Raymarine Hunter 33 Owners’ Notes page 27

Furling the Main.
It's very simple, really, if done right. But do it wrong—as frankly many charter guests
have—and you have BIG trouble. First rule, never, ever, luff the main when furling in the
sail. Keep just a little wind in the sail and hold onto the outhaul. Always keep tension on
the outhaul so you get a nice tight wrap inside the mast, not a fat sausage with wrinkles-
jams are sure to result.
Hunter sailboats reduce the chance of jams because the boom angles up. This
automatically makes the sail roll up so the bottom "hem" does not overlap onto itself
inside of the mast.
Here's how to do it:
1. Open the two line stoppers for the continuous loop.
2. Put the continuous line around the winch so the winch will pull in the line closest
to the companionway.
3. Use the winch to furl in the sail while keeping tension on the outhaul.
An alternate approach (which we prefer) is to have one crewmember go up to the mast
and use the winch there to furl in the sail. It is faster and requires way fewer turns on
the winch. Be sure to have another crewmember hold the outhaul and keep the boat
just off the wind so it furls up tight. No need to hold onto the continuous furling line.
Now, what to do if you end up jamming the mainsail? Arghh! It gets ugly. Try to re-furl
the main so you get a "do over." You may need to get a blunt instrument, like a Philips
screwdriver with tape over the end, to try to push binding fabric back into the mast,
perhaps after relieving tension on the outhaul. Once re-furled, try cranking in the sail
using the winch on the mast to roll up any slack. Fiddle away, and good luck! If the sail is
furled in too loose, you probably won't find out until you next try to furl out the sail.
Last revised: April 2019 27