[Public-List] Roller Furler Luff Rope and Dacron Twisting

[Wes Gardner]

Jonathan,

I think I'd let a sailmaker have a look...my experience with both furlers
and twin-groove "racing" headstays is that they feed fairly effortlessly.

Wes

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 7:37 PM, Jonathan Bresler via Public-List <
public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Constance is my first experience with a roller furler.   Hoisting the genoa
> can be a bit of a pain.  The dacron enclosing the luff rope/wire, the part
> that goes into the groove of the foil which surrounds the headstay,
> twists.  Once it starts to twist, the dacron drags and seems to twist more,
> trying to force three layers of dacron into the slot of the foil, in place
> of the two layers of dacron for which it was designed.   The twist is
> clockwise viewed from above, in the same direction as the sail turns when
> it furls.  The UV protection cloth is on the port side of the sail, so the
> sail must furl clockwise in order to leave the UV cloth on the outside.  To
> visualize this hold your right hand with your thumb pointing at your nose,
> fingers together and naturally curving toward the palm of your right hand.
> Your thumb is the foil.  Your thumbnail is the swivel on the foil to which
> the jib halyard attaches.  Your fingertips are the leech of the genoa.
> (its a small sail, chord length is one finger long ;)
>
> The way I have been handling this, is to straIghten the "luff rope" and the
> two layers of dacron by giving them a bit of "pre-twist"
> counter-clockwise.  Hoist some sail till it starts to bind due to the
> twist, lower a bit, pre-twist a couple feet of luff, hoist, repeat.
> Clearly, this does not make for quick sail changes.  Any idea of quickly
> raising a second sail in other unused groove is laughable....at least the
> "quickly" part is laughable.
>
> So what's up?  Worn out luff rope and dacron in the sail?   Dacron around
> the luff rope has bagged over the years?  I need lessons?  Anyone else
> having a similar issue?  How did you fix it?
>
> Jonathan
>
> --
> Jonathan M Bresler
> S/V Constance Alberg 30 #262
> Annapolis/Eastport MD
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