[Rhodes22-list] a different furling system, similar problems & solutions

Chris Geankoplis chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com
Tue Sep 15 18:28:06 EDT 2020


Rubin passed on to me and I thought I might post it.  It is not about the
R22 furling system, it is for the Island Packet.  Still I found a number of
problems and solutions useful for the Rhodes.  So see if you can spot the
differences and similarities.


FURLING MASTS…..more lessons earned.
          Norm Pierce September 2020

The furling mainsail hardware used in a Charleston Spar has proven to be a
very simple and robust system.

It is the tackle needed to handle the sail, and the sailor, that are the
weak parts.

The end result: THE SAILOR BLAMES THE FURLER !!!!!

Our experience has shown that it is the inability of the sailor to read,
understand and follow the instructions on the use and care of the entire
system that is major cause of any problems encountered.

 #1 Keeping the system clean: When you wash down the boat, wash the blocks,
control lines, boom, track and hose out the car in top of the boom while
rolling it back and forth. Wash the furlers, all three of them. Make sure
the drain at the aft-bottom of the mast at the deck is working. Salt
crystals are like little knives in the lines and blocks. Keeping them clean
of salt and dirt will lengthen their life and ease the lines movement
through the blocks and over the track stop at the outer end of the boom.

 #2 Every quality double braid rope manufacturer states that: “Double Braid
rope should always be coiled in a figure eight.” (the natural way it wants
to coil when relatively new) Yet many refuse to do it, or make sure their
crew does it. The end result of coiling it in a circle is a line with
permanent twists of the inner core against the outer cover, which creates
friction every time the twisted line goes through a block creating wear in
both. Add to that the normal degradation of the sun, salt and dirt, and
soon the lines outer cover begins to fray and bind as it makes its way
through the blocks and over the boom track stop block at the outer end of
the boom.

 #3 Boom height: Over time and sailing on the wind with a tight topping
lift stretches it. Eventually the sailor notices it and over tightens it to
the point where the angle of the outhaul to the clew in not ideal, and that
increases the stresses on the furling tackle with the extra effort needed
to use it, shortening its life.

 #4 Halyard tension;   The furling mainsails luff sets in an extrusion very
similar to the headsails. The difference is that the mainsails extrusion is
round (not foil shaped), has no stay inside and is attached only at the top
of the furler. The halyard is attached to the upper  swivel and the sails
luff tape is slid into a slot just like the headsails. When attaching the
sail and when the sail is deployed the attaching points are about 1” aft of
the extrusion. Over tensioning of the halyard will bow the extrusion in the
middle and as the sail begins to fill the mast cavity it can create a
difficulty in fully furling the sail. And, forcing it can make unfurling
very difficult. Ideally, furled or deployed with no wind in the sail one
should be able to move the tack strap with ones fingers a little with out a
lot of effort.

 #5 Furling Properly: As one prepares to furl the mainsail, head the boat
up leaving the wind slightly on the starboard side of the boat. Furling
line on the winch, outhaul ready to ease out, and as one winches the sail
into the mast hold some tension on the outhaul to get a smooth furling of
the sail around the extrusion and into the mast.

 I can see any or all of the above way too often when I step on your boat !
And you can too !

 Standing in the cockpit and sighting forward along the furler and outhaul
control lines. I see the fleck of color or the pattern of the braid spirals
between the stopper and the first block. Running my hands along the lines I
feel that they are no longer smooth but rough and frayed.

 I release the outhaul and go up on deck to the coach roof, I pull out some
slack and grab the outhaul at the clew block and at the exit under the
forward end of the boom and try to pull them back and forth. It takes very
little tension to make it very hard to move in either direction as the
twisted, fraying of the lines cover resists making the 180-degree turn over
the end of the boom. And you blamed the furler ???? (I did too, initially) J

 Replace those lines and start treating them with the respect they deserve
and enjoy the furling main again.



 Sail bunching or overlapping ?

1: Failure to maintain resistance on outhaul while furling.

2: Halyard too tight or too loose. Make adjustments small.

3: Sail “Baggy”, stretched out in the middle. Replace the sail.

Chris Geankoplis
Enosis I & II


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