Tag Archives: foils

Rigging Repairs & More Damage: Part II

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We noticed a problem with our standing rigging several weeks ago (see Part I Compromised Rigging).  Unfortunately, we were several days away from the closest marina so we had to “baby” our rig until we could replace it.

Vuda Marina

Westside Rigging works out of Vuda Point Marina. Prior to now, we had never had an opportunity to stay at Vuda – always a first for everything.

Our main goal is to replace the side stays and fix the furler so we get to work right away.

Removing the Side stays

Sammy and Theo from Westside Rigging arrived at 0900 and had both side stays off within 45 minutes.  

We decided to upgrade our side stays after learning that Sammy had stronger wire in stock.  So, instead of replacing the side stays with the same 16mm 1×19 wire we went with 34 meters, 16mm dyform 1×25 stainless wire which is 30% stronger! 

In addition, we decided to replace our old turnbuckles with new Regatta R/S stainless turnbuckles. 

I was cleaning the stainless a few hours before they came and encountered a problem.  I was cleaning the port lower gate, opened it, and it fell off in my hand!  For duck’s sake!  Seriously.  The lifeline sheared off right at the pin with no sign of corrosion, rust, or degradation. 

So, Westside Rigging took the port side lower gate to repair it as well.

New, Shiny Gear

Sammy was able to swage the pin at the top of each side stay and swage the stud at the bottom earlier that morning.  He returned to the boat the next day at 10am and had the side stays and the gate installed by 11am.  Super efficient

Not sure if you can tell the difference between the old and new side stays.  The new dyform has wire that is a little flatter where as the old wire is round. 

The image in the lower left corner shows the difference between the two wires as well.

The Furler ‘s Dead

Our ProFurl (NC43LCE) is original to the boat, 2001.  It has lasted a long time!  We thought we could replace the bearings and continue using it for a few more years.  

However, after the near bearings were installed the furler still had wiggle room.  It works, but the bearings will just wear out again with the extra wiggle room.

So, what does that mean?  We have to buy a new furler and while we are at it we will purchase new foils to go on the forestay rod.  Bleeding money here.

Westside rigging did not have this in stock so he connected us with Wichard Pacific in Australia.  We decided to order a Profurl C430 x 18mm furler along with link plates (55mm+ SS Locks C430) and Threaded pin DIA 25mm (63/64). 

The parcels arrived from Australia in less than 1 week.

Stay tuned for Part II: Replacing the Furler

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Vuda replacing the side stays at the end of August 2025.

Don’t miss out on our blog post “Vatulele: Curiously delightful“

Fine Tuning the Rig

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Last season (2023) we purchased brand new North 3Di sails Tour Ultra X Sails.  However, we were having a few issues with our Genoa so we we had Roger at North Whangarei do an inspection and repair. During this repair we noticed some marks on the luff of the Genoa which indicates there might be a problem with our forestay, part of our standing rig.

See “Back in the Boatyard” for the reason why we had North do an inspection on the Genoa.  During the inspection, Roger pointed out several areas of concern.  There are black marks on the luff which indicate a potential problem with the forestay.

So, we contact Matthew at Whangarei Spars and Rigging and ask him to come inspect our rig, forestay, and furler. (For convenience, I refer to Matthew at Spars Rigging as Matthew and my Matt as Matt).

First, Matt ties our two spin halyards to each bow to secure the mast.  Then Matthew uses a ginormous 24″ wrench to loosen our side stays which will allow us to remove the forestay. Then Matthew removes the furler and secures it to the bow so it doesn’t flap around.

We send Matthew up the mast to loosen the top of the forestay.

Matt slowly releases the halyard holding the top of the forestay as I direct it away from the boat and Matthew gently places it on the grass.  It is really long at 16-17m and surprisingly heavy.

Disassembly and Evaluation

We have 9 foils, 8 joiners, and 12mm rod making up the forestay which holds our Genoa sail (or jib) and tensions the front of the mast.  A joiner is used when two foils meet and each joiner has 4 tiny screws.

Some of the screws are stripped and the men have to use a heat gun to loosen them enough for removal.  At each junction of the foils are joiners which are part aluminum and plastic.  Four of our joiners will need to be replaced as they are worn out.

While we had everything down and easily accessible, I take the opportunity to clean the stainless, remaining foils, and 12mm rod.

Repairs

Matthew replaces two of the foils and 4 joiners.  He also replaced the bearing in the furler.  Putting the forestay back together took both Matt and Matthew several hours.  You have to line up the foil just right to get it on the rod, then the screw holes of the foil have to align with the screw holes of the joiners.  

Matthew uses 4000UV glue to ensure the older joiners do not slip or move. He is able to just tighten the new joiners so that they won’t move.  Each screw has loctite applied before being inserted (this will prevent them from shaking out).

The top bearing was fine and did not need to be replaced.  The bottom bear was replaced.

Installing the Rig

Once the forestay was back together, they tested it to make sure the sail could be raised and lowered smoothly.   Everything  worked well!  Next, we slowly raise the forestay to the top of the mast and fit it back to the boat.  It took a lot of effort to get it set.  We even had to use a dynema line and ratchet attached to Matthew’s truck to pull it down and tension it.  

After it was all set, Matthew tensioned the side stays.  I asked him about a rigging survey and he said our rig is in really good condition. Despite it being 8 years old.  Plus we have 4 rods which don’t show wear unless there is a broken strand and we certainly don’t have any of those!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  The events from this blog post occurred at Norsand Boatyard in early May.  Did you read about the Boatyard Projects we did before leave?