Headsails, maintaining on a furler.

[MacGyver]

Okay, so i thought this might benefit sailors that use furlers now and in the future, and use them to essentially store the sail furled up on it through the winter/ weather time frames possibly for long periods of time without checking on them.

This evening I got called out because a headsail on a Catalina 38 was coming unfurled half way up the headstay. Some work was done by someone that isnt totally in understanding of how that system works (a co worker) as he was called firstly and then called me after it became a real mess......
It had by the looks of it became undone due to the wind and what I think would be not properly wrapping it and securing before abandoning for the winter.

This makes for a real cowboy wrangle when we get there.... I finally yelled to the other guy "Bail bail bail, we are done, let her go!" due to the nastiness of the situation. With the mast shaking violently and the wind shoving the boat so far over, I was way past my comfort zone. The wind was so hard that it almost pushed me off the 8 foot wide walkway that is our docks several times on my way back to my vehicle.

To ensure safety with things like this, at the end of the year, it is imperative that you wind that sail up tightly! tighter than you normally would. This will help to keep the upper section from coming out prematurely.
Next, you need to atleast have the sheets wrap tightly atleast 2 times! This helps to lock it all together causing it to bind on itself. The more the merrier! And when this is done, you need to pull on it the opposite direction on the furler drum in order to complete the process, further locking the whole setup so that it wont come undone.

But Mac, how can you be sure this will work? Well, over the years I have watched this practice work without failure every time.

The only ways to avoid issue it to tie the sheets to themselves in a fashion that they wont loosen for that time frame. Think about binding it up in such a fashion it cannot come loose. Also, you could take the sail off, which is what I would do myself, even if it was a hassle. To avoid situations like this is in your best interest. Sails this size arent cheap, and for that matter small sails aren't either. Someone getting hurt over a sail coming loose isnt cool either.

The size of sail out on the 38 was about a working Jib on a 19. More than enough to make a situation really scary.

Hope this is useful to someone.
Mac

[Bob23]

Good word, Mac.
   I take this a step further even when I'm putting the boat away after a sail. Because I use a genoa sock, after it's furled, I run the sheet down alongside the furled sail and tie them off to the forestay fitting. Then I tie a sail tie as far up the sail as I can reach running it down and tying that off. After the sock is raised and secured, I then tie a short line around the base of the sail and to each side of the bow rail. The sail has always remained secure, even when she was moored out in a 60 mph blow a few years ago. A very sleepless night.
   We've all seen boats wreck themselves while being moored, a sail breaks loose and the poor thing sails itself to death.
   Why people don't remove all sails and canvas for the winter is a mystery. But I see it around here, too. As my father in law used to say: "More money than brains."
Bob23