tophatyachts.com

High Craggsy hear,
I need to take down head sail for some repairs it is on a furler, can any one advice best way to go about it I'm new to yacht sailing any help would be appreciated ,cheers Alan

unfurl the sail, release the halyard, drop the sail, undo the tack shackle, take off the sheets, remove the sail from the foil, flake the sail, fold her up, into the bag, Bobs yer uncle.

Easier if you do it on the mooring without any wind (ie in the morning) and you may find you need to pull the bolt rope hand over hand out of the furler channel if it has not been removed for a long time or is tight. If it is tight you will probably need someone to slot it into the furled and someone to winch it up when you put it back on the furler. Once you have done it once it is easy.

Cheers,
Mark
'Storm Petrel'

Hi, just did this myself the other day at the mooring.

There are two types of furler; one where the halyard is part of the furler system and goes [u]through[u]the rotation block at the top of the furler (and through which the forestay goes). So 'dropping the halyard' leaves the rotation block at the top.

The other way is on my Stardust and has the halyard attached to the rotation block at the top and the sail attached to the block by a shackle. Dropping the halyard involves dropping that whole mechanism. Actually very easy if the whole thing hasn't been left gathering gunk too long.

Now the interesting thing is at the bottom. On Stardust the entry to the foil doesn't have any guide presumably to avoid fouling the sail. However this means hoisting the sail is done 4 cm at at time to ensure the bolt rope enters properly & doesn't just kink or get stuck on entry. Tough job solo! Fortunately my halyard is long enough to enable me to pull it from the pulpit (with teeth occasionally). Get one person to help - it'll make a difference. But very necessary task to learn to do well!

Thanks to everyone for there help, got the sail down ok now i need to get it restiched
I have only got the genoa what other size head sails will i be needing

A couple of things I figured out that made headsail raising and furling a lot easier:

If your swivel drops with the sail, give it a good rinse out and then when it's dry, spray inside it with Lanox to lube the bearings - made a big difference to mine. And do the same to the lower bearing inside the drum.

When you have the sail laid out flat onshore to fold it, spray the bolt rope with silicone - it will slide up the foil much easier.

Fit a pre-feeder to the foil about 30 - 45cm below the foil entry. It will feed much easier - more like 50cm or so at a time, especially if you have the luff of the sail flaked correctly beneath it.

Cheers, Graeme

Provided your furler can be used to reduce the size of your headsail you only really need the sail on the furler unless you are seriously racing. I only have a no2 on the furler and a storm jib. I think most of us would partially furl our headsails when we need to reduce sail and I suspect most Hatters use a no2 on the furler. A no 2 has about a 20% overlap, is that what you mean by a genoa? The beauty of having a furler rather than hanked on headsails is you only need one headsail really.

If you can get waterproof grease(winch grease from Bias or Whitworths would be fine) into your bearings it would be better than Inox. I have a new Furlex furler, which came with a supply of grease and instructions suggesting top and bottom furling structures be washed with fresh water annually dried and regreased. Inox and similar spray lubricants tend to leave a hard sticky film on surfaces over time (not good for bearings) but Inox is better than nothing if you cannot get grease in.

While on the subject of head sails, does anyone have the design dimensions for different Top Hat head sails? I have a tiny sail on the furler of my MkIII (I think it's a #3 as there's no overlap). As I'm cruising, and sometimes in light airs, it can get frustrating not having that extra drive. Also spinnaker sizes? I appreciate mast height makes a difference; mine is 9m step to top. thanks! Great discussion to have.

I have attached a copy of the original sail wardrobe that was available for the Mk2 and probably the Mk3. Note these sizes refer to hanked-on head sails, furled head sails might need a slightly shorter leech.

Cheers,
Mark
'Storm Petrel'