Furling Genoa - ownres manual says 'not designed for reefing'

Jun 14, 2020
26
O'day 222 Moored at a lakelot
Finally got a copy of the owners manual for an o'day 222. It says that the furling system for the Genoa is not designed to be used for reefing. It doesn't say why not.

Does anyone know why? Or if it's not actually an issue? If not, is it as simple as getting a different drum? I would think being able to reef a Genoa would be a pretty common need...

Thanks in advance!
 
Jun 2, 2004
1,923
Oday Day Sailer Wareham, MA
The original Roller-Furler used on the 222 was a Schaefer Model 100, a "Wire-luff style" furler, meaning that the jib furls around the luff-wire sewn into the luff (leading edge) of the jib, instead of a more modern style furler which uses a grooved extrusion slid over the forestay to support the jib luff. (The Schaefer 100 was also designed for a much smaller jib than the one on the 222, I think O'DAY later switched to a larger size wire-luff furler, but that would still have the disadvantages of that type furler) On those newer style furlers that have the extrusion over the forestay the extrusion is supported by the forestay inside and when furling, the whole extrusion rotates, and is rigid enough that the whole luff of the jib is rolled up fairly evenly bottom to top (Tack to head), this allows the furler to somewhat roller-reef the jib, not perfectly..... but good enough to at least allow sail to still function while partly furled (too baggy for close-hauled sailing, but certainly good enough for reaching). Your sailmaker can add a foam pad along the luff that will help to flatten the "belly" out of the partly furled/reefed jib, making the "reefed" jib more useable for upwind work while reefed.
The Wire-Luff style furlers were designed to (as stated above) easily furl/unfurl a jib, but since they require that the jib luff wire rotates, the luff of the jib can not be attached to the forestay for support and that tends to cause the luff of the jib to sag away from the forestay resulting in a less efficient shape to the sail, hurting performance to windward. If you were to try to "reef" a wire-luff style furling jib, ther is not enough torsional resistance to the luff wire to create a uniform twist along the jib luff and so the lower part of the jib may be rolled in as the sail is "reefed", but the force of the wind filling the sail will not allow the upper section of the luff wire to rotate as much as the lower part resulting in less reduction in sail area in the upper section of the jib. The strains on the wire may actually start to unlay (untwist the strands of the wire) the luff wire resulting In damage and eventual destruction of the luff wire. Those wire luff furlers were designed to have the jib all the way unfurled or all the way furled, not partly furled since they basically furl bottom to top (the drum/reel at the bottom turns the luff wire, furling the sail, but due to the nature of wire cable, if you were to measure how many degrees of twist a single rotation of the drum produces along the wire, you would find that in general, the wire has more twist at the drum that at the top swivel. On the newer, more modern furlers that use a plastic or aluminum extrusion over the forestay (or on much larger boats, sometimes a solid metal rod in place of the forestay, where the whole rod rotates to furl the jib) there is enough torsional (anti-twist) rigidity in that extrusion that you should find very little difference between the twist at the drum and at the top swivel. That allows the sail to furl fairly evenly along it's entire luff and to resist the force of the wind trying to unwind (unfurl) the sail when sailing partly furled/reefed. This allows the furler to also be use to partly "roller-reef" the jib.
Most of the 222s have been upgraded at some time to a CDI (Cruising Design) Flexible-Furler (plastic luff extrusion) or Schaefer "Snap-Furl" plastic luff extrusion furler, or maybe one of the various brand aluminum-extrusion furler by owners looking to be able to reef the jib or simply have a more reliable setup for furling. also these luff-extrusion furlers all maintain better sail shape than the luff-wire type that requires the jib luff to be set 'flying" (that is no connection to forestay.)

Kind of a long explaination, sorry for my "long-windedness", but it is a concept easy to observe, but hard to easily and quickly explain! I guess a simple example of what I'm talking about would be the difference between rolling up a piece of cloth then while holding the two ends of the roll, have someone try to pull on the edge of the cloth holding the cloth at the middle of the exposed edge, compared to securely fastening one edge of the cloth to a stick or dowel, then roll it up around that stick and try to pull on the middle of the exposed edge.......... it won't unroll very far if at all if wrapped around a stick, but the roll of cloth without the stick will partly unroll near the center of the exposed edge, even though the top and bottom corners are being held tight.
 
Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
If the Furler has a rigid foil, it can be used for partial reefing of the sail.

But furlers without a rigid foil extrusion are built for storing the sail only, not reefing. This type uses a headsail sail with a only a wire cable at the luff, not a rigid foil or extrusion. it can’t be used for partial reefing because the Wire is not torsionally rigid enough to resist the wind-force unwinding the partially reefed sail. You can use it either all the way rolled or completely unrolled, nothing in between.


.
 
Jun 14, 2020
26
O'day 222 Moored at a lakelot
That makes perfect sense. Thanks for clarifying. I see adding a system with a foil is a relatively significant investment so I might just stick with two sails for now!
 
Sep 29, 2015
110
Oday 222 Lake N ockamixon, pa
I'm a cruiser; and I have my North 100% cruising jib on a 5 mm wire, and a Harken cruiser furling system. I tension the wire using the mast mounted winch, original O'Day provided equipment. The feature I like is that since I travel a lot for cruising, I can easily raise and lower the jib system and fold it, put it in the cabin for traveling. If the wind pipes up, while sailing, I reef the main first; and if that's not enough I will then pull the jib in. For best performance I like to sail straight up; but I will allow about 15 deg. heel. This boat has won races using this system.
 
Apr 23, 2017
15
O'Day Day Sailer 3 Lake Nockamixon, Pa.
I recently purchased a Daysailer 3 and am figuring out the rigging. It has a Harken furler with what looks like a wide plastic covered section inside the sail. This is my first boat with a furler, It appears it was used with a separate forestay. Does this seem correct? The reason I ask is that the forestay seems too small a diameter and has a couple of extensions added. I'd like to know if I'm using the furler correctly before calling D & R to order a new forestay. Also there is no tension on the furler, should I attempt to pretension this prior to installing it? Hope this is isn't too many questions.
 
Jun 14, 2020
26
O'day 222 Moored at a lakelot
Mine is a Schaefer and I'm also pretty new, so I may not be the best to answer. But yes, mine at least appears to be separate from the forestay (though the jib has hanks too, I'm guessing for using it without a furler). I found this helpful Barton Marine - Tech Info - Jib Furling with Sail Hanks - Fitting

In theory, the ones I'm familiar with should have half the length or so of the furling line pre-wound in the cylinder (not so much in tension), but so that when you pull it out that will wind up the jib as it spins. Then pulling the sheets will unfurl and rewind the cylinder. It's good to keep some tension on both lines when furling and unfurling. Hope that helps.
 
Sep 29, 2015
110
Oday 222 Lake N ockamixon, pa
I have an O'Day 222 with furling jib. It requires a separate connection ( U-Bolt ) just behind the fore-stay for the jib attachment, drum. Use the regular halyard block to raise the furling jib. Unless you have some way to tighten the wire in the jib, the luff of the jib will sag some. I use a small winch on the mast to tighten the jib wire; which for my sail is 5 mm. Yes, the furling is binary, in or out.
 
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