Dany was spot on when he suggested that the reason my ballooner would not lock into the swivel was because the locking tongue in the inner part of the swivel had worn away allowing the mouse trap to rotate to any old position. I believe the reason this happened was because the plastic ball bearings that the inner swivel rotates on had worn first, causing the locking tongue to move out of the fore-stay groove and hence break or wear off the tip.

I have obtained a new tongue (€15 + tax) and new ball bearings (24 cents each) from Amel. However, I need guidance on how to replace the balls. Annesofie said there was a file in the files section on how to do this in the files section, but I cannot find it. Can anyone who has it please forward it to crusader53 (AT) gmail.com. Thank you.

Can I replace the balls by dropping the furler and motor off the foil to  deck level without disconnecting the fore-stay?

Is the way into the ball race by removing the plastic insert? If so, how is the insert safely removed without breaking it?

Any tips would be most welcome.

Ian Shepherd SM2K Crusader (2003) Cyprus