Harken furling

[Russ L]

Hello Brion, et al,
I hope the pool of talent here can offer me some guidance & moral support.

The problem lies with an old Series - 1. It furls okay, but I cannot drop the sail. The problem being a severe kink approx 8 feet high (and about 1 foot below a joint). It appears to have clenched the luff groove and pinches the luff tape. I've owned the boat a short time... so my guess is that the furler was sorely trounced by a spinnaker pole. (There is an assym. spinny aboard now)

I have a replacement foil section and I also expect to replace the forestay, as well.

What suggestions do you have for getting the sail off, so repairs can happen?

So far, I believe my course of action will be: lower (I don't like to use the term "drop" in this case) the furler & forestay as one unit, unroll the sail on the dock, attempt to open the groove a bit OR separate the foil section above the kink and slide it off the top of sail. Curse the damaged section while removing from the bottom. Reassemble with replacement parts.

It sounds simple enough... any advice?
Cheers, Russ

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
What is it with furler problems all the sudden? And Harken ones at that; we ordinarily see the most problems with another brand.
Anyway, what you are describing could have happened to anyone. As you say, it might have been a pole impact. Or the spreaders of another boat, or yard damage, or who knows? But if you can't lower the sail, it's a bad thing. You might be able to free it aloft, with the sail set, but just the thought of this gives me the shivers (see this month's "Fair Leads" for an example of how much trouble one can get into aloft). So yes, it's probably best to send it all down, unroll it somewhere relatively clean, and then to proceed with exquisite care to extricate the sail without destroying it. You might try driving a hardwood or plastic wedge in at a relatively loose spot, near the kink. If the wedge is wide enough, it should open the groove without damaging the sail. You don't need much slack.Work with the opposite edge of the foil face down on a hard surface.
If driving the slot open doesn't work, try Dremeling the edge directly adjacent to the sail, lengthwise. Put a protective spacer between the sail and the tool. The idea is to weaken the wall by the sail, making it easier to pry apart.
Oh, and before lowering the stay, be sure to slack the backstay, and to set up some form of temporary stay, in addition to whatever halyards are available. I'd even consider taking the stick out, if you're not supremely confident in aloft procedures.
Good luck with it, and let us know how it comes out, so to speak.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Brent B]

If the damage is only 8 ft above the deck, or within stepladder range, I would consider trying the prying and cutting options suggested by Brion from a short ladder. i.e. you need only go up about three steps. The air must be quite still, and you need to take safety precautions in case a puff comes through unexpectedly. To reduce windage you can roll up the sail from the leech and lash it to the forestay/furler.

Brent
Benson Sails