Talk to me about In Boom Furlers

freeheelbillie

freeheelbillie

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Sep 19, 2016
123
Catalina 30 Port Sanilac
I have been toying with the idea all summer, the more I spend time on the water the wife and 2.5 year old. Basically that makes me a singlehander. Anyone using one?
I put in a Strong Track to go with the PO's MackPac this past winter which is super nice and really made things easier. However, not having to leave the cockpit at all is very appealing. Of course the easy of reefing goes without saying...we are cruisers so the loss of sail shape is a reasonable trade off.
This would be for a 1992 Catalina 30 Tall Rig.

Thanks in advance.
 
Don S/V ILLusion

Don S/V ILLusion

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Sep 25, 2008
7,435
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
boom furling allows greater control than discrete reef points on a standard main and is arguably more reliable than a furling mast main. Other than that, I'm not sure what you gain if you leave the control lines outside the cockpit. I would think rearranging halyards would be the simplist solution.
 
imbrewster

imbrewster

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Apr 21, 2009
8
O'Day 37 CC Windsor Lake St Clair
A behind the mast furling system such as the CDI product work very well and relatively inexpensive especially when compared to the Schaefer boom system. A behind the mast furler is comparable to the furling system you likely already have on the front of your boat. For a cruising sailor, the little sail shape you loose is easily recouped with convenience. This will be my next upgrade on ZEA
 
smokey73

smokey73

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Oct 26, 2010
2,143
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
You already have the MackPac and the Strong track. Since the concern you may have is hauling up the main, you'll still have to do that with a boom furler unless it includes an electric winch too. Not sure what the Schaefer uses but I assume to make it really easy and to avoid having to go forward to raise it you'd need the halyard led to the cockpit and a cabin top winch if you don't already have one. Have you considered installing an electric winch in place of your manual Cabin Top winch? I just put one of the Lewmar EVO electric conversion kit on my 40.5. Lewmar has a kit to convert most of their manual winches to electric and conversion kit costs about $1500 plus or minus. I installed it myself with a little juggling and some banged up fingers. Rich put one in too although I think he bought a whole new winch. Just saying $2k versus probably $10K to $15K seems like a good thing to me. I love the electric winch, its like magic! I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. Sure, I'd like the boom furler but the sail track, StackPac and lines led after along with the electric winch is fine until I hit the lottery.
 
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Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

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Feb 10, 2004
4,136
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I think all of the boom furlers highly recommend an electric winch. I know that Schaefer all but requires one.
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,935
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I had some curiosity about the system and began asking questions of those I met with the boom furling systems. Every single one I talked to had the same complaint; from time to time on some boats, and at all times on others, the boom furling systems required a crew member standing by at the gooseneck to guide the cars smoothly onto the mast track.
Some of these boats were the big mega-yachts (which I can only assume can afford the very best equipment) and others 40 to 50 ish footer cruising boats.
I have read on various forums that some users deny this, but I do not know them, nor have I talked to them in person. Seems like the wrong system for singlehanders, even if this happens only occasionally.
 
S

Sanfelice

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Jan 21, 2009
260
Catalina 30 Lake Perry, KS
Why not run your halyard back to the starboard winch. All you need is a deck organizer, clutch and perhaps a longer halyard. A lot cheaper than a boom furler. With a strong track it should be no sweat getting the main up. I would also put a two line reefing system on the first reef point and led back to the deck organizer then to a double clutch. Simple and effective. So in order to accomplish all of this is a triple deck organizer, triple clutch and 3 blocks and enough 3/8" line.

https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=33
https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=14
https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=36
 
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D

DocLex

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Sep 14, 2015
19
Hunter 26 Cave Run Lake, KY
I've sailed a Morris 46 the past 10 years from Maine into the Caribbean. Just this year took her through the Panama Canal and on to the Galapagos where the owner and friends have now reached Australia. The boom furler is a pain. I think she is on her third mains'l as owner has allowed others to sail her for a week and they constantly get the mains'l rubbing into the mast. The pitch and yaw of the boom has to be perfect to strike the sail without the leading edge migrating into the mast. When owner and I are on board, we always have someone at boom head to sometimes pull the mains'l away from the mast, or stop the strike, raise the sail, and start down again before real damage occurs (it has an electric winch). This is not an inexpensive boat; it has all the proper rigging but all of us who have run her would never opt to have a boom furler again. Bring on the lazy jacks!
 
Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

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Feb 10, 2004
4,136
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Above complaints about feeding cars into the mast and the sail pushing into the mast are all negated by the Schaefer system. The main sail has a bolt rope that is always in a special track and the load bearing edge of the luff rides in a second track. This design was specifically done to eliminate these known problems. Check the Schaefer website to watch a video if you want more details.
 
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freeheelbillie

freeheelbillie

.
Sep 19, 2016
123
Catalina 30 Port Sanilac
Sanfelice said:
Why not run your halyard back to the starboard winch. All you need is a deck organizer, clutch and perhaps a longer halyard. A lot cheaper than a boom furler. With a strong track it should be no sweat getting the main up. I would also put a two line reefing system on the first reef point and led back to the deck organizer then to a double clutch. Simple and effective. So in order to accomplish all of this is a triple deck organizer, triple clutch and 3 blocks and enough 3/8" line.

https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=33
https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=14
https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=36
Click to expand
Interesting, do you have a photo of what this would look like?
 
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