Many boats today are designed or out fitted with roller furlers... Many of us do not remember the days of sailing with out roller furlers... The boat I grew up on, a Simpson Wild Shifter MK II trimeran, did not have roller furler, nor the idea of it... We raced and cruised with hank-on sails for many years and miles... No matter how bad the weather got, someone had to go forward and change headsails... This also meant the large, wet sail had to go inside the cabin while the smaller sail was installed on the forestay... The challenge began as to fold this oversized sail in the small cabin, while is is dripping wet and pressing along YOUR bunk...
With my dad's Condor 40, we quickly got spoiled with the roller furler that was supplied with the boat... None of us had used a furler, nor any idea of characteristics... We also quickly got into the habit of rolling up the jib, instead of changing sails, when the wind increased... We realized the sail shape was awful, but it was much easier, and safer... I see many times that sailors will just furl up the headsail instead of dropping the larger one and raising a smaller one... I have repaired many furlers that suffer the consequences of this style...
There have been many elliptical style furlers that have been damaged from reefing a sail instead of changing out headsails... What typically happens is that the extrusions turns sideways, to its weakest side, and the loads of the foot and leech bend the extrusions... This does not always happen, but I have repaired furlers from this and I know of several riggers that have repaired simular damaged units... I have become a large fan of the furlers with the circular extrusions because of the strength they provide... As physics goes, the circular extrusion provides strength 360 degrees no matter how the system is furled... I suppose one can install a high-tech furling line and carefully adjust the elliptical foil to set in-line so the sail is pulling directly in-line with the strength of the extrusion; but when you tack, one has to readjust the furling line... Some of the older roller furler units did not even have the foil profile to handle reefing... When it comes to inspect a furler, one thing to check out is if the foils are bent and if they turn properly...
The design of bearings has changed dramatically... The older designs have removable "sealed bearings, while the newer designs have seperate ball bearings...
Older systems had to be greased continously and even then the bearing races froze up and rusted out... Many times the older units simply "wear out" and cannot be fixed... They have been pulled apart so many times, the tolerances wear out and they do not perform as well as they could... Once again, this comes to a safety issue... if a system wears out and does not perform correctly, it may foul up when one relies on it the most... Replacing these bearings are not always easy either... If a system sits unused for a while, the bearings may rust and corrode inside the drum casing and become very difficult to remove... This problem makes for a very costly, and sometimes impossible, repair to be done... Newer units can have their share of problems as well...
With a newer design unit, if the installer does not take the time to use a corrosion inhibitor on all fasteners, the system will fatigue faster and make repairs more costly... The warranty of some systems may also be voided it proper steps are not taken... The ball bearings are more free rolling and are easier to maintain... With the use of a good penetrate and fresh water, servicing ball bearings becomes very simple... There are some newer designs that still use a "sealed bearing" and claim that no maintenance is needed, but when is that ever true on a boat??? "Sealed bearing" systems need maintenance as well, it just becomes a bit more difficult to do... I use quotes because I have seen many of these "sealed bearings" explode and lock up the system and become useless and dangerous...
Another area to check on the furler is the lead block angle... The first lead block needs to be 90 degrees from the top quarter of the drum... I say the top quarter because gravity always brings the line down and allows the line to spool correctly on the drum... Many times the furling line lead angle is the culprit to roller furler problems... Some systems have designed a furling lead arm to properly align the line out of the drum... These are a good idea, but limits your space behind the roller furler...
One needs to always make sure a toggle is installed on the stem fitting, below all headstay attachments... I say this because I see many times someone has installed a roller furler that has a toggle built into the bottom of the unit and they add a link plate to raise the drum for anchor clearance... What happens is that the link plate are attached directly onto the stem fitting, only allowing the system to pivot one direction, instead of all directions... I have seen a pair of link plates work outward and shear off a cotter pin while sailing..
There are many aspects that need to be checked to make sure a roller furler is safe and operational... Many times sails are installed and all aspects are forgotten about... Furlers need to be checked and lubricated annually...
Friday, March 9, 2007
Roller Furlers, a different angle...
Most boats today are designed with or outfitted out with a roller furler or boom furler... Many people cannot remember a day with out roller furlers... The boat I learned to sail on, a Simpson Wild Shifter Mk II, did not have a roller furler... We raced and cruised with hank on sails and had to fold them every time we changed sails... There were different size sails for different wind strengths, not having the standard 150% genoa rolled up to a 135% or even a 90% jib... My dad's last sailboat, a Condor 40, came with a standard roller furler... It quickly became a learning experience... Some of the problems we encountered, we figured were typical issues... they were only "typical" because some things were not set up correctly... We had professionals do work on the boat and nothing was ever said about the set up of the furler... I look back and realize how dangerous that could have been...
One of the main things I look for when inspecting a roller furler is if a halyard restrainer is present & installed correctly... The halyard restrainer is designed and installed to change the angle of the halyard to be different than the headstay angle... Typically, if the halyard swivel is greater than 6 inches from the halyard sheave, there is a large possibility the halyard will wrap and cause problems with the roller furler...
There are several different designs of halyard restrainers; some are a single stainless steel "clam shell" design, some are designed with a "rolling sheave", some designs use a "donut" and others use "eye straps"... Each design has a pro and a con...
The "rolling sheave" allows the halyard to roll easier, but has straight sides where the halyard may chafe if pulled to the side... The "eye strap" design is good for small boats because of its small and compact size, but allows chafe on the halyard... The "clam shell" design has smooth entry and exit that resists chafe, but adds a little drag when raising and lowering halyards... The "donut" designs push the halyard away from the headstay, but need to be engaged correctly or they can cause the same problem as not having a restrainer at all...
I have seen examples where a 90# woman winched a roller furler in and twisted the extrusions like a pretzel... The halyard had wrapped and locked up the roller furler unit and when she continued to winch the jib in, it destroyed the entire system... I have seen jib halyards torn apart, headstays cut in half and a variety of damaged extrusions...
One of the main things I look for when inspecting a roller furler is if a halyard restrainer is present & installed correctly... The halyard restrainer is designed and installed to change the angle of the halyard to be different than the headstay angle... Typically, if the halyard swivel is greater than 6 inches from the halyard sheave, there is a large possibility the halyard will wrap and cause problems with the roller furler...
There are several different designs of halyard restrainers; some are a single stainless steel "clam shell" design, some are designed with a "rolling sheave", some designs use a "donut" and others use "eye straps"... Each design has a pro and a con...
The "rolling sheave" allows the halyard to roll easier, but has straight sides where the halyard may chafe if pulled to the side... The "eye strap" design is good for small boats because of its small and compact size, but allows chafe on the halyard... The "clam shell" design has smooth entry and exit that resists chafe, but adds a little drag when raising and lowering halyards... The "donut" designs push the halyard away from the headstay, but need to be engaged correctly or they can cause the same problem as not having a restrainer at all...
I have seen examples where a 90# woman winched a roller furler in and twisted the extrusions like a pretzel... The halyard had wrapped and locked up the roller furler unit and when she continued to winch the jib in, it destroyed the entire system... I have seen jib halyards torn apart, headstays cut in half and a variety of damaged extrusions...
Friday, March 2, 2007
Introduction...
WHO IS RIGGING SOLUTIONS?
Rigging Solutions is a sailboat rigging company located in the Texas Gulf Coast area. We serve Clear Lake/Galveston area mostly, but do occasional long distance projects as well... Rigging Solutions was established by Scott Tuma in 1999... He has had over 13 years experience in sailboat rigging and sailing, but has been involved with sailboats since childhood... You can be assured that your boat is in experienced hands when you have work done through Rigging Solutions... Erik Modine joined the team in 2005 bringing 8 years of sail making and hands on experience...
We use and support products that are reliable... Some of these products are: ABI, Alexander Roberts, Davis, Equiplite, Forespar, Hall Spars, Harken, Hayn, Johnson, Kenyon, Lewmar, McLube, Navtec/Norseman, New England ropes, Profurl, Powerlite, Ronstan, RWO, Sailtec hydraulics, Samson ropes, Schaefer, Sparcraft, Spartite, Spinlock, Tacktic, Tylaska, Sea Dog, Wichard, Yale cordage & Z Spar.
Rigging Solutions is a sailboat rigging company located in the Texas Gulf Coast area. We serve Clear Lake/Galveston area mostly, but do occasional long distance projects as well... Rigging Solutions was established by Scott Tuma in 1999... He has had over 13 years experience in sailboat rigging and sailing, but has been involved with sailboats since childhood... You can be assured that your boat is in experienced hands when you have work done through Rigging Solutions... Erik Modine joined the team in 2005 bringing 8 years of sail making and hands on experience...
We use and support products that are reliable... Some of these products are: ABI, Alexander Roberts, Davis, Equiplite, Forespar, Hall Spars, Harken, Hayn, Johnson, Kenyon, Lewmar, McLube, Navtec/Norseman, New England ropes, Profurl, Powerlite, Ronstan, RWO, Sailtec hydraulics, Samson ropes, Schaefer, Sparcraft, Spartite, Spinlock, Tacktic, Tylaska, Sea Dog, Wichard, Yale cordage & Z Spar.
We are a certified dealer & installer for Tacktic, Z Spar, Powerlite, Schaefer boom furling & Profurl boom furling.
I want to thank you for taking time and visiting...
cheers...
Scott Tuma
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
