Thank you. I've been having trouble. I think I made all three of your noted mistakes. Nice to find such a clear, instructional video. Another video showing how to unjam a furler line would be great.
Thanks - great video. Helps a lot!! My unfurling is difficult and not working. I have to turn manually. But to furl back works fine. What could be wrong?
My first thought would be your furling line may be jamming on the drum. Do you keep tension on the furling line as you furl the sail, so the line rolls smoothly up and down on the drum? Is the line the correct size, not too large a diameter, and does it have the correct number of turns on the drum, not too many?
The furling drum will rotate/furl in either direction. However it is essential that you you prepare the drum before raising the sail by rotating it a number of turns (30 for me) in the direction opposite to that used to furl the sail. On my jib the sun cover is on the starboard side, so when I furl the sail up, the drum needs to turn counter-clockwise, so the right side of the sail is out. So when I porep the furling system to put the sail on, I first turn the furling system 30 turns clockwise and then the system is ready. Raise the jib, then when you pull the furling line, the drum rotates counter-clockwise, rolling the sail with the starboard side exposed.
@@SailFanatics When you furl the jib. I see how you're using the windward sheet to control the tension on the roll and the furling line(?) to actually furl the jib, but I envision the leeward sheet just flopping around loose and hanging out of the bottom of the furled jib. . . What happens to the leeward jib sheet as you're furling the jib? Very new concept to me and I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that until today I had always envisioned roller furling operating much like a roller shade on a window. . . give the furling line a little tug, let go, and the jib wraps itself around the forestay all by itself! (Which I suppose might be a big seller if I could make that work.)
@@jcuvier135 I actually keep a little pressure on the leeward sheet, not the windward sheet, as usinf the windward sheet would tend to backwind the jib and create an undesired level of pressure. As the jib is furled up to just a turn or two remaining, I also grab and pull the slack out of the windward sheet. and then hold both sheets, so both are wrapped around the jib in the final two turns or so. Just ends up looking a little neater.
@@SailFanatics Thanks for your patience. Of course. I was thinking backwards with respect to windward and leeward. With that clarified, I'm still left a bit curious - I'm sure I'll be able to figure this out on the boat with hands on lines, but it's still not absolutely clear in my mind - how do you get control of the loose windward sheet and get both sheets to the same side of the boat before you start furling? Obviously crawling forward and just grabbing the sheets at the foot of the jib and then pulling the two sheets back to the cockpit is an option, but is there a more elegant (i.e. more convenient and safer) way to do this. A trick, as it were?
@@jcuvier135 On most boats, the jib sheets run aft through genoa cars/turning blocks and terminate in stopper knots such as double-overhands. The stopper knots keep the sheets from running forward through the blocks. When you are furling the jib, you can ignore the windward sheet, by the time the jib is furled but for 2-3 turns, the sail will be silent and the windward sheet limp, Just grab the sheet end and pull the slack out of it so when you wind the last 2-3 turns on the fulrer, both sheets wrap neatly.
