MacGregorSailors.com

Hello Mates,

Well I raised the mast for the 1st time this past week (using Mast Raising System)..
that worked out fantastic. Then I hoisted the Main Sail.. that was a pleasure doing for the 1st time too. I bought my Mac 6 months ago , staring at it (covered) as it sat in my yard for all that time as I waited anxiously for the day I would raise the mast.
The only problem I have is I don't know how to rig the Genoa to the furling system, I did find a Jib Halyard in one of the compartments yesterday so I'm thinking that it's part of the Genoa/Furler rigging ??? I just don't know what lines go where on the FURLER. You have to understand that all the lines were tangled and duct taped, YES, duct taped together...what a mess that was cleaning up..especially the shrouds & the Mast. I'm planning on my 1st sail May 10 & 11at Harvey's Lake ,Pa. If I don't figure how to rig the genoa to the furler by then it won't be a problem..but it would be nice if I can. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You !!

I checked the motor (50 Honda 4 Stroke), oil, filters in perfect condition..batteries too. Turned the Key and Brrrromm it started right up..tried it on second battery same thing...you should've seen the smile on my face.. kinda like this:

Frank L.

I am not sure what part you are stuck on but here is a link to the manual:
Is the furler mounted on the boat and working properly? Are you having a problem just putting the sail on the slide?
http://www.sailcdi.com/sailpdf/FF2%20manual%207_06.pdf

Frank,

The jib halyard is NOT a part of the furling system. If you were to use it to hoist the jib, it would end up twisted around the furler preventing the furler from rotating. If you have a sock type cover for the jib, the halyard would be used to raise that.

Looking at the diagram in the instructions Matt posted should clear things up for you. There is an internal halyard in the furler foil that you need to use as per the diagram. The gotcha is that when this internal lanyard is in its fully lowered position (i.e. ready to start raising the genoa) its free end is up near the top of the foil and out of your reach. You may need to lower your mast again to reach it, then tie a temporary "leader" rope onto it, re-raise the mast, and raise the genoa by pulling down on the leader as you feed the genoa into the slot on the foil. When it's up, detatch the leader and lie off the halyard as per the instructions.

A couple more tips. Doing it on your own is possible but awkward, an extra pair of hands makes it much easier, one to feed, one to pull. Also, the slot on the foil is quite tight. the first three feet of sail will feed in fine, but as it gets higher and higher it will get progressively harder to pull up. You might get hold of a can of Sailkote (West Marine has it) to ease things along.

If you just bought the Mac26M last yr it will have the new Mac furling system not the CDI one all the lines are marked what they are for with labels at each end except the furler lines , I dont know why they do that
so just sepparate all the other marked lines & what you should have left is for the furler basicaly a furling line & a inside jib/gennoa halyard line for the foil & a small line to tie off the sail at the bottom of the furler

J

Thanks.. I have to lower the mast one day this week as I'm trailering to the Lake on Sat. Morning... will try to make some sense out of it with the Mast down. If not , I'll have to wait for someone to show me how it's done. If someone has close-up pic's of how the furler connections are made w/ descriptions that would be a great help. I didn't understand the lingo at that website as this is fairly new to me. Here's some pic's of what I've done so far... Yes, the mast raising system is still in place as I didn't even attempt to try the furler and Genoa..Yes, the Furler is attached to the Bow & Mast. Any comments you all might have would be appreciated. Thank You !
BTW...my furler has CDI printed on it.

To hoist the genoa on the furler you'll need to use a temporary halyard called a messanger line. Site up your furler and see if this line is attached. You would actually see two lines. The first is the external portion of the halyard, running from the deck up to the head of the furler. It exits on the other side of the furler foil and terminates there. This is where the messanger line should be tied, which will then drop from the head of the furler to the deck. Don't confuse this with the jib halyard, wich you won't be using as already mentioned. If the messanger line is not attached, lower your mast and attach a rope approximately 25 feet long to the short line near the head of the furler. It is easiest to raise the gonoa when the mast is up. Also prepare two runs of rope either 1/8" or 3/16". about 3 feet long each. Now tie the halyard (not the messanger line) to the loop at the head of the genoa. Insert the luff of the genoa into the sail track for the furler. If you have a helper, the job will much easier, but it can be done solo. Start pulling on the messanger line which will hoist the sail up. You will neeed to go a little at a time as you have to keep feeding the sail's luff into the furler track (which is why it's better with two people.) Once the genoa is fully hoisted, untie the messanger line from the bottom of the halyard. Careful not to let it go or the sail could drop. If the end of the halayrd is long enough, run a few loops through the shackle on top of the furling drum on the opposite side of the sail track and tie off. If not long enough, use one of your two pieces of 1/8" rope. Make sure the sail is hoisted all the way up, though you don't need a lot of tension. Now secure the tack of the sail. This is the metal ring at the bottom of the genoa which will be above the furling drum. Use the second piece of rope and tie to the other shackle on the top of the furling drum (the one on the side of the sail track.) You want to put good tension on this line, so you may want to run a few loops between the shackle and tack for some mechanical advantage. You want enough tension so the wrinkles along the luff of the genoa disapper. You're done Now attach the genoa sheets and furl up the sail. Enjoy

Once you get your genoa up and furled, see if your boat came with a sock for the sail. If not, get one. The halyard will be used to raise the sock where the sail can be stored inside when the mast is down and the boat on its trailer. This saves you the hassle of rigging the genoa each time you launch the boat. My halyard is mounted on a second mast hound one foot higher than the genoa since it also is used to hoist the spinnaker.
SHS

Frank,

The steel framed trailer (not aluminum) and photo of the stainless steel drum cover (not plastic open drum) tells me you have a 2007 or earlier 26M that is prior to release of the MacFurler from the factory in February, 2008.

Use this link for the CDI owners instructions: You may also call Tom for help. He's in NY, the number is on his site.
You will need to furnish your own messenger line, about three bucks at WalMart. The most confusing part will be about the ferrule. It needs to be hauled all the way down with the line inside but the ferrule outside the foil extrusion. Make sure you have about three rotations on the drum before winding it with the sail on:
http://sailcdi.com/sailpdf/FF2%20manual%207_06.pdf

We offer the CDI product on our website as it does not have the tangling problems associated with the open drum factory system presently offered on new Macs. For all models upgrade and replacement MacGregor sails including the 26M Musclehead, visit the Kelly Hanson Sails website or p.m.

Jeff Stagg

Frank's profile that is under his avatar, indicates that he has an '04 26M

~Rich

All of you guys are GREAT with your individual inputs....Thank You all so much !

Wednesday, May 6th, is supposed to be Sunny here in NE Pennsylvania, as it's been raining the last 2 days (No real excuse I know),.. I'll take down the Mast then and make a go of it.. You have to understand that the lines have different knots and loops in them and are tangled(Not Normal) and what they're for.. I'll have to figure out. I found the messenger line in the way Aft compartment, I never looked back in there as my Bimini was stored there for 5 1/2 months... GEE..you'd think the PO would've left a bottle of Rum there too !? Oh well, I'm happy enough to find the messenger.. I'll get back to you guys for help if I continue to have any problems, if NOT, I'll post a pic with the Genoa/Furler fully rigged. Thanks to All !

Frank L.

Frank, if you still have problems and you find that bottle of Rum.... I can be up your way in about 2 hours