Removing the forestay with roller furling.

[Frank Langer]

Back in 2018 I had the 1995 headstay and Harken mk 2 replaced. It had seized up during last windy fall sailing day, and our rigger said that some parts are no longer. While I know that these units were well designed and do have a long life, I figured that worrying about repairs, after a couple of decades, was just not something we wanted to do. All that said, if a person is handy and can substitute time for money, and of course is patient, older parts can often be repaired.

Hi Loren,
When I had our forestay replaced last year, the rigger (who had 18 years experience at a well-known yard) told me that my Harken II furler was his favourite in the Harken line (also one of his favourites) as he said it was stronger and less plastic than the newer models. I don't know if he was aware of any recalls, as I didn't know to ask at the time. Ours continues to work flawlessly.
Frank

 

[Gaviate]

One the roll pins fall out or break and you can't fuel or unfurl or lower, as the sail is pinched in the fool joint that now moves.

Though I cannot, with certainty, say that this caused my headsail to be lost (tattered) in a windstorm whilst on a mooring in my absence, I can say that it was a MkI which has been converted to scrap. The result of combining of a PO's possible neglect and a Newbie's blind optimism that all is well.....now I say "hank on sailor"!!

 

[Guy Stevens]

Is the Mark I the only Hearken furler that's been recalled? The Harken ll looks similar, so was it also a problem?
Frank

Mark 2 was recalled for the toggle eye also.
Guy

 

[Guy Stevens]

I can live with the first hazard. For the second, perhaps I can take the lower fitting off to show the rigger. Maybe he can replace it with something sturdier.

It is a custom Harken part, specifically made for them for that furler. It is the price that screws into the bottom of the drum system. It is a marine eye toggle that is odd shaped with flat sides to allow the locking ring that engages the pins on the bottom of the drum. That ring keeps the internal turnbuckle from rotating and unthreading, as there are no cotter pins or regular turnbuckles in the Mark 1s and 2s the turnbuckle is the drum system.
Guy

 

[Kenneth K]

It is a custom Harken part, specifically made for them for that furler.

Many thanks Guy.

 

[Frank Langer]

Guy,
Will a close inspection of that toggle show cracks or signs of wear before failure? Is there anything preventive one can do to avoid it breaking?
I had my forestay replaced last year by a reputable rigger and he didn't indicate any issue. Is that any reassurance? How many of these toggles actually failed?
Thanks for any additional information you can provide.
Frank

 

[Kenneth K]

If this is the faulty lower fitting Guy describes:



It doesn't look like it would be hard to have a machine shop replicate something similar, i.e., a T-fitting welded to a threaded rod (similar to what Dermac did on their old backstay adjusters):

 

[goldenstate]

If this is the faulty lower fitting Guy describes:

View attachment 41136

It doesn't look like it would be hard to have a machine shop replicate something similar, i.e., a T-fitting welded to a threaded rod (similar to what Dermac did on their old backstay adjusters):

View attachment 41135

I'm no expert in the taxonomy of Harken furlers, but I don't think that black-bodied furler pictured is original to your boat.

The stainless steel body is, I believe indicative of the Mk I series (per the Harken videos, and what many of our 85-90 boat still use). Maybe it is a Mk II/III furler?

I googled and could not find any more information about a MkI recall. I don't doubt Guy's statement, but I would have thought more would have turned up about failures and/or multiple recalls.

 

[Kenneth K]

....I don't think that black-bodied furler pictured is original to your boat.

Good eye. That's not my Harken, just the best picture I had of the lower bolt from another 80's E32-3 I looked at years ago.

Here's mine:

 

[Kenneth K]

Lower fitting:

 

[Frank Langer]

Lower fitting:

View attachment 41151 View attachment 41152

Kenneth,
I looked at my Harken II furler yesterday, and it looks similar to yours. While I don't see any cracks or sign of weakness, it's hard to see inside that lower toggle on the area beside the pin.
I have sent an email to tech support at Harken asking them about this, but haven't had a reply yet. If they reply I'll post the info here.
Frank

 

[Kenneth K]

Back in 2018 I had the 1995 headstay and Harken mk 2 replaced.

Loren, what unit did you replace with in 2018?

It seems the choices today are Profurl, Schaefer, and Harken Mk IV. The Harken Mark IV seems to have (per Defender) both an "Ocean" series ($1950) and a straight-MKIV series ($2750).

Did you delve much into the alternative models?

 

[Loren Beach]

Loren, what unit did you replace with in 2018?

It seems the choices today are Profurl, Schaefer, and Harken Mk IV. The Harken Mark IV seems to have (per Defender) both an "Ocean" series ($1950) and a straight-MKIV series ($2750).

Did you delve much into the alternative models?

Our rigger said (and that matched my limited knowledge) that most of the surviving major furler builders were pretty good, and that he favored Harken. He had a lot of experience with Harken, and that was a plus, too.
I went with a new Mk 4.

 

[Kenneth K]

I have sent an email to tech support at Harken asking them about this, but haven't had a reply yet.
Frank

Frank, have you heard anything back from Harken about the old recalled furlers?

 

[peaman]

An experienced rigger would give a rational list of options and tell you what it costs.

$1800 is what my rigger will get for all new standing rigging on 32-3, not including unstepping and stepping the mast.
For strip and paint on mast and boom: $7900.
Eastern CT, USA.

 

[peaman]

So I know that the new shrouds will stretch a bit once they are tensioned. But if Kenneth re tunes his rigging after a few months to take up that slight slack, will the shrouds continue to stretch once they are retensioned?
I ask because I usually retune my standing rigging annually just to be sure, but after many years, I find it doesn't change much, if at all. Yet presumably, a wire under tension should stretch, no?
Frank

There is elastic stretch, which is not permanent, and there is inelastic. Plus, with multi-strand wire rope, there is some settling of strands with tension. So upon first install, you will settle the strands, and impose some small amount of inelastic stretch. With moderate use and a few retensionings, the lines will reach a steady state of loading and unloading, where the lines stretch elastically under load and relax when unloaded. Until some heavier loads are imposed, like storm conditions or hitting a ledge.

 

[Kenneth K]

$1800 is what my rigger will get for all new standing rigging on 32-3, not including unstepping and stepping the mast.

You should jump on the $1800 deal.

I just dropped off the first half of my rigging (forestay, intermediates, and aft lowers) at the W. Marine rigging dept in Seattle. He estimated just under 3K to replace the whole lot (including the second half)--that's everything from upper stem balls/pins down to the chainplate pins.

He's looking into having a lower threaded eye manufactured for the existing Harken Mk I furler.

 

[Loren Beach]

He's looking into having a lower threaded eye manufactured for the existing Harken Mk I furler.

On this part of the project, back a couple of years when we replaced our 1995 Harken Mk 2, one of several reasons to do that was lack of parts to repair it. Accordingly, a new forestay and new Harken Mk 4 was installed. We were sort of "starting over..."
(FWIW, often new parts cost significantly less than the labor to resurrect old parts. Of course, YMMV. )

 

[jtsai]

Can anyone tell me if there is any way to raise the Harken roller drum an inch or two without major surgery? The combination of a short anchor roller and the Rocna anchor's geometry, the Rocna scraps the bottom of the drum during deployment and retrieval unless it is guided. A rather difficult job when both hands are already holding on to the chain. I could't tell from the installation manual if there was room for minor adjustment to the height of the drum after the unit is already installed.

 

[Kenneth K]

On this part of the project, back a couple of years when we replaced our 1995 Harken Mk 2, one of several reasons to do was lack of parts to repair it. Along new forestay a new Harken Mk 4 was installed.
(FWIW, often new parts cost significantly less than the labor to resurrect old parts. Of course, YMMV. )

Always a risk.....

But, the hope right now is this: The lower furler eye is basically just the lower half of a 3/4" turnbuckle fitting. If a machine shop could simply flatten down two sides of the fitting (to support the Harken locking ring) it would fit. Then, a bronze bushing could make up for the difference between the 3/4" pin size of the new fitting versus the 1/2" pin size Ericson used.

This is weighed against approx $3K for a new furler.