Code Zero/Screecher Furling in Gale?

[mikereed100]

We run a genoa on a continuous line furler and a jib on a boom wing and wing when running downwind at night so that we don't have to mess with the main. We have run into similar problems when trying to furl the genoa in winds above 20 knots where we will get uup to 11 wraps on the lower part of the sail before the head starts to wrap. We find that easing the halyard just a bit to decrease friction and taking a turn or 2 around the sheet winch to act as a de-facto line stopper helps a lot. We too usually leave it up with a soft shackle locking the furler.

It is interesting to note that, before we ordered the genoa, we tested this system with a used sail, using a loop of 10mm dyneema double braid for the luff rope that I fixed to the luff of the sail by punching holes in the sail and tying with parachute cord. This apparatus furled the sail much better than the 13mm Gucci anti-torsion line that we are using now on the new genny.

By the way, we shared a marina with a sister ship of yours, "Escape" I believe. What a beautiful boat and interesting rig!

[blueazimuth]

Mike,
If the head of your genoa does not start to wrap, before you have 11 wraps on your lower drum, suggests that the upper swivel is bad.
Before replacing the swivel, you might check the haliyard and/or the fore stay tension, but i expect you already have tried that.