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Jib Halyard

vasuvius

Member II
I have a roller furler for the 135 genoa on my E26-2. The halyard is tied off through a slot in the furler drum. I used a truckers hitch on the halyard to tie it off after passing through the slot in the drum. This was how the previous owner had it setup.
I just can't get this tight enough and the jib luff doesn't look as taut as it should. Am I better off cleating off the jib halyard on the mast (I have spare cleats for this) or use a longer line and lead it back to a winch ? (I don't think the jib halyard needs to be winched to get it taut)

I have a call in to the previous owner to find out if there's a reason for tying off the halyard to the furler drum.

(Pardon any terminology errors, I'm a newbie)
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
I suspect that you are not getting enough tension or you are loosing tension when you feed the halyard and tie the knot. It is not typical to tie off the jib halyard at the drum. I would use the mast cleat. You can loop around the cleat, pulling up, to hold tension before you cleat it off.
A dacron jib on the E26 shouldn't need a winch.

Mark
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
I owned a catamaran that had the jib halyard run back down the forestay like that...

jib halyard normally goes over the top of the mast head back down and cleated to the mast itself or can be lead back to the cockpit
 

vasuvius

Member II
I owned a catamaran that had the jib halyard run back down the forestay like that...

jib halyard normally goes over the top of the mast head back down and cleated to the mast itself or can be lead back to the cockpit
That's usually the case on a mast-head rig. Mine's a fractional - I'm wondering if the halyard is not run back down the forestay, it will get twisted when I try to furl the sail and stop the furler from working.
 

Nick J

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Blogs Author
Do you have any pictures of your configuration? I'm having a hard time seeing what you're describing. I had an E-25+ with a furler and moved the halyard from the cockpit back to the mast. Either way the halyard ran from the top swivel around a block attached below where the head stay attached to the mast, through the mast, and out an exit hole. There was no reasonable way I could clear it off near the furler drum.
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
A furler has a swivel that the jib attaches to below and the halyard attaches to at the top. The halyard never spins. The drum rotates the foil wrapping up the jib. On a fractional rig the halyard enters the mast at the forestay attachment just like a masthead, only down the mast a fraction.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
What brand is the furler (if it still has a label)?

Most require the halyard to go to the mast from the top swivel, to prevent halyard wrap. Such a wrap is a problem because the sail won;t come down. A typical top bearing looks like this:

furler Capture.JPG
 

1911tex

Sustaining Member
What brand is the furler (if it still has a label)?

Most require the halyard to go to the mast from the top swivel, to prevent halyard wrap. Such a wrap is a problem because the sail won;t come down. A typical top bearing looks like this:

View attachment 39089
Christian...when you had your top swivel bearing down...what did you use to clean out the bearing cavity and what lube? My old Harken Unit 1 is down with the Genoa at the sail shop having the head, clew and tack redone as they were well worn, then I will clean the sail with simple green. I will pressure wash the furler bearings as they have been open to 35 years of exposure to dirt and grime, then re-lube. Hopefully that will save the cost of a new system for a while. Thanks.....
 

vasuvius

Member II
I'll take some pics later in the week. Looks like my setup is different from what you are all describing. I spoke to the previous owner and he said that the furler manufacturer's install info was followed. I don't remember the brand - will check when I go to the boat in a couple days. I have the manuals on the boat as well.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Tex, I just lower the genoa and use soap and water on the swivel a couple of times a year, and keep an eye on the foil connections. A long cruise works the machine screws out of drum end, and in fact I have lost a few and replaced them. That's not my gear in the photo, but I have a Harken 1 or 2 as well. Still works well.
 

1911tex

Sustaining Member
Tex, I just lower the genoa and use soap and water on the swivel a couple of times a year, and keep an eye on the foil connections. A long cruise works the machine screws out of drum end, and in fact I have lost a few and replaced them. That's not my gear in the photo, but I have a Harken 1 or 2 as well. Still works well.
Thanks...I didn't think to look for missing machine screws out of drum end...appreciate the advice!

Have you seen this old Harken video?
 
Last edited:

vasuvius

Member II
The furler is an Alado furler.
This is how the halyard is tied off - on one of the eyes on the furler drum:

I can pull it tighter and tie off without losing tension. I wish I had taken pictures but it looks like the forestay has a lot of curve under load. Which may or may not be normal. I need to get better at taking pictures while sailing the boat :)
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
From the posted PS review link:
"The Alado furlers design uses integral halyard(s) to place a compression load on the foil, causing the sliding extrusion segments to stay where they belong and eliminating the need for Loctite, set screws, and a top swivel. Headsail tension is relatively modest on a small cruising boats furling jib, so not being able to use your masthead halyard and winches is an acceptable compromise in this case. The down side is coping with the furling sail halyards (one or two, depending upon user preference), and how to tie them off in a manner that will keep them free from slatting against the sail or keep their tails from snarling up the furling process."
The halyard tightened to the drum is indeed the intended design.

If your jib doesn't appear loose in the furler foil, no excess wringles in the sail luff, then you should have enough halyard tension.
Next, you need to evaluate the amount of headstay sag you have, how much you want and if you can adjust it. Generally you want more sag for very light winds and less as it gets windy.

Tightening the backstay turnbuckle will help tighten the forestay to some extent BUT with the E26-2 7/8 fractional rig, as you tighten the backstay you also begin to bend the mast which flattens the mainsail taking shape and power out of it, so you can only go so far. On the E26-2 with the split backstay, a simple, removeable 4:1 tackle between a padeye on the transom and a wire block backstay fitting can get you a fully adjustable backstay so you can adjust to the wind.

Mark
 

Brad Johnson

Member III
I had never seen a unit such as this . I have a backstay adjuster which helps to a point , I installed running backstays on my mast 30 years ago and when it gets windy they really help with headstay sag which depowers the head sail while increasing forward drive and better pointing. You have a fairly bendy mast that has the ability to be adjusted for a lot of wind , sea , and sail configurations.
 
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