i do not like the furler used on the 563

[atles]

Hi ALL,
i have been taking my 563 out in heavy weather lately just to see how well it can sail
it has been fun and frightening at the same time !!
last week end i was on moreton bay again going very well down wind
heading out of the bay winds 25 knot sea 1.5 m
the boat was pushing thought the waves nicely you had to look out for the bullets of wind come in
ever few minutes or so but other than that she was a dream
all of a sudden one of the baby stay cables exploded with a big bang
my daughters ask me should it have done that !!
err no?
bad very bad is all that i said lol
so i drop the main sail all the way to motor home
went to use the furler on the jib and yes it got stuck half way as i was rolling the jib up
now this is the 2 time after i put new rope on the jib halyard and the furler
that it has failed me in high winds so i would like a new system
had a look in the posts and Ian talk about this see below
can some one give me a better system to use thanks



Upper Mast Connection
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Those of us who have been caught in a blow with this system, with the jib a vibrating flapping mess, shaking the rigging, and no way of lowering it at sea when you are short-handed, are not fond of the concept. Others have had happy associations. You pays your money and makes your choice ......

_________________
Ian B
Investigator 563 #50 Yara
Save CO2- go sailing!

[Yara50]

Atles,
There is another furling system where you do not use the forestay, but have a wire luff in the sail, and hoist the sail and swivel using the halliard in the normal way. At least with this system you can drop the whole flapping mess.

Personally I prefer the jib downhaul system, which is just a cord which allows you to pull the jib down to the deck. If you search I am sure you will find lots of illustrations of the technique.
The only drawback of the downhaul is that the sail is not completely tied down, and I still sometimes have to go forward and put a couple of sail ties around it.

By the way, you talk of the babystay breaking. Do you mean one of the diamond stay braces?

[atles]

opps yes diamond stay brace sorry
i have put new wire on all the other parts of the mast
but the diamond stay wires looked fine at the time
but alas was not up to it
i must say the wind was high, and i did have a large jib on to drive through the waves
boat speed hit 6.4 knots at the time it let go
i have to do them this week end
also i always manage to cut my self on the boat ever time i go out
starting to think the boat is a vampire boat

[Yara50]

It is interesting that the diamond stay broke. You must have had a lot of load, as the mast itself, being without a taper, is pretty strong. Having said that, if the diamond stay pre-tension is high, all the load goes on the stay and not the mast itself.

I try to reduce sharp edges and objects around the boat, but maybe the ultimate answer is to wear sailing gloves. Especially in heavy weather!

[atles]

Hi Ian,
yes i looked at the diamond stay pre-tension on the other side of the mast
it was too high thanks for the information
i took the mast in to work as we have all the steel wire sizes
and a swage press the mast is as good as new again .

[Ozzie]

Atles, I almost always spill blood when I sail . It's a joke with my wife. It's usually enthusiasm rather than carelessness. I wear fingerless Burke gloves sometimes and that helps , also wet suit boots if its an energetic sail to protect my feet . I also put caravan drain pipe over the stay connections into the chain plates , mainly to keep them straight when masting up but it does shield a couple of rough spots that you can catch on when your scrambling around a wet deck.