Our rigging work is almost complete. The last part of our rigging work is the replacement of our furler and foils.
Our furler is 24+ years old and has been limping along for awhile. We’ve known we would need to replace it but we were hoping to do so in New Zealand (in 2 months).
We assumed we would have more resources available to us in NZ as opposed to Fiji. But, we’ve been pleasantly surprised.
What does a Furler do?
A furler is a mechanical system on a sailboat that rolls a sail around a stay or into a hollow mast or boom. Furlers allow us to safely and easily deploy, release, and stow the genoa from the cockpit. This eliminates the need to go onto the deck.
Sugar Shack has a forestay rod that has a multi purpose. Part of the furler package is 18m of foils which will go on the solid rod we use as a forestay. The leach of the genoa sail (front end) is threaded through the foils to attach it to the forestay. The foils turn which allows the sail to be deployed or furled.
The shaft on the furler has worn down over the years causing the bearing to not sit properly.
So, the furler still had a little “give” or “wobble” even though we replaced the bearing.
Ordering the Furler
Matt wanted the C430 x 18m Profurl Furler: included link plates 55mm + SS locks C430 and a threaded pin DIA 25mm (63/64).
We placed the order with Wichard Pacific in Australia on Friday morning. Both parcels arrived and cleared customs on Tuesday afternoon. Pretty darn impressive!
Removing the Old Forestay, Foils, and Furler
Sammy from Westside Rigging first loosened both of side stays. This action will release tension on the mast and forestay.
Next, Sammy removed the furler (at the bottom by the bow).
His assistant held the bottom end of the forestay where the furler is located.
Matt then sent Sammy up to the top of the mast to remove the upper portion of the forestay.
The forestay is very long – about 18 meters long.
We had 3 people in 2 different dinghies and 2 people on board.
Sammy slowly lowered the top of the forestay as I guided it past the port bow and down to the dinghy.
We slowly get the entire forestay off the boat and stretched between the two dinghies to get it to shore.
It took all of us several hours to remove the old foils (which wrap around the forestay rod).
Evidently, our NZ rigger used 5200 (heavy-duty glue) to lock in the set pins. The 5200 prevented us from removing the set pins and forced us to cut 3 of the foils in order to get them off.
We donated 6 of our 9 foils and their connectors to another cruiser.
Installing the New Furler and Foils
We received (9) 2 meters foils (18 meters long), connection brackets and our new furler.
Our forestay (headstay) is 12.7mm stainless rod measuring at 17.5 meters long. It is HUGE.
We laid the forestay out on the grass and tied off the ends to allow us to pull it straight as we worked.
First the foils go on. This can be tricky as they have to align just right to get on the rod. And on top of that they fit very snugly over the pin that at the end of the rod.
Sammy installed the connectors which connect the foils to each other.
Loctite is placed on the set pins which are used to secure the foils to the connectors.
The top portion of the furler is inserted and then it is time to work on the furler drum.
The drum is partially installed and will be completed back on the boat.
Took a bit of fiddling and maneuvering, but we installed the headstay and new furler! Yeah!
Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.
We replaced our furler toward the end of September 2025 in Vuda Marina, Fiji.
In our last blog, we share the experience of replacing our standing rigging side stays in Fiji.