20' of furling line. Less chance of an over ride inside the furling drum.

4. Try lubricating the bearings with T-9.

As others have suggested look at the Harken MK1 video on Youtube.

Good luck

[gordonhinds]

Mine has been hard to operate. I found adjusting the halyard tension (when unfurled) and pulling on backstay made a lot of difference. I increased the halyard tension but not by much.

[Askeeta]

Had similar problem on my Sonata 7.Asked and experienced sailer what the problem might be be.Had a look at rig and straight away pointed out that the angle of the jib halyard to the forestay was wrong,they were almost parallel .l dropped mast and moved halyard down the mast to about the recommended 10 degrees.Fixed!Worked perfectly after that.
Prior l couldn’t get it in sometimes,even on a winch,which l was told was a bad thing to do

[wazzadyson]

Many valid suggestions. I have had 2 previous boats with hank on heasails. My present 31 boat has a Furlex furler. I have changed to using the genoa up the slot and taking it off like using hank on headsails. I agree, in different strengths of
wind the furler can be difficult. The other reason is that the furled sail presents a lot of windage when the boat is on the mooring. Next problem is that the sail gets very dirty and when raining a lot the top half of the sail grows lichen where the rain enters down the furled rolls. By taking the sail down and placing it downstairs it remains clean. The genoa I now, designed for non - furling use is 600 mm shorter, a lot better shape as is not built for the rolling on the furler. Tacking is easier and I don't believe I have lost any overall performance. It is not uncommon for cruisers to go back to hanked-on sails these days. You make your choices!

[wholybee]

On a 30 foot boat a 10 year old should be able to furl it easily. On a day without any wind, unfurl it and re-furl it at the dock a few times. Do it with some friends so someone can be at the bow watching the drum. And watch the head with binoculars. The angle the furling line meets the drum in important, and so is the angle of the halyard to the top swivel.

You might even try dropping the sail, and see how the furler operates with no sail on it. Certainly, if there is any drag or effort required with no sail then there is a problem with the furler.

Also, if there is any tension on the jib sheets, it will be difficult to furl. You need to ease the sheets so that the sail is not full or working. You don't want it flapping wildly in the wind, but just barely not.

[wazzadyson]

I have done all of that over a 4 year period. The work is different with the sail in the slot when taking it down, but there is a lot of work in taking the furled sail off to get cleaned. This can be by taking it to a pro sail cleaner ir doing it yourself in the back yard. Folding the sail in a strong wind is also a negative for hanked- on or foiled-on, taking the space up downstairs, but I still think with the much more efficient shape of the sail that furlers are not worth it.

[Jim Cate]

It is not uncommon for cruisers to go back to hanked-on sails these days.

Oh really? I must hang out with the wrong crowd, for I've not seen many such conversions, but quite a few going the other way.

Jim

[jipcho]

Reiterating what others have written, I would first have a rigger check the furler top to bottom. There could be a problem in the bearings, which wear down over time, get jammed up with salt residue, etc.
When sailing upwind, wanting to furl in my foresail without heading downwind (as was suggested), I head into the wind just enough to get the foresail fluttering a bit, but not enough to take all tension off the sail. Then I wrap the furling line a couple times around a small winch, alternating between gradually releasing some jib sheet and pulling in on the furling line, until I have taken the foresail in as much as I wanted. I never need to use a winch handle, but the winch itself makes it easy to roll the foresail in without creating a mess at the furling drum.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by wazzadyson

. It is not uncommon for cruisers to go back to hanked-on sails these days. You make your choices!

That is just inaccurate. If anything MORE furling is becoming common and boats without furling are uncommon. More and more cruisers have BOTH furling headsails and Furling mainsails. the systems are well proven over decades of use and have evolved to highly engineered well working equipement (when installed and operated properly) 100% of the time that I have helped sailors with really bad furlers its been either 1. wear from age. 2. incorrect setup of the furler 3. incorrect setup of the sail.

forestay tension is incredibly important to the furler being able to roll well with the weight of the sail on it. Bad leads on the furling line can cause issues too.