Jib Furler Question and trip report

[Patrick Nelson]

My jib is unravelling at the head while furled. I've got a furler on the bottom (obviously) and a swivel up top. Have I misunderstood the nature of furlers? It seems obvious to me now that a swivel at the top would allow it to unwind at the top, when I think about it. The head of my jib also leaves a little pooch out that catches the wind and furthers the problem of unwinding. I tried tightening the jib halyard, but that may have made it worse. Not sure.  What if I replaced the top swivel with just a bit of dyneema that will just twist but not unwind like a swivel? Any thoughts?

Trip report Short version: Boat work. Man tired.

Long version. Went on a jaunt as sort of an Everglades Challenge practice. Three nights. There was only four hours of no wind, which was awesome. Many small craft advisories. Thursday I launched Lord Plastic from Mayo Beach and had a graceful beam reach to Kent point. An inattentive power boater tried to run me over coming out of West River. Then I turned upwind behind Poplar island where another powerboat tried to kill me. We had some words and I told him my name was John Baker and all he had to do was name the time and the place. Then it was more upwind to south of Choptank to spend the night. It was a hot night and I didn't set up my mosquito net properly. 

Day two It was a broad reach around Taylors island and then I just sailed dead downwind riding the waves to Opossum island at which point I thought I should turn around. I know Cats aren't supposed to sail dead downwind but it was the fastest VMG to the island so what can you do. Then it was upwind staying close to the shore battling the building waves back around Taylor's island where I botched a tack when I got stuffed by a wave in front of the entire campground but saved some face with an emergency gybe to avoid crashing into the rocks. Then it was more upwind getting trashed in growing waves around the point until I got into the calm waters of Little Choptank after dark where I spent the night on the north side. 

Day three I got up early and the forecast showed my best chance to get across the bay was right then and there because it was going to die in the midday and then start cranking through the following day. It was a beam reach and I was moving real well. The waves started getting bigger and bigger and I stuffed into the back of a few, but it was all good. At some points I wasn't sure it was going to be all good, but the Wave is underpowered and sturdy so I made it through. There are times I love that underpower. At the time I thought, "Next time I want to sail on the Eastern shore I'll just trailer." After some time and reflection I still think a trailer sounds nice. I reached the western shore south of Chesapeake Beach and made my way north. The wind died south of Herring Bay so I rowed a couple hours to cross it. Then I cheated and motored up to Shady side where the wind was good. I popped into West River and anchored in Cheston creek in the Smithsonian, the one with the grounded sailboat. My anchor was slowly dragging through the nigh so that was annoying with my anchor alarm going off, I had plenty of line out. Finally I rested in a protected nook just downwind of a deer carcass which smelled awesome. I heard some small animals meet their end in the night. 

Day four. Woke up and sailed home to take a shower. The tide was higher than I thought so I hopped off my boat too soon and got dunked twenty feet from the beach.     

Rough course outline.

[Patrick Stadt]

Wow!  Great write up, quite the adventure.  Sorry, I don’t have a solution for your jib roller reef.   Sounds like maybe your jib sheet tension while rolling up is from too high an angle maybe?

Pat

On Sep 20, 2026, at 20:24, Patrick Nelson <patrick...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jahn Tihansky]

That's awesome, Patrick!  Sounds like you did some legit practice..

As for the jib furling issue. You need to make sure the furling direction is synced with the twist of the jib luff wire.  It should roll the jib in the rotational direction that tightens the wire twist.  If that is not the case, you might need to go with a larger diameter wire..

JT 

Jahn Shaffer Tihansky

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[Patrick Nelson]

Ahh yes, twist of the jib luff wire. I’ll check on that. Thanks. 

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[cboltonh20]

I never had that issue on the Hobie 20. The rig was tight enough that sometimes I had to go downwind to furl, but any main sheet tension and the forestay would tighten enough to “lock” the swivel.

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[Patricia Gao]

Your trip report sounds like an amazing adventure! Thanks for sharing your experience. I especially loved the description of the two motorboat killers and the mention of John Baker. I hope to see him sailing tomorrow, still in one piece 😉

Peiqing 

On Sep 21, 2026, at 8:41 AM, Patrick Nelson <patrick...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Kapn Keith]

If the problem is that the jib is coming unfurled after it has furled, then obviously maybe furling an extra couple of wraps to keep it together.

But I suspect the issue is really that the furling itself is leaving the top not completely furled.  Jahn's suggestion is absolute key with structural wire furlers.  At issue is the function of the top swivel - obviously make sure it is in good repair, and tightening the jib halyard or the forestay will likely cause the swivel to stick/bind a bit.  Make sure tension is off the forestay when you furl - if you're running a tight rig consider loosening it a bit.  Also, make sure you are not sheeted in on the main - that will add tension to the forestay and also cause the swivel to bind.

K

[Patrick Nelson]

Fixed it. Thanks for the help. Yes, I was furling the wrong direction compared to wire. There was also another mistake I will not admit to in this public forum...

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[john baker]

what was the second mistake?

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[Patrick Stadt]

Yeah, we’re all friends here….nobody will ridicule you…..

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[Patrick Nelson]

....I wasn't singing the Moana song loud enough over the powerboats when I was doing it.

For real, though, I wasn't cleating the jib sheet.

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[Jeff LoSapio]

I have the same issue on another boat I own and I’m really interested in what other mistake there was because my furling has the same issues. 

Really happy to hear about the cable thing cause I never knew that before

On Sep 22, 2026, at 10:26 AM, 'Patrick Stadt' via West River Catamaran Racing Association <WR...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Yeah, we’re all friends here….nobody will ridicule you…..

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