MacGregorSailors.com

I have my jib up and "working" on my boat (in the backyard). Furls, unfurls, works well.

I have seen in a few scattered posts where a few owners talk about putting the jib on the furler AFTER the furler is up and the forestay is in place. This seems to be extra work, but I can see that it would make raising the mast with the unloaded furler easier due to the lighter weight.

From the discussions though, most seem to leave the sail on the furler all the time, just disconnecting the forestay at the top to store the whole rolled up furler/sail combo, then, I'm assuming, re-attach when they go to step the mast and raise the mast with the furler and jib all together. It's heavy this way, but obviously simpler.

What I can't tell is what the majority of trailer-ers who are stepping the mast at the ramp do, versus slipped boats (or stored mast-up) that just didn't want to leave the sail out in the weather, etc. I am most interested in what the trailer-ers do because that's what I'll be doing...do you leave the jib on all the time and just disconnect the whole sausage, or do you actually remove the jib from the furler to make it lighter to handle and then put it back on once you raise the mast?

Thanks...

My gib stays on the furler all the time. No reason to take it off. As far as weather I make sure that the furling halyards are wound around the jib at least 1 to 3 times and that the halyards are securely connected to the boat by rolling them on the winches and securing them in the cleats with a knot on the bitter end side.

heres a pic where it is wound only once, but then we were sleeping on the boat so it was ok.
Q1

I trailer my . I leave the jib on the furler and the furler in the weather. It remains connected at the masthead. I just disconnect the forestay at the bow chainplate and then lower the furler and jib with the mast, moving them somewhat as a unit into place. The stanchions, secured side stays, and masthead shackle keep it in place just fine. It's too long to easily fit inside the cabin. My big focus is fast rigging so I leave as much connected as possible. I drop the remaining jib sheets into the cabin.

It does remain exposed to the weather, but it's easier to cover the entire boat with a 30 x 25 tarp and some bungees than worry about that. Plus I live in San Diego where we don't have "weather".

Matt

I have a 2002 and keep my jib on all the time and trailer all the time. like Mat said i just disconnect the forestay and let the hole thing down at one time. I do have a cover kind of like a sock that I put over the jib to protect it from the sun that just zips up one side before I lower the rig. just make sure that you support the bottom of the furler. I have a pice of 3" pvc pipe cut in half that I tie to the mast for this.
Patrick

I have a 2005 that is trailered most of the time. The jib is left on the furler all the time. We connect and disconnect the forestay at the bow for raising and lowering the mast. The furler drum is covered with a protective bag once the forestay is disconnected to prevent damage to the drum and foredeck. I agree with Matt, it is easier to tarp the entire boat for weather protection. Last time out I tried a tip learned from this site. After disconnecting the forestay a bungee is wrapped around the mast raising forestay and furler just above the drum. As you lower the mast the bungee rides up the mast raising forestay suspending the furler keeping it from dragging on the deck. I found this technique to be a vast improvement in our mast raising and lowering experience.

Marc

Thanks...that's kinda what I thought, but wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something.

So it sounds like you also leave the furler/forestay attached at the top for trailering/storage and just find a way to support the heavier lower end as it sticks off the front of the boat...will have to play with that some too...

I have a old sail I folded in half 10 inches wide and sewn. it covers from the headstay CDI furler to the Base and keeps UV from headsail. It is secured with bunge cords every 4 ft. and also keeps all standing rigging and rollerfurler attached to mast.
We launch in 15 min. from the time we get to boat ramp (2 persons). we have done is in 12 min with no talking.
Retriving usually takes us 15 min. plus as it always a long weekend.
Dave

pmcco wrote:I have a 2002 and keep my jib on all the time and trailer all the time. like Mat said i just disconnect the forestay and let the hole thing down at one time. I do have a cover kind of like a sock that I put over the jib to protect it from the sun that just zips up one side before I lower the rig. just make sure that you support the bottom of the furler. I have a pice of 3" pvc pipe cut in half that I tie to the mast for this.
Patrick

Dave B, when u launch in 15mins is that with the mast etc raised ?
We can get the Mac in the water with fenders etc in about 30mins inc removing lighting boards etc but it took us another hour to get the rigging up on the water ?
Do you travel with the stays already conneted to their mounts ?

Si

Another thought about this - was playing with it again this evening - I can see the furler rope is getting bound up in the spool and not quite letting the sail unfurl all the way - and I know many have posted before about this, so I'll do some digging - Cat said he cored the first 10' of his line, etc. etc. Will keep playing with this.

BUT - another question - what do you all do for attachment of the jib sheets to the sail? I bought a new running rigging package that came with two sheets (instead of one long one) and I have two knots at the eye right now, but don't like it - they catch on shrouds, baby stays, lifelines, etc. Does anyone else have two sheets - and how did you go about attaching them to the jib?
Thanks!

One note some folks seem to forget. If you leave the mast up and just roll up the jib(no sock cover), it is the fulling line that keeps the silly thing from unfurling when the weather gets up. Make sure the line is good and is secured. I've seen more than one flapping around at the marina!

vizwhiz wrote:Another thought about this - was playing with it again this evening - I can see the furler rope is getting bound up in the spool and not quite letting the sail unfurl all the way - and I know many have posted before about this, so I'll do some digging - Cat said he cored the first 10' of his line, etc. etc. Will keep playing with this.

BUT - another question - what do you all do for attachment of the jib sheets to the sail? I bought a new running rigging package that came with two sheets (instead of one long one) and I have two knots at the eye right now, but don't like it - they catch on shrouds, baby stays, lifelines, etc. Does anyone else have two sheets - and how did you go about attaching them to the jib?
Thanks!

I have the same problem, what a pain. I can't see an elegant solution other than sail tape to keep the knots more compressed.

BlueSeas wrote:One note some folks seem to forget. If you leave the mast up and just roll up the jib(no sock cover), it is the fulling line that keeps the silly thing from unfurling when the weather gets up. Make sure the line is good and is secured. I've seen more than one flapping around at the marina!

I also add a sail tie as high as I can reach on both my head and main sails as a precaution when I don't intend to unfurl in short order. I once had my furled main partially unfurl itself at the middle while passing through a narrow, rocky channel in 33kt winds. Hanging onto the mast, trying to get the sail under control while yelling through the storm at the admiral to "stop crying and just steer" did not help my relationship much

BlueSeas wrote:One note some folks seem to forget. If you leave the mast up and just roll up the jib(no sock cover), it is the fulling line that keeps the silly thing from unfurling when the weather gets up. Make sure the line is good and is secured. I've seen more than one flapping around at the marina!

This is good advice...thanks.

robbarnes1965 wrote:I have the same problem, what a pain. I can't see an elegant solution other than sail tape to keep the knots more compressed.

After fooling around a little more, I noticed that the eye is not as big as I thought, so I stuck the sheet through the eye and made a fig-8 knot on the backside, instead of tying it to the eye with a bowline as I had originally done. I can still pull the sheet as hard as I want because you can't get the knot through the hole (especially with the second rope in the eye also), and it moved the knot to up "on" the hole instead of several inches in front of the sail.

I know that every book I've read says to use a bowline, and there may be practical reasons to not have the line rigged this way...don't know why yet, though.

robbarnes1965 wrote: I know that every book I've read says to use a bowline, and there may be practical reasons to not have the line rigged this way...don't know why yet, though.

I've used the bowline for years and just put up with the snags, here's why. The bowline can be untied after days/weeks/months of working strain on it. When at the dock a sticky knot can be just an annoyance, underway it can make the situation much more sticky. This was much more important with hanked on jibs and sail changes needed to be made unless each sail had it own sheets.
Next I don't use any type of carabiners, shackles or such. My first boat came equipped that way, glad to still be here . Again nice at dock but will beat the crap out of you if you need to go forward and tame that jib for any reason. One reason is when the furler jams up for any one of a hundred reasons
Then I'll sometimes use the loop in the bowline to pole out the jib. It can get caught up but sometimes it's easy.
Ed

Thanks for the positive perspective Ed. I'll keep it in mind.