Hello, I just returned from a trip to Rehoboth Bay, Deleware this weekend, and had a few questions about the performance of the boat and parts......Today, the wind was about 15-20mph, gusting maybe over 25 and I experienced a few problems with my 16.......

First of all, I found it EXTREMELY challenging to furl/unfurl my roller jib in the heavier winds and was wondering if there was any special technique to this is in high winds? I found after about 6 tries that it was not possible to furl the jib while in irons because the furling hardware attached to the mast tang was not rotating. How can this be fixed? Or should I just trash the roller furler and switch back to the original, class-legal rig?

Also, after sailing around the bay for about an hour or so, I beached up on the shore to grab some breakfast, and realized that somehow the circular clevis pin which attaches to and holds up the shroud came off and only the pin part was attached to it, with nothing preventing it from popping out, and the mast to come crashing down. It was after some speculation that I decided that all of my stupid litlle pins had to be replaced with someting easier to use. My question is if anyone uses or knows of an easier type of pin to use? I am fed up with these pins because I have lost about 8 of them in two sailing trips alone.

My third problem that I experienced was that (fortunately for me) a member of the club noticed that my rudder cams were not installed properly and had my spin them foreward so that the rudders would finally lock. Even after "fixing" them, I still had the rudders popping up randomly through all the chop and wind. Now, had these cams been old and worn away, I know the solution would just be to replace them with new ones, but the problem is that I replaced the cams 2 days ago because of this problem. Now, after going out in this heavier wind, I am begining to think that maybe the problem isn't the cams, but instead the fact that the tillers have been scraping away at the gudeon and wearing it down since 1979. I took a look at the gudeon after my trip and they did look extremely filed down and chewed up. Could this be my problem or am I doing something wrong with my rudder cams?

Thanks in advance for all of your help,
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Up in my neck of the woods we call those split rings "Jesus" rings because that is what you say when you drop it in the water. Most sailors "religiously" tape the rings to prevent them from being snagging. After dismasting a couple of years ago because of this sort of pin failure I decided to replace the split ring setup with screw type shackles. Use a wrench to screw them up tight and worry no more.

To furl the jib in heavier winds, you need to sail downwind. But it should unfurl fine when you are going upwind.

On the problem with the rudders popping up, there should be an adjustment for that. There are spring loaded plastic pieces that go into the notches in the rudder cams to hold them in the locked position. There are Allen screws that hold the springs and they can be tightened to increase the force on the plastic pieces. Look up from under the rudder castings.

On my boat, an '85, the rudders can also be raked by another adjustment but you then have to adjust the position of the locks to take the play out of the rudders. Look for bolt heads in the slot on the top of the tiller arms. If you don't have the adjustment, there won't be a slot. You may have excessive wear or play in that adjustment which would affect the pop up of the rudders. With the rudders locked down, you loosen the bolt and slide the locks forward in the slot to take out the play in the rudders, then retighten.

Howard