[Rhodes22-list] Jammed IMF:(

[PBR]

Stan,
No matter how hard you try to idiot proof something there will always be a
better idiot.  I had the screw that attaches the gooseneck fitting to the
Mast slide fall out and dissappear (not sure exact terms here).  Lucky me,
I happened to have another in the toolbox that seemed to fit perfectly -
tightened right up.  Guess what happens when a screw that is a little too
long is pointed directly at the furling tube.  At my next opportunity to
head for the lake I found out.  The fit was so perfect the tube would
almost make a complete revolution before stopping hard.  I was so puzzled
in the parking lot at the lake that I gave up and trailered home.  Sometime
over the next week I remembered that little screw I had replaced weeks
before.
-Anonymous


On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 9:10 AM, Stan Spitzer <stan at rhodes22.com> wrote:

> sorry - it looks like my e-mail takes Sundays off and this never left
> here so trying on Monday.
>
>
>
> On 5/12/13 10:39 AM, Stan Spitzer wrote:
> >
> > OK, I suppose I have to run aground more often to have the time to
> > respond to some of your occasional S.O.S. signals.
> >
> > The IMF never jams at boat shows, where it gets more use in less than
> > a week than most of you give it in a lifetime.  It does not jam on
> > demonstrations or rentals or even when//*I* go sailing which
> > admittedly has not been for several months now.  And there are owners
> > out there who have never figured out how to jam their IMFs.
> >
> > Why is that.
> >
> > It is absolutely a fool proof piece of equipment because it has no
> > springs or gears and merely floats freely in a chamber. (Well, maybe
> > "fool" proof is a poor choice of words since I know that most of you
> > who jammed your IMF are normally brilliant,)
> >
> > There are only three reasons for an IMF system to refuse your
> > bidding:  Mechanical.  Human.  And all others.
> >
> > Mechanical failure:  The sail may have ripped.  Or the sail may have
> > come loose from its connection at the top of its furling tube and
> > partially slid down its tube.  Or a bearing like the one atop the tube
> > may have come off.  That sort of rare stuff.
> >
> > Human failure:  You may have caused a mechanical failure like putting
> > a curve in the mast by incorrect rigging or trailing with the mast up
> > and everyone understands how hard it would be to roll up a carpet on a
> > "C" shaped core. Or you may have forgotten to undue a cleat.  (This
> > idiot almost always forgets the vertical locking cam cleat on the aft
> > underside of the boom.)  Or you may be standing on the line on the
> > cockpit floor.  Or you may have turned emotional; a hammer or lots of
> > extra force only makes your Rhodes fight back.  Be kind and thoughtful.
> >
> > What makes an IMF sail go inside its mast in a bunched up fashion:
> > Either your putting it away with the boom so high above horizontal
> > that more material than normal tries to wrap around the furling tube
> > at the same location;  visualize that carpet on the floor where you
> > fold over part of one side before staring to roll it up.  Or putting
> > your IMF sail away with the boat not pointed into the wind. Now you
> > can put your IMF main away in light airs with the boat in any
> > direction relative to the wind but in heavy winds, with the sail
> > taking just the right beating as it is being wrapped around the tube,
> > it could be in a folded position at that instant.   So, whenever you
> > can, follow the prescribed way to put away an IMF sail:  Boat pointed
> > into the wind with the topping lift supported horizontal boom having
> > naturally moved itself slightly to starboard of the boat's center
> > line.  Sounds complicated but actually it all can be automatic.  If
> > you are not one who likes continual fussing with sail shape, always
> > sail with the topping lift supporting the boom horizontally.  Then,
> > when you want to put your sail away, do it as you come about, just at
> > that moment when the boom has moved itself to starboard of the cockpit
> > center line.  With all these stars in alignment automatically, a pull
> > on the furling line puts the main sail away in an effortless instant.
> > Try it. You will like it once you get your body coordinated.
> >
> > Reason for having the boom setting itself to be slightly to
> > starboard:  The furling tube die (a proprietary GB extrusion for all
> > you out there who scoff at the Certificate of Support program) is
> > designed for the sail to wrap around it in a prescribed direction that
> > both makes the sail come out and go in easier because its wrapping
> > direction is already started by the tube's design and because that
> > angle with the wind that is established with the boom having moved to
> > slightly starboard of center, takes sail cloth pressure off the mast
> > slot while it is emerging from the mast, and conversely, when the
> > cloth is going into the mast.   With the boat not into the wind, when
> > in heavy winds, the cloth pressure against the edge of the 26 foot
> > long mast slot can get so huge as to make it unreasonable to expect
> > the sail to want to go back inside the mast without complaining - or,
> > for that matter, come out to sail ..
> >
> > The Others:
> >
> > Those weak on spacial relations might not consider that trying to pull
> > out a sail of cloth made not to stretch, cannot work if the boom is
> > held fast _below_ horizontal by the main sheet cleat. The explanation
> > is so simple that I can explain it.  The length of the back side of
> > the sail triangle cannot change. Lowering the aft end of the boom and
> > holding it there so it cannot rise means the sail length would have to
> > increase to fill this increasing space and that is impossible so the
> > sail simply stops coming out of the mast.  A good practice is for the
> > boom to be free and not locked down by the main sheet when taking out
> > the IMF main.
> >
> > If by chance a guest not attuned to all of the above common sense does
> > cause a sail jam it is easily corrected.  Not having had this problem
> > I learned its solution by seeing what the big boys with big In mast
> > furling did at boat shows.  They approached the mast, put two hands on
> > the sail cloth as close to the mast slot as reasonable and pulled the
> > sail material not out but /*straight down - */ The one place where
> > force is apparently not a no, no.
> >
> > In conclusion a huckster remark:  If along the way of various owners,
> > someone has re-mounted the IMF main too high or too low on its IMF
> > furling tube, it will not work properly.  I will not go into
> > explaining this here but think of two fat ladies (or governors) trying
> > to get through a doorway at the same time.  If mounted too low the
> > sail bottom will be rubbing on the top of the boom slider and causing
> > bunching - if mounted too high the designed pulling out angle gets
> > beyond its working boundary causing the problem of the two fatties
> > trying to go thru a doorway.   As the sail comes out of the mast it
> > should stay fairly parallel to the boom with about an inch of
> > continuous clearance.  The cut of the sail and its mounting on its
> > furling tube are important to the easy operation the IMF can provide
> > under all conditions.
> >
> > While early outhaul car systems will let you sail, the newer outhaul
> > car design (price C of S dependent) not only allows for better sail
> > shape through superior draft control, but keeps the sail bottom
> > continuously parallel to the boom and the boom much better in
> > alignment with sail direction, all of this allowing a broader range of
> > orientation to put the IMF sail in or out with greater grace.
> >
> > there is probably something I forgot but have to get to my physical
> > therapy.
> >
> > ss
> >
>
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