Am thinking about installing one. Would make it easier to sail singlehanded.
Whoever has one, what kind do you have and what is your experience with it?
Doing this and then leading the main halyard into the cockpit seems like a good thing.
Am thinking about installing one. Would make it easier to sail singlehanded.
Whoever has one, what kind do you have and what is your experience with it?
Doing this and then leading the main halyard into the cockpit seems like a good thing.
Take a look at ProFurl , I'm leaning real hard in that direction myself. I have heard nothing but good from several sailmakers and riggers in regards to ProFurl.
I have a Harken Unit 0. It works great. But, its about 20% more expensive than the ProFurl.
You would probably be better off using the money as a downpayment on a proper new genoa with a foam luff pad.
Lady J goes in the water this weekend with a Cruising Design "reefer" system. This is an older model, now discontinued. They do have a newer "Flexible Furler" model, that one of the members here uses. I have yet to use mine (or any furling system).
The system seems almost too simple. I wrap a line around the furler mechanism with the genny out. To reef, I pull on the furling line while maintaining tension on the sheet, and the genny rolls around the extrusion along the headstay. I do the reverse to unfurl the headsail.
Am I missing something? I keep thinking that when I get out on the water, I'll be wrapped up in headsail and furling line while the tide pulls me out to the Sound.
I have no experience with any of these systems.
It was my initial impression that one can let out as little or as much sail as needed. But then someone told me you can only have it all the way out or all the way in. Which is it? Can it be furled out a little and used as a storm jib?
What's the purpose of a foam luff pad?
This site gave me some great info on roller furling. And it's an Alberg dedicated site, too!
http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm
Thanks for the site...
Found my West Marine catalog, it also has good information on these systems.
There is roller furling and roller furling/reefing , all units are now built for both . The purpose of the foam pad is to flatten the sail as it is reefed ( rolled in ) . I would not buy just a roller reefing system as you must still change sails is the wind builds to high .
Not being the sailor I wish I was, I'm confused here. The whole point for me is to make the jib smaller when the wind gets up. What's that: reefing or furling? When it's all wound up it's furled, right? So when there's still some wee bit triangle left, it's reefed. If that's not correct it is no wonder I'm not sailing.
338 had a Harken furler that worked just fine and forgave my whambam-thankyou-mam attempts at sailing into the wind. I thought it was great. It must have been a reefer-furler. What would anyone need just a furler for?
Later when I had the gear removed, I noticed the stem fitting hole was elongated. Toward the top. About a quarter of an inch of metal left. I thought it was due to the heavier loads on the fitting. But it's possible the damn fool who attached it rat-tailed the hole to accept the tight shallow strapshackle clevis pin. 5/8" from the bottom of the drum to the center of the pin!! The older I get the more I go round shaking my head.
There is another entirely different furler that looks simple and elegant and offshore. It's by SPIN-TEC. furlers@spin-tec.com
Any chat on it is hard to find. You might try www.sailboatowners,com to see how genuine you think their comments are on this furler. I'm not persuaded, EXCEPT by the concept. Practical Sailor hasn't graded them yet.
Last edited by ebb; 09-06-2002 at 10:36 PM.
Furlers are just a vertical sail bag that are easy to stuff , reefers are made from wacky tobacky ( wrong list ) reefers are made to take the varying loads and sails are specially cut for them with marks showing the reef points .
2 Ariels with equal crews , 1 with furling and 1 with reefing ,sailing with 180% gennys , turn to weather and roll in the sail to 100% jib size . The one with reefing /furling will sail higher and faster and not damage the sail or gear . I know some folks with roller furling and 10 bags of sails below , they sail with a double luff groove headstay so sail can be changed without being bareheaded and they just rool up the last one at the end of the day .
I installed a CDI furler 2 years ago(with the roller bearing option) and have had no problems with it. It was relatively inexpensive, fairly easy to install by myself and one friend, simple to operate, andhas worked well.
OK MIke, maybe I'm getting the concept. When I look at a "furler" how do I know which one I'm looking at?
The Harken on 338 had two grooves and to my knowledge the other groove never had a sail hoisted on it. It was used to make the sail that lived on it smaller when the wind got too heavy. I could tell the sail belonged there because it had a sunbrella protective edge.
If I went to a boat show what do I look for the tells me what the system is? But I think you said all units do both(?)
Have you looked at the Spin-tec? I complained to them via email that they didn't say what their furler actually does. They sell it as a no maintenance "for serious offshore work" rig. Yet they did say the sail shape would suffer when used for reefing. But that's every furling systems problem. Is that not so?
338 has to have a cruising what-ever-it's-called reefer/furler. I would like it to be for serious offshore work AND no maintenance too. How does the Pro-Furl stack up to the competition? Is it a cruiser system, does the foresail stay 'permanently' on the stay?
338 has no crew. The captain never leaves the cockpit.
Just got 338's beautyful new ROBUST stem fitting back from Bristol (resculpted using the original one.) Going down this moring to see how much it shrank.
Thanks. It's really the difference between orange soda and a great ale!! If I'm out in the middle of NOWHERE which one would I reach for? Or reach with? mucho confusedo
Last edited by ebb; 09-07-2002 at 07:08 AM.
That's my goal also, If I can help it, I don't want to have to leave the cokpit to change/pull up my sails,
If I am understanding all this info...what I want is a furler reefer, and in very strong winds, all I have to do is take it in to the appropriate reef pont. correct?
Furlers have been around since the 30's and probably before that. As I understand it, Ted Hood -- of Hood sails -- may have been the first to figure out how to get the headsails to roll evenly and "reliably" onto a foil (the slotted tube that holds the sail). He was the one who added a swivel to the top of the unit.
Our Ariels have had a similar system on them from the beginning -- on the mainsail. Although the roller reefing on our booms was never intended to roll up the whole sail, the sail "furls" around the boom like a flag furled around a flagpole. Mainsail roller-booms work, but it's difficult to get them to roll evenly, so the sail shape is poor and most of us have gone to slab reefing our mains.
Early headsail furlers had the same problems: awkward, unreliable, and crummy sail shape.
Design changes and new materials have made huge improvements in headsail furlers -- to the point that they are reliable, almost maintenance free, and can be used to reef in about 30% of the sail while maintaining acceptable shape (if there is some material in the center of the luff to flatten the sail). Off the wind, sail shape doesn't matter as much.
I have always prefered hanked on sails, but my wife has always prefered to keep people off the deck when the wind is blowing hard and seas are up -- she's never liked to have either of us on the foredeck herding a flapping genoa in heavy conditions. So, I relented and got roller furling.
I made a 130 genoa with a high clew, put it on the furler, and it really is slick. I'm going to add a heavy working jib that will reef to a storm jib for the furler, and a big nylon drifter to hank on to the bow roller, and that'll be it.
But remember, as Mike said, when I want to change sails -- I'll still have to go forward, and it will be a lot harder to do compared to hanked on sails. So, I'll try to choose sails before I go out. Fact is, the furler makes sail handling very easy, quiet and without much anxiety -- all from the cockpit.
It's all trade offs...and I've gone over to the other side. I'll keep the furling/reefing system.
--Dave
I like the Pro-furl because it does not change the existing rig at all , if it breaks you could pull it down and pitch it over the side, if you were so inclined , hank on a sail & keep going .
I had problems with 2 Hood units on other boats and wouldn't buy one at any price over $10 , I do like Hood sails , got a Hood main .
I work closely with some riggers and sailmakers and all of them say they dont know if Pro-Furl is any good because they have never had to repair or replace one they installed , they could be crap but they wont break so we can find out . Also that is what all of them use on their own boats .
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