new owner Ti 2014 questions - furling sail difficulty

Hi All,

This is my first post as just last week i made up my mind and bought myself this awesome watercraft, It was a tough choice as had a few ideas : portabote, Dinghy, Thundercat and than i saw the flexibility of the Ti where i could go places those previous crafts could not... not forgetting the benefits of not needing registration and trailers + get good exercise and stealth fishing .. so it was a no brainier decision and i purchased a brand spanking new Ti 2014 model from a Sydney Dealer.

Also I went with the 2014 model as it was $2000 cheaper and available.

I have used the Ti 4 times now on a lake to get used to the the different point of sail adjustments.
As a newbie to sailing this is a whole new world and i enjoy the learning ...

Anyway i got a question regarding the ability of furling the sail.
I noticed that in no wind (2-5 knots) when sail is fully out it is difficult to reef it. ( but no problem of unrolling it)

my steps to furling the sail:
1 - make sure main sheet is uncleated
2 - i pull the furling line - this is where i really need to pull it hard to get it to start rolling i need gloves as with out them hands wont last long. also i notice that sometimes the top of the sail is rolling-in not evenly to bottom sail, like it out of alignment .

Maybe this is normal behavior , and i need to use the wind to help me reef the sail, can you please explain if this is normal and what technique should i use to adjust boat to wind to help in reefing sail.
My issue is it happens with no wind and with wind it most likely worse .

notes: - Sail was assembled by dealer, I only tied down the downhaul.
- all ball bearing are there.



please advise

Before doing anything else, make sure the mast and mast base spin freely. Do this by leaving the sail furled and contained, without the sheet attached to it. Just set it in the mast base receptacle, lock it in, and spin it. Does it seem to be dragging or scraping on anything? If so, you may have found the culprit, and most likely it would be the furling drum bottom dragging on the mast receptacle top plate. There may be a fix for that but I'll wait until you've either pinpointed or eliminated that potential problem.

If it seems to spin freely, hook up the main sheet and try unfurling and furling, in no wind of course. If you then encounter difficulty it's time to see if the mainsheet has been routed correctly and if it might be hanging or rubbing on something it shouldn't be.

If both these items seem okay, then consider that when on the water you want to make sure there is no pressure on the sail (almost, and I'll explain that in a minute). So when you're ready to furl, go head to wind and when the sail luffs, you should be able to easily furl it. You can also get yourself a little "power assist" by turning DDW and then steering off just a little to one side to allow the sail to push forward a bit. This creates a situation where the wind actually helps the mast rotate a bit. Make sure you head off to the proper side, of course, so the sail is coming onto the mast from the most direct path.

I'm guessing friction in the mainsheet system is a possible cause. You can pull the sail clew or pull the mainsheet at the clew to unsheet and allow easier furling. Check line routing, cross overs... drag points.



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_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Batten tension too tight perhaps?

Could very well be this. If so, adjusting the turnbuckles inside the hull is what you need to do. Twist them to shrink length to have the furling drum sit higher, or make them longer to have the drum sit lower. You should only need to make minor adjustments.

As Matt said, friction is the likely cause. There's quite a few points on the TI sheeting where friction could come into play. Just make sure everything is routed properly and there are no obstructions

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au