In mast furling sail wrinkles

[Wayne]

I have in mast furling, and no matter what I have tried I get wrinkles when putting my sail away.  I have a loose main sheet, release the vang (and make sure the line is loose).  Light back pressure on the outhaul while cranking.  I've tried head to wind, 20-30 degrees off the wind.  Even tried downwind.  The dealier said 'haul up on the downhaul--get it a couple of feet up off the top of the dodger'.  Tried that, same thing.  It seems to me that the wrinkles start happening when the baggy part of the sail is going into the mast (the first 3 or 4 feet go in nice and smooth, then the wrinkles start to appear).  Wrinkles are in the bottom 8 feet of sail.  I also notice that the foot of the sail is slowly creeping upward on the roll as I furl.
Any advice appreciated!!!

[Stu Jackson]

If the foot fo the sail is riding up, have you tried keeping the boom lower?

[cree fetterman]

Knowing a bit about RC model yacht racing and sailmaking, I have found that sails are cut and sewn together ending up with a concave shape. It would be impossible to roll up that shape without wrinkles. If the sails were flat they would roll up perfect but that is the job and expense of the sailmaker to shape or cut the sails for the best lift or thrust.

[Jon Schneider]

I agree with Cree; it's pretty near impossible to get a curved object to lay flat.  That said, while I don't have a furling main, furling sails should be cut flatter than their non-furling equivalents.  Friends of mine who have furling mains complain of the same thing, but as far as I can tell, the wrinkles are actually quite small and inconsequential.  Wayne, it sounds like you're doing everything right.  You definitely do want to sail a bit off wind and use the leeward side of the groove as a flattening device.  The one thing you didn't mention is the halyard; that and the vang are the two most critical ingredients in shaping the sail (along, of course, with the outhaul, but you're paying that out -under the right amount of tension- in this process).  I agree with Stu regarding the boom height, but I don't understand what the dealer meant by "hauling up on the downhaul to get it a couple of feet off the top of the dodger."  I guess I'm not familiar enough with furling mains; I didn't think they had downhauls.  Was he talking about the topping lift?  If so, that sounds like crazy advice.  Is he suggesting that you lift the boom two feet higher than normal during this process?  Nuts. 

Is your main the factory original?  Who made it?  North used to make Catalina sails (though sometimes Catalina also made their own).  If you can trace the sailmaker, I'd give them a call.  If not, you're in SF, which puts you in close proximity to what I understand to be one of the most knowledgeable and caring sailmakers in the world, Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails (don't know him personally, but friends who do, think the world of him).  I would ask him for advice.  Perhaps he'd even take a look at your rig or ask you to bring the main in for inspection. 

[mrousseau]

Hi Wayne,

You should maybe verify with CY to see if they have changed anything with the furling mast as we have the hull # 1776, 2007 and we do not have this problem.  I know that they did change the boom vang.  Have you had this problem since the beginning...

Michel and Annick 

[Wayne]

Thanks everyone for the responses.
Stu, yes I have tried tensioning the downhaul, too.  Seemed to me that keeping the foot flatter (or down) could help.  Same result.
Downhaul???!!!  Sorry, I was typing kind of late last night, and I meant topping lift.  I thought this sounded crazy, but I tried it anyway.  Same result.  Not even much worse.
I've tried manipulating the halyard.  I think the problem is slightly worse with a loose halyard--seems to add more 'bag' when I'm rolling.  I'm thinking that it has to be pretty hard to get the baggy part of the sail to roll flat.  As mentioned, the sail isn't flat and that extra material has to go somewhere.
The creases aren't too awfully bad.  Maybe the best answer is to 'Don't worry, be happy'.  Thats what I sail for anyway!