Roller furler - repair or replace?

[Andy Rogers]

I have a Hood SeaFurl II on my 1984 E-38 which won't unfurl completely on its own. The last few rotations almost always have to be done by hand by grasping the foil and rotating. Even after the genoa came down for winter storage, rotating the foil on its own takes two hands and a lot of body weight to rotate.

I've contacted Hood and they said that to get the drum serviced I would have to drill out all the screws, unwrap the Norseman fitting (or cut the headstay) then have the unit serviced. I'd then have to re-wrap the Norseman fitting or get a new headstay. They said that this is not an easy project and that it may make more sense to invest in a new furler and headstay rather than trying to salvage the one I have. (They are obviously interested in selling me a new unit.)

My question is this: How easily do people's roller furlers let out their sails? Is it common that the last few rotations have to be done manually on the foredeck or does a furler in good condition let the sail out completely even in light winds?

 

[Loren Beach]

Light or heavy winds, the last few rolls come out *very* easliy on my Harken Mk2, installed in '95. As I recall from the evaluations some time ago in PS, they rated Harken and Schaefer about equal as #1 choices, with Profurl close, and Hood further back.
It sounds like Hood is now trying to sell you more product, which is of course logical. And, their current product may well be better. Note that the only really bad Hood system was the old "line drive" furler with the double line going forward to the base of the furler.
One thing you did not mention is the age of your forestay. If it is as old as the boat, It is time to change it out anyway. You might as well consider your options with a "clean slate" approach. New stay -- New furler. Right now is when you can get <big> discounts on this stuff thru many sailmakers. When I ordered my furling genny the sailmaker (UK) gave me a deal on the furler that beat the normal wholesale price, plus the sail had the fall discount. Good thing you are working on this problem now rather than the more expensive springtime!
Summing up, what you have been experiencing is not normal. at all. A change may well be in order, and, it's time for new rigging anyway.
All the best,
Loren
Olson 34 #8
Portland, OR

 

[Bill Robbins]

I agree with all that Loren said,
One thing further. I had the harken 1.5 roller furling on my Ericson 35. It did fine but in retrospect I would have prefured the 2.0. I would get the 2.0 for your boat.

 

[Andy Rogers]

Well I did it....I bought and assembled a new Harken 2.0 MkIII roller furler last weekend. Fingers crossed that all goes well when the yard steps the mast with the new furler in place.

Thanks again to everyone. Hopefully we'll have an easier time with the genoa this season, which I can only assume we will given how smoothly the Harken turns in comparison to the old SeaFurl II which was badly in need of replacment.

Thanks again,

Andy

 

[Geoff Johnson]

I have a three year old Harken (1.5, I believe) on my 32-3 and have experienced the problem you describe, so I don't think any brand is necessarily going to be a complete solution. Other factors seem to be installation, sail size and cut and headstay tension. I also had a really annoying problem with halyard wrap until I had a halyard restrainer installed at the masthead.

 

[Jeanne]

Roller furling

The Harken Furling on my 89 Ericson 38 started to be difficult to unfurl. I had owned the boat about a year before the problem surfaced. I e-mailed Harken and was advised that there was no maintenance necessary and that the problem was usually due to the halyard being too tight or the forestay being too loose. I now rountinely loosen the halyard a little before I roll up the sail and tighten it up once it's out. Time and use will tell if this will do the trick.

 

[Geoff Johnson]

That's a good tip about the halyard tension; I'll give it a try. My boat came with an hydraulic backstay adjuster and I have found that it helps to tension the backstay before furling.

 

[jwolfgra]

I also have noticed that my furling is substantially easier if I have moderate halyard tension and the headstay is adjusted so there is very little sag. Furlex 100 on an E29, 3 years old, when I started paying attention to the above, no problems at all.

 

[Ron Peterson]

Furling systems

I own and build the FaMet furling systems which are easy to install and have only 2 moveing parts along with an internal haylard which can not rap or bind. Our system is heavy duty and allows for reefing etc. in any conditions. You do not have go forward to unroll additional sail of loosen lines etc. I have the system on 30+ along with other boats in my area and all the owners say that it is the best and is priced even or below the name brands. Please contact me if you have future guestions Ron

 

[frick]

Lots of Fresh Water

Have you tried lots of Fresh Water and Dry Sail Lube? Team McLube?


do not use wd40... it will gum up the works.

Rick

 

[bruce v]

What Furler came standard on the 1984 30+? I gave mine to some young men who are having difficulties getting the 110 Genoa bead back on the track to raise the sail and Furler. Since it’s been two years since we took the mast down and we’re about 1800 miles away, it difficult to help or even recall the tracking procedure for the sail. Help is requested!

 

[Christian Williams]

My Harken furler is design for water washing of the bearings to get out salt and atmosphere dirt. It's important. Any lubricant or grease collects dirt.

Some folks never lower the genoa, and therefore never see the top bearing. It fills with salt (from the air) which attracts dirt (in the air).

Heavy flushing is required to dissolve salt, and a product like SaltAway speeds the process.

Also, my sailmaker says we're not supposed to use a lot of halyard tension on roller furlers to tighten the luff (as in the old days of hanked sails).