Thanks but I've tried all that ... it seems like the spindle is bowing out. Someone else suggested the main itself might have stretched out of shape but the problem seems to have come up very quickly.

Thanks Glenn... but if anything, my boom seems to be slightly angled up. I tried easing the vang but then it went way up so I brought it back down. I do have to check to see if its perpendicular to the mast, but the confusing factor is that this never happened before and I have not taken the boom off or the mast down.

Since no one has responded, am I correct to assume no one greases their bearings? I'm about to try to call Z-Spar/Charlston Spar/US Spars Inc. to see if I can get some direction.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've tried all the "adjustment " type solutions (tight furling, moving the boom out, etc) with no luck. I'll take a look at the furling line in the next few days.

FYI, the info in the material provided when the boat was new says to grease the bearings using a grease gun and NOT to use a spray lubricant. Their on-line manual now says to use detergent on the gear and then WD 40, which I tried last night but didn't have time to try unfurling the sucker. I called Z-Spar and all you get is voice mail. I sent them an email and have yet to get a response.

Since I started this thread, I wanted to wrap it up and let anyone else who might have a similar problem know what I found out. The following info comes from Rick at the US Spars rigging shop and he was very helpful.

First, thanks to those who suggested different adjustments to the rigging as all the pieces add to the problem, however, my problem was the outhaul boom car. These furling rigs have bearings in two places…the furling unit itself & the boom car. My car bearings seem to have worn out so, if anyone else is having similar problem, see if the car starts to move aft when you begin to pull on the outhaul….. if it doesn’t, even if the car slides easily with hand pressure and no tension, its time to start thinking about replacing the bearings or the car.

Now the interesting part that took about three calls to US Spars, two calls to Catalina and a call to Garhauer to figure out. The docs that came with the boat refer to US Spars and Z-Spars. Rick suggested the car problem and sent me a replacement ($235 + shipping) but it turns out that (at least some of us) have boom tracks and cars that are made by Garhaur….US Spars cars wont fit and they don’t use “T” Track. If your track is 1 ¼” T track, it’s a Garhaur rig ($65 + shipping).

In the course of discussing this problem with Rick, here are additional points of interest that came out:

1. Mast bend – None… you want the mast as straight as possible.

2. Main tension – too much tension is as bad as too little. The manual (which can be downloaded at [url]www.usspars.com[/url]) calls for “moderate” tension. Rick said, with the main out, if you see a wavy look when looking up the sail its too much tension; too little and you’ll see lines perpendicular to the mast in the sail.

3. Main furling – you want equal tension on the foot and leach.

4. Main furling unit – the manual calls for flushing with water and detergent, then lubricating with WD 40 (this contradicts the original material provided with the mast (2002) which said NOT to use a spray lubricant). I questioned others in our harbor with the same Z Spar and have yet to find anyone who has done anything about lubricating this piece.

5. Main furling unit bearings – according to Rick, the bearings in the unit should last 8-10 years. If you have bearings older than that, they recommend sending the unit in for “servicing”, though how you’d get it out is beyond me. A good way to check your bearings is to try to turn the furling unit by hand when the sail is down.. if it spins freely, the bearings are OK…if not, its time for a servicing.

Hope this proves helpful to someone