CRUISING CORNER: Headsail Furling Modification

(John Biesiada's article hot off the press from the Spring 96 Sharkscan)

The Problem

A worn-out or damaged furling shaft that caused excess binding on the forestay. Could eventually unwind the strands and lead to ... don't even want to think about it.

The Solution

A simple and inexpensive modification to the top of the furling shaft. Cost for parts is Less than $10 and takes about 1 hour to install.

Materials Required:

1) 6" x 3/16" brass tubing, most hobby shops carry this

2) 12" x 1/4" heat-shrink tubing , from Radio Shack or electronics supply store

3) tapered spout from a plastic funnel

4) stainless steel or teflon washer that is i/d 1/16"> diameter of your forestay and o/d is 1/16" < diameter of furling shaft

5) end cap for turnbuckle boot that is i/d is 1/16" > o/d of furling shaft (See the '95 West Marine catalog, page 538)

6) 2 - 3/8" #8 stainless steel self-tapping screws

7) Masking tape, heat gun or small torch , standard too1. kit, winch lube or other waterproof grease.

The Procedure

Assuming that you have come to the point of realizing that your furling gear is binding on the forestay, and damaged it enough to warrant replacing, follow these simple steps:

1) Your mast is down; if you have the standard turnbuckle with shoulders and eyesplice at the deck end, now is a good time to replace it. Trust me, your system will operate much better. Use a swaged end turnbuckle instead. The Navtec C500 or equivalent will do just fine. (See West Marine catalog page 538)

2) After the new forestay has been pressed in the swaged turnbuckle we get down to business. Run the new forestay up through the furling shaft, push the furling shaft down to where it is fastened to the deck, approximately.

3) With a piece of masking tape, mark the spot where the forestay exits the top of the furling shaft. Remove the forestay from furling shaft and set the shaft aside for now.

4) Slide the 6" piece of brass tubing over the open end of the forestay and centre it on the taped mark. Secure it in place with tape at one or both ends.

5) Slide the 12" piece of heat shrink tubing over the brass tubing; so that 3" extends either side of the brass tube.

6) With a heat gun or torch held far enough away so as not to scorch the tubing, heat it until it contracts enough to hold the brass tubing in place.

7) Now slide the modified forestay back up through the furling shaft.

8) From the open end of the forestay, slide on the cut off portion of the plastic funnel until it is just inside the top of the furling shaft. The taper should cause a snug fit; if not, you will need a larger funnel spout. At this point you might want to apply a bit of winch lube or other waterproof grease to the inside of the funnel spout where it makes contact with the brass and heat shrink tubing.

9) Slide on the teflon or s.s. washer over the funnel spout and finally slide on the turnbuckle boot end-cap over all this. Use a small pair of vice grip pliers to hold all this in place.

10) Drill 2 appropriately sized holes for the #8 screws; 180 degrees apart, through the end cap and into the furling shaft. Put in the screws and you're done.

11) Re-attatch the forestay to your mast with the standard eye-splice configuration, or whatever method works best for you.

12) Raise your mast, bend on your genoa and try it out. You will definitely find a marked improvement in how your genoa winds out and winds up.

NOTE: The above modification was done on a Shark with a 1/8" forestay. If your forestay and furling gear is larger, then the i/d of the tubing will have to enlarged accordingly to fit. Response welcome at (905) 938-0821 or e-maiL to johnbies@niagara.com

by John G. Biesiada