[quote=dennisMe]I put a roller furling kit from an F-18 on my 5.2. I LOVE it, it saved my "arsch" last year when I was over powered in strong winds and had to beat dead to windward in a narrow rocky channel. Would not have made it without stowing the jib or the main otherwise. That is darned hard to do when the slightest false move on the tramp already starts to flip the boat...
I got a new forestay, it was due anyway. First I mounted the pigtail and swivel then connected the jib luff and raised it, tightened it and measured the resulting excess on the original forestay. Then I had one made to the right length (allow for variation in mast rake!) In other words aim for the center hole in the chainplate on the rotator drum. That way I knew it HAD to fit. And it does.
Re center bar: Just lose it! Do as erice says, you won't be sorry. The bracket you speak of may be the center bar's rear mounting bracket. You can't just throw it away because the mainsheet swivel and cleat also attach to it. I left mine original but plan on removing the part that used to go inside the center bar. I've only bruised my knees badly on that a couple of times though, so there's no big rush... OR the beam straps on the forward (main) beam. I put 4mm monel rivets in at roughly the "2 o'clock" and "ten o'clock" positions. After a season including some very hard sailing, salt water and zero maintenance to those specific areas it all still looks great.
Dennis[/quote]
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