How To Fit A Dinghy Furler System For Furling Jib

At Boat Fittings we sell a number or jib furling systems for dinghies.  This guide is based around the Holt / Nautos HT91193 furling system, but the general installation pricipals can be applied to similar sized dinghy furlers.

The Nautos dinghy furler is a system for furling fore-sail for dinghies and small catamarans.  It is specified as suitable for dinghies of up to 16 ft length.  The dinghy furler can be fitted in one of two ways, the first way is where the sail will replace the forestay so it remains in the boat furled when not in use.  The second way is that the existing forestay is kept as-is and an addition attachment point is created for the furling system.

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Each of these methods of installing the furler have their own requirements so please consider carefully which method is best suited for your boat.

Method 1: With a non-permanent fore-stay

With method 1 the sail replaces the fore-stay so it remains in the boat, furled, when not in use.

  • The sail must have 3mm (1/8”) wire sewn into the luff (forward edge) with thimbles in the tack (bottom front) and head (top front)
  • The furling drum is attached to the bow where the fore-stay used to attach, using the lower clevis pin provided (it may be necessary to use an additional shackle)
  • The upper end of the luff line is attached, via a swivel fitting, to the mast where the fore-stay used to attach

If you are at all uncomfortable with the idea of 'disrupting' your dinghy's fore-stay, it might be that method 2 (below) is the best choice for you.

Method 2: With a separate permanent fore-stay

The jib requires a fixed wire luff and two attachement points at the bow, one for the forestay and one for the furling drum, separated enough so that they do not touch. The fixing point can be a pad eye or U-bolt or similar.

We would suggest that which ever fixing point is chosen, that it is bolted through the fore-deck with suitable reinforcing / spreader plate on the underside.

Attach the furling drum to the attachment point and then secure the jib tack to the top attachment of the furling drum.

Attach the head of the sail into the top swivel fork, and then secure the halyard to the top swivel with a shackle. Hoist the sail and tension the luff.

At a point a short distance (typically 30cm) rearwards of the furling drum, attach a low-friction guide (deck eye, fairlead, pulley block or similar) to guide the furler drum line smoothly into the furling drum.

The furling line should be 3mm in diameter, for example our 3mm braided dinghy line.

3mm dinghly line

This should be fed through the hole inside of the furling drum, and tied off using a stopper knot. The line is then fed through the guide point and back toward the cockpit. It may be advantageous to add additional guide points along the deck to give the furler line a smooth run, and keep it out of the way of any other lines or fittings for smooth operation.

Use one of our cam-cleats, or similar, to provide a means of securing the furling line in place once the sail is furled.

Wire Rope & Fittings, And Our Swaging Service

If you require a suitable stainless steel wire rope, and associated fittings for incoporating into the luff of your jib you can find a range of wire rope and fittings here.

We also provide a custom wire rope swaging service, whereby we can hydraulically swage fittings onto the end of a wire rope, to suit your exact needs. 

 

custom wire rope building service

You can configure and buy these directly from our website here, or by all means do give us a call to discuss your needs.