Straightening out a wavy, twisty furler foil/luff?

[LordElsinore]

Hi folks. The looooong grooved plastic piece that rotates around the headstay and allows the headsail to wrap around as part of the furler - I've seen it called a "headsail foil" and a "furler luff" though I'm not sure which is the correct name. Well, at any rate, I removed my headsail from it for the first time since I've owned the boat, which I'm guessing is also the first time it's been removed since it was originally assembled in 2012. Seeing it without the sail, it looks quite "wavy", a little twisted, but definitely not straight like I imagine it should be.

I was thinking about trying to straighten it out by hitting it with a heat gun and clamping it firmly between long boards or something for a while. Anybody tried something like this? Seems like it would be worth a shot. I know I can buy a new one from BWY for about $350 plus extra shipping, but I'd imagine this would be something that could work.

Any thoughts? Any suggestions of other ways to do this?

Mike

[Don T]

Hello,
Others will probably chime in BUT, I have not seen too much success noted when folks try to straighten the foil / luff. Mine usually straightens up after it's been up a while in the sun with tight forestay of course.

[NiceAft]

I recently ordered a new CDI furler from BWY. It came rolled up like a Danish Pastry. The instruction said roll it out in a warm area; it’s plastic, so it works.

Remove it from the boat; bring into to a heated area, roll it out. It will flatten out.

[wakataka]

Mine was pretty twisted up when I bought the boat. I wasn't sure it was salvageable, but I had nothing to lose so I laid it out on the patio, weighted it down with some bricks and a couple of long 2x6 boards, and left it in the 90 degree sun for about a week. The worst of the kinks straightened out but it was still far from straight. I was pleased to see that the remaining bends disappeared after it was installed on the fore-stay and the jib hoisted.

[leefrankpierce]

Go to CDI website and look at the installation instructions.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... manual.pdf

Says to put in a pipe, mast or something and let it warm up.
Page 5.

[LordElsinore]

Go to CDI website and look at the installation instructions.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... manual.pdf

Says to put in a pipe, mast or something and let it warm up.
Page 5.

Thanks for this info. Perhaps the most important part I got from that page was this:

NEVER try to straighten the luff by using a hair dryer or by laying it on the ground and weighting it down along its length. These techniques do not work...

I guess I'll try putting it in a pipe in the sun like it suggests

[dlandersson]

Ditto

I recently ordered a new CDI furler from BWY. It came rolled up like a Danish Pastry. The instruction said roll it out in a warm area; it’s plastic, so it works.

Remove it from the boat; bring into to a heated area, roll it out. It will flatten out.

[SmithDrewSmith]

Mine was pretty twisted up when I bought the boat. I wasn't sure it was salvageable, but I had nothing to lose so I laid it out on the patio, weighted it down with some bricks and a couple of long 2x6 boards, and left it in the 90 degree sun for about a week. The worst of the kinks straightened out but it was still far from straight. I was pleased to see that the remaining bends disappeared after it was installed on the fore-stay and the jib hoisted.

You don't happen to have a photo of your twisted foil before and after, do you? I have a pretty bad kink in mine, along with some other lesser bends and I'm just curious how bad mine is compared to yours. Mine was stored partially twisted around the life lines for the better part of 15 years.