Hi, Grateful for what I hope will be an easy answer to a problem I have. Can anyone please tell me how the foresail roller furling connects to the bow? I've been reading the Mac manual which describes how the forestay connects to the twin metal support at the bow but it does not describe how the roller furling connects. Obviously it is also to the same connection at the bow but my roller furling (which I believe is the standard Mac CDI FF-2) has a U shaped bracket underneath which when I raise the mast doesn't quite reach the bow connection. Is there supposed to be an adjustable type fitment in between or am I simply not raising the mast far enough forward? Grateful for any advice
Regards
Chris
Haha, hi Chris and welcome to MacGregor world.
The answers will depend on:
1. How tight you want your shrouds, and
2. Whether you have a mast raising kit.
To get any reasonable tension in the rig implies having to pull it all (including the roller furler) tight.
If you imagine you're trying to stretch your shrouds when pulling your furler down to attach it you'll understand why it's hard to do.
Ok, so how do you do it? You're right to wonder why there isn't a turnbuckle or other tensioning device, but that would make it too easy.
For the sake of brevity it's probable easiest if you say whether you have a mast raising kit or not.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Yes u shaped bracket is to fix to bow with strong pin.
I agree mast raising kit invauable. Otherwise near impossible without extra person pulling down on furler.Hanging off the bow when it is on the trailer helps.....unwise when at sea!
The bottle screw is within the base of the furler. You remove the holding pin and slide up the black cover to reveal then adjust lengh of shroud after releasing security split pin.....very small don't lose. Can tension after fixing bow if you like.
If shrouds remain too loose they will need shortening.
Rig tensioning is a fine art but this is a start.
Roly
Using the mast raising kit can be a little terrifying as you have to over-tension things initially to be able to fit the furler. You can play a nice tune on the mast raiser rope; all the time wondering where all the cogs would fly if it all suddenly exploded:)
Pulling down on the furler to fit the LARGE pin can be fun, as Roly mentioned. Singlehanded you can usually pull down just enough with two hands... I did try fitting the pin with my teeth but gave up.
In the end I fitted a rope to the furler and fashioned a loop in it for my foot. The foot took the place of two hands and left me free to fit the pin. Yay, just hope I remember next year.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
I still haven't sorted this to my satisfaction. I launch on a public slipway in Cardiff Bay and have to keep the mast down to pass under a bridge. I then either borrow a public mooring or raise the madt whilst bobbling in the bay, quite exciting and entertaining for those watching. The result is of course a couple of pins at the bottom of the bay.
Releasing the furler entails undoing the up and down haul lines on the clew, then pulling the pin so that the body of the furler will slide above the bottle screw, which should be wired to stop it unwinding. This is a faff to say the least. My alternative approach is to use the spinnaker halyard to tension the top of the mast forward. One end of the haliard is hooked on one bow board, the other becomes the down haul and by tying a loop in it 1 meter up from the anchor roller, feeding the end around the anchor roller up through the loop back down and around the anchor roller again, I can get enough forward tension on the mast to fit the furler. It's messy but it does work.
I was very envious of an eastern European trailer sailer that has a stainless steel A frame the shape of the bow, permanently fixed at the foot of the jib, the legs going back to either side of the mast which locked the jib down and was always available for release to lower the mast.
Regards Jonathan
Aha many thanks to all - thank goodness its not just me who has enjoyed a baffling hour or so balanced precariously on the bow! Yes I do have a mast raising system (thank goodness) so now I know there's no turnbuckle or anything similar missing I'll crank it up a tad harder. Taking care not to lose the pin overboard is good advice as clearly the last owner did so a trip to the chandlers for a new one (plus spare) is on the cards first. Thanks again
Regards Chris
I keep 3 spare pins as i have also dropped them in the water ! I use my winch and a pulley to tension the forstay.
I usually sail with genoa and main. I use the foresail rope to the tie on to thr bow rail as extra security for the mast.
We've struggled with this for the last few times, but it has provided husband and wife another excuse to shout at each other :-) Add to that a few pins going over the side.
the last time i came to do it, i tied a line around the base of the grey sail slide just above the black furling drum. i then take it around the anchor pulley and then through the foresail pulley to the sail winch in the cockpit. This then allows one person to tension the forestay and the other to position the drum and insert the pin. one thing to do is ensure the U bracket is aligned before tensioning.
Good luck
Tim
We also struggled at first doing this and found that if you are lucky enough to have three of you it can be done quite easily one on the pin one at the bottom of the mast with a bit of pressure and the other on the winch. I would not fancy doing this on the water and think that Macgregors tutorial videos that tell us that it can be done with ease single handed are a bit ambitious.
Every time we put the mast up we make a point of double checking the pin is fitted correctly and that the forestay has not suffered any damage as this is the only thing that is stopping it from crashing down on the cockpit.
Macerlla
1996 26x
What we really need is a Highfield lever see https://theriggingco.com/2014/06/08/the-highfield-lever/ - I found one a while ago which I thought was perfect see http://www.apsltd.com/johnson-quick-release-levers.html for $72 but I can't find a UK or EU distributor and shipping cost doubles the price. It would however lengthen the forestay and the bracket at the top of the mast would have to be moved up.
You could get the same effect by fitting similar quick release levers/tensioners to the mast side stays.
On my 26m I still have the jib halyard fixed to the mast above the furling forestay. I tension the mast with the raising kit, pass the jib halyard over the pulpit rail and down under the anchor pulley and back to a cleat on the foredeck. Then you can put a bit more tension on the jib halyard by 'bending' it with your shoulder which pulls the mast near the top and bends it enough to get that last bit of slackness in the furling forestay to fix the pin through the U-shaped bracket. Basically the mast side/backstays will be over tensioned while fixing the forestay but then relax to the correct tension and tension the forestay when the mast raising kit is removed. I leave the jib halyard attached as a safety back-up for if the forestay should fail it would stop the mast from crashing down.
The tension on the side stays for the mast raising kit is also critical - the side stays are fixed slightly behind the mast so if they are too tight they wont allow the mast to come slightly forward enough to fix the forestay.
I usually attach mine alone. I carefully overtighten the MRS a bit, then go forward and attach the furler. Assuming you have a backup pin, I have found the easiest place to do this is bow-in on a pontoon. I make sure I have a bow fender, pull the bow right up to the dock, and can then pull the furler down without much trouble. Just don't drop the pin..:)
I also use another line through the spinnaker block attached to the bow rail as a secondary forestay.
David Claassen
"Logan's Run"
2006 26M
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