Tuesday 26 May 2015

Colnbrook furling gear

Problems with the furling gear caused a jam when we were trying to put the headsail away on the final approach home to Portishead yesterday. The top mechanism was jamming and somehow pulling the genoa halyard around the furling bar.

Back in dock, we brought the headsail down to check it, and released from tension, it all seemed to work perfectly. Tried raising the sail, thinking perhaps I'd somehow lost tension on the genoa halyard which had caused the tangle, and now the mechanism won't run up the furling bar more than a dozen feet.

The halyard seems to pull the sheave out of true alignment (it's quite slack, with a fair bit of movement) at which point it jams.

A very frustrating end to a fantastic four day's sailing. Especially as it threatens next weekend's sailing.





2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi there,I also have a Colnbrook system and would like to replace the halyard swivel. did you manage to find a replacement..?
regards
Neil

Dave said...

Jamming of the roller is sometimes caused by worn out ball bearings in the top unit. Easily replaced with 6mm stainless ball bearings does the trick. Use cheap surplus ball bearings sold as BB shot, and don't pack in too tightly (put in 1 less bearing than will actually fit) Good as new!