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I just got a new (to me) 2001 X. The PO had NEVER sailed it, only motored. (Wow! Have you ever heard the crinkle sound of new sails coming out of the bag?!!)

Anyway, the furler forestay was rigged, since he powered with the mast up (but no boom; still in cardboard wraps!!). When I put the genny on, it seems to work OK, except that unfurling the last few feet is hit or miss. The furling line seems to roll on unevenly, and sometimes it jams against the sides of the furler housing.

As a new guy, I would appreciate any suggestions.

congrats! seems as you have made a good deal! have fun with your new !

regarding the furler line i would suggest 2 things:
- be shure that you have not more line on the drum as you need tu completely furl the genoa (and wrap the shets 1 time around fr security). i suppose that you have the original furling line on the drum, it is very thin but i never had any problem with it.
- often the fairlead eye for the furling line is mounted too far forward (so was mine). this means the line is angled too far down, coils only in the lower part of th drum and blocks on the enclosure. also the thin and sharp line tends to cut thru the cheap plastic fairlead. i fixed it by mounting a small twisted shackle thru the eye and running the line thru the shackle instead of the fairlead. this make the line come about 1-2cm (1/4 - 1/2 inch) higher. i also thought about a small block baut this woulds be too high with the same negative effects.

good luck!

norbert wrote:often the fairlead eye for the furling line is mounted too far forward (so was mine). this means the line is angled too far down, coils only in the lower part of th drum and blocks on the enclosure.

Same problem here.

also the thin and sharp line tends to cut thru the cheap plastic fairlead. i fixed it by mounting a small twisted shackle thru the eye and running the line thru the shackle instead of the fairlead. this make the line come about 1-2cm (1/4 - 1/2 inch) higher. i also thought about a small block baut this woulds be too high with the same negative effects.

When I corrected the position of mine, I also ditched the plastic fairlead for the same reason as you. I installed a small Ronstan lead block (sorry for poor pic quality... it's from Ronstan's website):



I don't have a photo of my installation, but it works great and the furling line is kept low.

--Mike

A good adjustable fairlead is offered by WM. It's the plastic 'eye' with a stainless insert. It attaches to the boat with an automobile hose clamp. Probably can be found in most marine catalogs.

So, you clamp it on the lower tubing of your pulpit.

The furling drum 'hole' can be cocked to either side. I think I have mine in the middle right now.

It's critical where the fairlead is placed to allow the line to go right smack into the drum without an up or down angle, or having the line chaffed by the edges of the drum.

I apply very slight tension to the furling line when pulling the sail out by its sheet. This keeps it from getting kinked, which can be a real nightmare when you go to roll the sail the hull out of a slight gale.

It's very important that the line coming from the drum is at a 90 degree angle to the centerline of the drum/forestay. Where the fairlead is positioned will determine the angle. You may have too much line wrapped around the drum or the fairlead might not be correct.. Moe had the CDI manual on the site here but he must have moved them somewhere. Here is CDI's website and you can download the manual.

http://www.sailcdi.com/ffmain.htm

If you follow their instructions it should work fine for you. As Sloop John B said it is very wise to keep a little tension on both the furling line when letting the sail out and on your jibsheets when bringing the sail in. It helps to keep everything in a nice tight package. Congrats on your new boat.

Thanks, everyone for the suggestions. I am going to the boat on Saturday and I will check it out. I suspect it is indeed the position of the fairlead eye. The problem is when the line is wrapping onto the drum. When it goes well, there is not too much line on the drum. When I unfurl the sail the line is all out.

Sounds backwards to me... Shouldn't the line be "all out" when the sail is furled.

Don't you pull the furling line to furl the sail, and the sheets to unfurl?

The first fairlead off our roller, as installed by the dealer, was not at the correct angle to the drum..causing the line to rub on the edge of the drum..causing the line to wrap the line very poorly.

Removing that fairlead...and actually following the directions included with the furler.. I installed a new fairlead at the correct location...and it now rolls and unrolls, as we say in New England, 'pi$$'

The first fairlead placement is critical.

When the roller is wrapped up, there should be no or little line in the drum. When the sail goes out, it wraps the line in the drum in order to retract the sail later.

Paul

Its a delicate balance between not having too much line on the furler so that it jams when deploying the 150 genny and having too little

Anything smaller than a 150 genny wont have this problem as you have fewer wraps so you have more 'leeway'

Ive found if I have four wraps on the CDI FF2 furler with the 150 genny rolled up tight, I can easily roll it out without filling the cup, and yet dont run out of furler.

ANother thing to remember is if you do get the furler line wraps messed up, dont spend all that time rethreading it. Just bring your genny sheets forward and coil, sailtie off your furler, then just spin the furler by hand to load/unload furler line as appropriate - Admiral can tension and you can make a nice wrap so that it rolls out nicely.

I had the same problem. I only had one wrap around the drum with the sail wound up. At the MD boatshow I talked with the CDI rep. He suggested de-coring the furler line. CDI does not provide the line so some outfits offer slightly different size lines. I de-cored about half the line and the sail fully deploys everytime.

OK, USAF - I give. How do you "decore" a line?

Sorry to drop off so quick but had port call. Not enough wind yesterday so we spend the day pulling the swab behind the X in an inflatable. She was happy getting some air time going aver wakes of passing boats. Wind is up today so let me try to give you something quick.
You have to remove the furling line from the drum. Cut the line near the end to expose the inner threads from the outer core. Pull the inner core with one hand and slide the outer core back towards itself. After the outer core bunches up you have to move further aft on the furling line to keep working the bunches. Kind of opposite of trying to get your draw cord back out on the bottom of your windbreaker. Once you have half the length of the furler's inner core exposed, cut the inner core off. The aft end is normally seized in place since it isn't typically whipped, just melted. But to be safe, hold the line were the inner core and outer core are still intact and extend the now hollow core back to its full length and reattach to the drum. Yes the line no longe has its full strength, but for furling it is plenty. That what was explained to me by CDI. You only get one chance at it unless you can pulling it out from the other end if you didn't remove enough. I also am making a huge assumption that your line has the double core!