Catalina 350 International Association

I have a new 350 Mark II. It sails great. Even in light winds, contrary to various reports. I am having a bit of a difficult time with the jib furling in anything but the lightest of winds. I have to get on a broad reach or even a run and block the wind to the jib with the main fully out in order to furl in the jib. I think it has to do with the way Catalina runs the jib furling into the cockpit. The 320 I sailed previously was much easier. Anyone else experience similar issues and if so, any suggestions?

OK - This is a puzzler. One thought I had was this. When you unroll the jib, do you control the tension on the furler line? If you just let it run when you unroll, it can tend to stack up in the drum in an unruly fashion, thus making furling more difficult. On our 350 (#51), we usually use the cabin top winch to furl the jib, as it IS much harder by hand. Remember, it is a lot of sail, and a fair piece larger than the 309/320.

You might also see if the furler is running free (at the dock). It could be binding, or have something stuck in the works, but I would think that would be unlikely.

Last idea. There are some folks on this site who have rerouted the line to the aft starboard corner to avoid tripping, and reduce the number of fairleads. They may have some insights.

Jon Freeman
SV Zephyr

I am able to furl the jib on my 350 by hand (without winching it) on any point of sail in light winds only. Higher wind speeds requires the boat to be on a broad reach or downwind using the main to partially block the jib or use of the winch to furl the jib on a beam or broad reach. The loading is pretty high on the jib at higher wind speeds not to mention the flogging the sail takes while being furled.

I recently re-routed my furling line down the starboard side using stanchion mounted pulleys that run the line low and on the outside of the stanchions. It terminates on the starboard stern rail with rail mounted turning block and cam cleat. I can now furl with wind in the sail. I am hoping that the write-up will appear in a future Mainsheet. I bought the blocks from Garhauer. I got the idea from Two other C350's in my area, Mallowmar and Canopus. Thanks guys.
Tim
Nora Clare 2
C350 #332