Profurl genoa furler for cat

[CAELESTIS]

I find the Profurl very stiff. This is my second N52 (first blew up when the forestay failed in a race). It was stiff from brand new. Boats I have sailed/raced on with the Harken were magnitudes better . . . .virtually no friction.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Hi, I’m far from an expert in wing mast design, though they interest me a LOT. But for some real help on this subject it sounds like you’d be best off going to those who do know a lot about them.Or more than your current rigger anyway.Not to knock his credibility, it’s just that from your comments, it sounds like he’s a bit of a neophyte as far as they’re concerned too.

Were it me, I’d get in touch with some other sailors that have such spars. Like some of the F-boat sailors (Farrier trimarans), paxfish, who’s a member here, ditto 44’CruisingCat, who seems wise on most things multihull.Also, pay a visit to a few of the online multihull oriented boatbuilding forums such as www.diy-yachts.com & https://diy-yachts.com/forum/ , & www.BoatDesign.net/forums

Also, see about getting in touch with the guys who handle the rigging on boats like PRB & some of the other OPEN/IMOCA 60’ers. Both mono’s & multi’s.Plus there are some OPEN 40’s & 50’s which have them as well, like James Burwick at http://anasaziracing.blogspot.com/
And of course JFranta, who’s a member here, but who also owns Colligo Marine, & developed a soft furler specifically for rotating wing masts.It sounds as if he has more than a little insight into rigging wing masts given the description of, & write up on said furler.http://www.colligomarine.com/shop-all/71sm4f6qh2ztuhf3s0pn8bcms47q10

You should also of course try contacting your boat’s designers & builders, once you have a semi-comprehensive list of questions. And too, try some other multihull designers.As no one has a corner on the market when it comes to knowledge.I know that Kurt Hughes has designed a bunch of them.And I’ve a list of multihull designers that’s a few pages long, albeit it’s a little dated.But let me know if it’d be of help.

And if you’ve the time, I’ll be curious to know what you find out, as well as learning more about your rig. Especially how the rotator is built, & where specifically the shrouds & stays connect to the mast?Whether or not you have diamond stays?Tube construction (materials, & inner structure design), aspect ratio, & sail area?Also, how long have you had her, & how does the spar behave in higher winds, & also at anchor?Pretty much “the usual” questions.

Also, as per my postings over on SA Forums, any more there are a huge number of options on how to do things regarding attachments, stays, & furling systems on wing spars. It’ll likely just take a bit of digging to figure out what’ll work best in your case.And again, were it me, I’d not look at the/this problem of being one strictly about replacing my furler.But rather as what’s the best integrated rigging design for the boat as a whole, at various cost & complexity levels. As if the furler or some other rigging bit fails, due to poor integrated design, some mayhem will surely ensue.

BTW, running into high loads on a furling line isn’t uncommon. And I usually recommend using a Dyneema cored line with the cover partially stripped off on them, so as to minimize line bulk on the drum, while maintaining good line strength.However, some of the issue as to high loads on the furling line often traces back to keeping too much tension on the jib sheet when furling the sail.IMO, pretty much, you just want to keep enough sheet tension to prevent the jib from flogging heavily while furling.Something which not all boat owners are aware of, nor practice.Especially those with bigger boats.Some of whom are overly prone to use powered winches for things with high loads, & who also don’t know the proper technique for using said winches.


EDIT: I should think that Freydis has some trimming & tuning tips for the rig/boat, non?

[Pacey16]

Probably be a bit hard to rotate with the wedge though.

[Pacey16]

Sorry for lack of reply, busy on the hard in Trinidad doing some mods and maintenance.
Took the LS200 round to a machine shop and we pressed it apart, not as hard as I had heard, not a great designed furler IMHO consisting of one race of ball bearings on flimsy pressed grooves and a couple of bushings. There are a couple of steel circlips in there that corrode once the seals let some water through. Not worth wasting time rebuilding or wasting money buying replacement unit.
I found a guy selling a 2nd hand Reckmann furler and after dissasembling and looking at the quality engineering I grabbed it from him, 4 sets of ball bearings and roller bearings in the lower swivel and it accomodates my 14mm headstay which is a win.
The rotating mast set up rotates on a SS pin in a UHMWPE bushing with a non associated boom, mast is 20 Mtr carbon fiber with 8mtrs square sail area. It doesnt seem to be a problem at anchor even in 40 kts.
Rig has 2 sets of diamonds and stays are lashed to a large eye in the front of the mast, I replaced the Kevlar lashings with Dyneema recently and havnt had any issues. originally she had a 93 square meter flat top main but it was such a PITA to raise and lower I had it converted to a high roach sail which is fine for cruising. I added a sheave box just above the spreaders to hoist a free flying stay sail on a 2-1 dyneema halyard and have no problem with luff tension. Much more to do but still learning.