Interesting Furling Genoa

[stevewitt1]

This year I purchased hull 854.  She's fitted with North sails.  My genoa seems attached to the roller furling extrusion at the luff by zipping around it.  It doesn't appear to have a cord sewn in and slid inside the extrusion.  After bringing the boat back in 25G35-40Kt winds with plenty of reefing it appears to have more wraps at the head than at the foot.  When furled I have two wraps of furling around the sail on the furling extrusion only to have it fail to wrap the next time with the furling line hauled all the way in the cockpit.

I know that I've been living in the "dark side" the last 11 years with my 3270 MotorYacht but I've never seen a head sail constructed like this.  Just want to know if this is the norm now and will I appear crazy if I call a loft and ask them to sew a luff tape and cord into my sail.

Sincerely

Steve Witt

      visit us at : www.ocontoyachtclub.com

[Les Luzar]

A picture would be worth a thousand words here. What brand furler is it? Is the sail very new? I have never seen a zipper on a headsail before but I learn something new every day. Perhaps between contacting the furler manufacturer and your local North Sail Loft, you might get your best answer.... Or simply have another local sailmaker come to your boat and have a look and get their recommendations.

[Stephen Butler]

We have the original Hood furler system (still working well) and a Hood 150 genny.  The genny is hoisted by attaching the genny's head to the Hood Furler top swivel piece and hoisting the swivel.  As the top swivel/sail rises, the luff is zippered around the foil sections (one long zipper down the entire luff).  When fully hoisted, the tack is connect to the furling drum and a velcro piece is wrapped around the bottom of the tack.  Works well so far and we have not had any difficulties raising or lowering the genny, or furling it in a blow.  One of these years, we will upgrade to a new Hood furler system and a new 130 or 120 jib, but until then, we are having no difficulties.  Hope this helps.

[Les Luzar]

I have the original Hood 915D continuous line roller furling but I never noticed a zipper. I will check it out this weekend when out on the water and let you know what I discover.

[Ron Hill]

Steve : Your boat origionally had a 915 Hood continuous furling line drive.

I believe that you need to have a long conversation with North Sails.

[stevewitt1]

Stephen (Butler)

Sounds like mine is the same configuration as yours.  Remember, I haven't lowered this sail yet as when I took delivery 6/1/12 the boat was rigged for the season.

My bigger question is this:

How common is this type of configuration.  I would guess that my uneven wrap is the result of some "not so perfect" condition, tension of the most recent hoist, swivels in need of lubrication or something.  All of my previous furling head sails had a luff tape sewn in with a luff cord to feed into the furling extrusion. (1976 Catalina 27 with Hood Line Drive and 1979 Allmand with ProFurl)  I guess I'm just more comfortable with that.

Steve
visit us at www.ocontoyachtclub.com

[Stephen Butler]

We do have some uneven wrap, but if the top swivel and furling drum are maintained (cleaned regularly and lubed with a teflon spray), and the genny tensioned right, the uneven wrap is almost eliminated.  As for how common this setup is, I have no idea.  All our previous boats have hanked on jibs. Hope this helps.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Be careful about squirting lube of any kind in your furling system, UNLESS the manufacturer of that system says to do that. 

Most furling systems are cleaned with fresh water and NOT lubed.  A thought

[Les Luzar]

I agree with Ron. I was instructed to hose off and into the bearings with fresh water after every sail to wash the salt water off the inside of the drum. I have done this religiously for six years and I have never had any issue furling my Hood 915.

[John Sheehan]

Steve,

Our previous boat had a Harken roller furling system that had a zipper the length of the luff.  It also had a bolt rope of sorts that ran for around 1/3 the length of the luff centered halfway between the tack and head of the sail.  The idea was the middle would start to furl first which would tend to flatten the sail and remove much of the bag that happens when you furl a conventional sail.  The system worked well for us.  You may have one of the Harken units on your boat.

John

[Stephen Butler]

We definitely have a Hood 915 system.  Do not remember the name of the fellow at Hood, but we called and were told to always flush the drum assembly after every sail if possible, flush the swivel assembly with water whenever possible, use WD40 in the drum assembly once a year, and use a teflon spray in the swivel assembly once a year.  We have followed this maintenance for the last 7 years and our furler system has performed well.  Hope we have been doing things right.  Does someone have the original instructions for the Hood 915 furler system?