roll On/around the boom mainsail furling of 1960's

[D.L.Bland]

I am wondering if anyone still exists who uses the once popular system of rolling down a incremental reef in the mainsail using a gear reduction hand crank built into the gooseneck of the boom itself. It works fine, for reefing, I am hoping to find anyone who knows more about this system than i?? Hal Roth had it, liked it, but he aint taking any questions these days, eh?
my e-mail is dlblandjr@gmail.com if anyone would be good enough to share their knowlege and wisdom with me, many hearty thanks, in advance, eh?

 

[Benny17441]

Oh I'm sure many are. There are still people using galley foot pumps, pressurized alcohol stoves and candles to light the cabin. You could not find a more retro group anywhere else than among sailors.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Look into the F-27 tri-maran's, I know 2 owners of them and they both have it.

 

[rgranger]

Oh I'm sure many are. There are still people using galley foot pumps, pressurized alcohol stoves and candles to light the cabin. You could not find a more retro group anywhere else than among sailors.

Galley Foot Pumps... (CHECK)
Alcohol Stove .... (CHECK)
Candles (citronellla).... (CHECK)

And two boats ago, I had a boom furler on my Mac 22. It was not a gear thing, you had to do it by hand. There was a pin on the goose neck that you could take out and the boom would roll around a shaft. It was very good when your goal was to let out a reef, but it was nearly impossible to set a reef with the sail flogging. So I also had slab reefing on that boat for when I needed to set a reef. It is probably better to think of it as roller furling but not roller reefing. What I often did was leave the harbor with a reef set using the roller boom... and then I could quickly let it out once I got a sense of the conditions. Very smooth and easy to do single handed...But as the day went on, if I needed to reef, I used slab reefing.

Here is a pic of that set up. It has some nice advantages, especially when you were putting the boat up. I liked the clean way the sail could be rolled up and stowed on the boom.

r

 

[D.L.Bland]

Oh I'm sure many are. There are still people using galley foot pumps, pressurized alcohol stoves and candles to light the cabin. You could not find a more retro group anywhere else than among sailors.

Many hearty thanks skipper Benny

 

[D.L.Bland]

Galley Foot Pumps... (CHECK)
Alcohol Stove .... (CHECK)
Candles (citronellla).... (CHECK)

And two boats ago, I had a boom furler on my Mac 22. It was not a gear thing, you had to do it by hand. There was a pin on the goose neck that you could take out and the boom would roll around a shaft. It was very good when your goal was to let out a reef, but it was nearly impossible to set a reef with the sail flogging. So I also had slab reefing on that boat for when I needed to set a reef. It is probably better to think of it as roller furling but not roller reefing. What I often did was leave the harbor with a reef set using the roller boom... and then I could quickly let it out once I got a sense of the conditions. Very smooth and easy to do single handed...But as the day went on, if I needed to reef, I used slab reefing.

Here is a pic of that set up. It has some nice advantages, especially when you were putting the boat up. I liked the clean way the sail could be rolled up and stowed on the boom. View attachment 134996 View attachment 134995

r

Thank you so much ! those photos are excellent! Yep, I also have alcohol cooker & heater , oil lamps, foot pump, and all my jibs/yankee spitfire etc. are hank on for really nice sail shape , and the 2 larger ones the genoa & lapper, have reefing kringles in them; plus manually hoist n stow my 44# bruce on 300 ft of rode. Sailing is a real sport! I like to do all the "exercise" helps an ol codger like me stay alive n hearty .

 

[rgranger]

No thanks necessary.

 

[TomY]

I am wondering if anyone still exists who uses the once popular system of rolling down a incremental reef in the mainsail using a gear reduction hand crank built into the gooseneck of the boom itself. It works fine, for reefing, I am hoping to find anyone who knows more about this system than i?? Hal Roth had it, liked it, but he aint taking any questions these days, eh?
my e-mail is dlblandjr@gmail.com if anyone would be good enough to share their knowlege and wisdom with me, many hearty thanks, in advance, eh?

I used a the old style roller boom up until a few years ago. When the main needed replacing, I switched back to slab reefing (which I'm more familiar with).

The biggest downside to it was the time it took to roll in reefs. But the system was sure, well designed, and if the main is cut for it, I could get a nice flat reef at almost any size. If you have one and the main is decent, use it, I would. Here's a shot of the reefed main from just a few years ago.

 

[rgranger]

Fantastic photo...

 

[D.L.Bland]

Great picture, many hearty thanks Tom

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Galley foot pump- yep
Pressure Kerosene stove?Yep
Hank on jibs-yep
Wooden mast and boom? yep -mast is original from 1961, I built the boom

The stove is a true antique or so the folks in England tell me, mounted in a modified SeaCook stove

 

[capta]

I sailed from Pago Pago to the Virgin Islands via the Red Sea with that sort of reefing, and I LOVED it.
I had one advantage that made it especially great: the mast was in the cockpit and the wheel was on the mast. So I could reef/unreef the main without going on deck, right from the helm. Of course, since this was before jib roller furlers, we had to go forward when we wanted to drop the Yankee and raise the genoa or vice versa. Go figure.
Some have commented that it made for a pretty terrible sail shape, when this topic has come up before on a forum, but I figured that in the conditions when I needed to reef significantly, no sail was going to be on the razor's edge, performance wise.

 

[capta]

Galley foot pump- yep
Pressure Kerosene stove?Yep
Hank on jibs-yep
Wooden mast and boom? yep -mast is original from 1961, I built the boom

The stove is a true antique or so the folks in England tell me, mounted in a modified SeaCook stove

View attachment 135038

I have an old sea swing stove that's made out of solid brass! That thing weighs a TON.

 

[capta]

manually hoist n stow my 44# bruce on 300 ft of rode.

I assume you also carry a very sharp knife so you can cut that rode when conditions won't allow you the time to "manually hoist n stow my 44# bruce".
I don't have an expensive electric windlass because I'm lazy, I have it because it pulls 1500#s at 60 feet a minute. When the bow's pitching 8 to 10 feet with every wave, I'd like to get out of there in a hurry, WITH my ground tackle.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

For a 26, look at Dwyer masts and US spars to see if they offer that. Not sure about the others as many mast manufacturers of years ago are long gone. Ask For Bob at Dwyer and explain what you are looking for

 

[D.L.Bland]

I sailed from Pago Pago to the Virgin Islands via the Red Sea with that sort of reefing, and I LOVED it.
I had one advantage that made it especially great: the mast was in the cockpit and the wheel was on the mast. So I could reef/unreef the main without going on deck, right from the helm. Of course, since this was before jib roller furlers, we had to go forward when we wanted to drop the Yankee and raise the genoa or vice versa. Go figure.
Some have commented that it made for a pretty terrible sail shape, when this topic has come up before on a forum, but I figured that in the conditions when I needed to reef significantly, no sail was going to be on the razor's edge, performance wise.

Well many very hearty thanks to you Capta, That is real blue water experience, ! I value your reply greatly, y'know ol' Hal Roth said similar things about his similar system. Thanks for your time to reply mate !

 

[D.L.Bland]

I assume you also carry a very sharp knife so you can cut that rode when conditions won't allow you the time to "manually hoist n stow my 44# bruce".
I don't have an expensive electric windlass because I'm lazy, I have it because it pulls 1500#s at 60 feet a minute. When the bow's pitching 8 to 10 feet with every wave, I'd like to get out of there in a hurry, WITH my ground tackle.

Well, you do have a very valid point there brother! I have been in luck I suppose. the big ol bruce has always broken loose whilst sailing forward onto it, (so far) but you posit a valid thought; I'm not getting any younger ! thanks !!!

 

[D.L.Bland]

For a 26, look at Dwyer masts and US spars to see if they offer that. Not sure about the others as many mast manufacturers of years ago are long gone. Ask For Bob at Dwyer and explain what you are looking for

Thanks Dave, I'll look up Dwyer mast straight away , many thanks!

 

[D.L.Bland]

Thanks Dave, I'll look up Dwyer mast straight away , many thanks!

US Spars is part of z-spar of France? My bride an I were over there sailing some 30 yrs back, "them french really get into thier sailin !" In fact we bought our Navik there , that summer ! it still works ! An man did we have great comradrie all the french ports we visited then we spent the autonio in Espana y las Canarias isles. (Opps, fall months)

 

[D.L.Bland]

way different boat, 43' steel hull ketch.