raising the mast with a roller furler

M

martyS

New Member
Hello, I have a question and I've looked all over the internet to see if there's already an answer out there and I can't find anything so I thought I'd ask the experts! :)

I have a Catalina 14.2 with a roller furler jib. I've never had a roller furler before. Do I attach the top of the roller furler to the jib halyard to pull it up when raising the mast or do I attach the top of the roller furler to the mast (clip it?) and then just raise the mast and tension the shrouds and roller furler. If I do it this second way, that would mean that the jib halyard doesn't get used at all, right?

Thank you in advance!

-Marty
 
You should have a jib pennant which is about one foot three inches long attached to the top of the roller furling jib. That pennant attaches to the main. Attach the shrouds and then raise the mast with the pennant and jib attached, attach the roller furler drum to the fitting on the bow; just as you thought. The jib halyard is not used. Once you have the mast rake and the shroud tension adjusted to your satisfaction no further adjustments should be needed. I generally leave the roller furler drum attached to the bow fitting and just attach and disconnect the jib when rigging and unrigging. More recent models use the Selden furler system (S20 ?) but I believe that earlier models used a Harken furler. Connections etc. should be similar I think.
 
Correction. Second sentence should have been "That pennant attaches to the mast."
Not sure about earlier furling systems but the current Selden rig (Mod 3 - 2016 model) does not use any stay adjusters to adjust mast rake etc. I added a jaw toggle to the furling pennant which effectively lengthened it a little over an inch or inch and a half, just enough additional length to increase the rake of the mast. My shroud adjusters have about thirteen holes in them for length adjustment and the increments were enough to tension as I wanted to. No flop in the shrouds when at the dock or in chop in lighter air and the leeward shroud sags only slightly until the winds are above about 8 or 9mph. That is a little tighter than recommended by the manual and a North Sails posting but the rigging really seems to be more stable, I am not worried about a little better downwind performance.
An updated class manual pdf can be found in some earlier threads on this site, probably as old as five or more years back. It included amendments for the addition of roller furling, newer specs for line lengths, etc, and a Quantum guide to handling sails etc. There is also a reference somewhere to a good North Sails setup guide for the 14.2. This may be a valid link to the manual https://sailingforums.com/C14_Handbook.pdf
 
Hello Kerrcat14.2K! Thank you so much for your response! That's very helpful. I don't have this pennant part that you mentioned but I think I saw that part for sale on Catalina Direct. I just bought the boat about a year ago and I assumed that the needed to attach the top of the jib to the halyard in order to raise it. But I've had some trouble with mast stability in rough conditions and now I'm thinking that could be from the halyard stretching. The way I was using it, the halyard became part of my standing rigging. I'll look to buy that pennant so that the rigging is correct. Thanks for also including the C14_Handbook link!

All you help was much appreciated!

-Marty
 
Glad the info was useful. Always be sure to give Catalina Direct your hull number when ordering "stuff" so they can match up the correct rigging etc. Usually their descriptions include info regarding which versions/models of the 14.2 changed rigging etc. My 14.2K was built to order in the summer of 2015 although it is considered a 2016 model, Mod 3. Same info applies when ordering sails etc.
 
I was able to source the pennant locally from a local sailing shop for 1/3 the price. He just put it together for me custom. You might want to try someone local out. I had a shroud fail on me and he said it was at the swag point. Check those out, and think about replacing them. Fixing a fallen mast and broken mast step isn't fun.
 
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