Are you wondering, should I get a furling Mainsail?

[jssailem]

We get questions every year about furling mainsails.

• How do I fix my stuck furling Mainsail?
• Why is my mainsail not furling?
• Should I order a furling mainsail?

and many other nuanced queries. Quantum Sails just posted an FAQ on Furling Mainsails that may provide answers for you.

When asked, "Should I get a furling mainsail?" I think this statement may be a helpful answer for which direction to take.

"The decision ultimately comes down to how you sail and whether you value simplicity or performance more."​

​

FAQ: Furling Mainsails

Quantum Sails Newport’s Maxim Logutenko tackles common questions about furling mainsails and how to decide which options are right for you.&nbsp...

www.quantumsails.com

​

 

[JamesG161]

read this link

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/threads/in-mast-piece-of-crap-furling-system.175976/#post-1255964

best information on SBO

Jim...

 

[Benny17441]

Never had a furling mainsail and no longer have the patience to deal with new and different types of jams.

 

[dLj]

I have a boom roller furling main sail. It's an old design and no longer made. However, I very much like it and how it works. It does require figuring out how best to run it but once it's all tweeked, it's really functional. I can reef to any size while sailing better than any reefing system I've ever used. I have infinite sail-size options. It can't get stuck as in mast systems sometimes do. If something happens to the furling system, I run the sail as a standard hank-on main works.

I've run some modern boom roller furling systems and do not like them as well as the one I have.

dj

 

[MaryEllaRose]

We installed a CDI MR2 main sail furler five years ago and it was the best money I ever spent on our Catalina 25. North Sails sales tech came out and took measurements while the mast was down and made a custom sail.
Is there a performance loss? Yes, but we’re fair weather day sailors and can’t tell the difference anyway. It’s attached behind the mast and while it looks kind of funky, I never have to get up off my butt to raise/lower the main and reefing adjustments are infinite.
Expensive? You bet ($3500, furler + new mainsail) but after I fell from the cabin top into the cabin while attempting to lower the main sail in some choppy water, my wife never even asked how much it cost.
I’m over seventy five now and it has meant that we are able to safely continue sailing.

Tom G

 

[capta]

The IMRF main is one of the greatest inventions for sailors, since fiberglass, in my very experienced opinion.
The dammed In Mast Roller Furling systems DO NOT JAM, any more than boats hit reefs or multihulls capsize on their own! PEOPLE cause all three of those problems.
Just like anything, especially on boats, attention must be paid to what one is doing. If one is rolling the sail in or out and it appears to be jamming, then STOP, reverse the sail movement a few inches, trim the sheet or whatever is necessary, then try again.
In ten years of sailing a 53' ketch, a lot more than most people sail their boat (we chartered some of those years), our IMRF main sails NEVER jammed so badly we couldn't undo the problem within minutes. I pluralized mains as we got a new one in that period). It is definitely much more difficult to furl/unfurl a baggy old sail than a proper sail, but with care one can be successful, every time.
Situational awareness is a must at all times on a boat (and in life?) to prevent little problems before they become big ones, and with any RF sail, this is especially true.
However, even on the slightest, most remote chance that one could cause a serious jam situation with an IMRF, I wouldn't give up the infinite reefing that IMRF gives me.

 

[JamesG161]

he IMRF main is one of the greatest inventions for sailors

wouldn't give up the infinite reefing that IMRF gives me.

Agreed 100%.

Jim...

 

[capta]

I have a boom roller furling main sail. It's an old design and no longer made. However, I very much like it and how it works. It does require figuring out how best to run it but once it's all tweeked, it's really functional. I can reef to any size while sailing better than any reefing system I've ever used. I have infinite sail-size options. It can't get stuck as in mast systems sometimes do. If something happens to the furling system, I run the sail as a standard hank-on main works.

I've run some modern boom roller furling systems and do not like them as well as the one I have.

dj

I sailed with one of those systems from Pago Pago to St. Thomas via the Indian Ocean and the Med, and as dLj said they worked great. The newer systems do produce a better sail shape, but beating in 40 knots for 10 days, or running in a hurricane (we didn't know it was a hurricane, as it was before satellite weather), does sail shape matter all that much?
What made it especially great was that the mast was in the cockpit, with the helm on the mast.
Were I to design a cruising boat, the in cockpit mast would be right up there in importance, and I would do my best to design it into the boat. I think the OI 41 was a perfect candidate for that, but it probably would have been too radical back then!

 

[jssailem]

I recently read the book. “At the Mercy of the Sea” By JOHN KRETSCHMER.
It is the story of three sailors in a Caribbean Hurricane. ]

There is a serious discussion about the benefits of mainsail reefing during high wind conditions from the cockpit.

 

[MFD]

I have one of those Selden in-mast furling systems.

I habe a love/hate relationship with it.

Can we please have people search well known information instead of bringing up the same old stuff?

 

[danstanford]

Having had both I will say that if you want easy, the furling main makes a little evening sail the easiest thing you can imagine. If you want fast it is not the answer.

My furling main was old when I bought the boat and had vertical battens so it was a bit finicky but paying attention was all it ever needed.

 

[dLj]

I have one of those Selden in-mast furling systems.

I habe a love/hate relationship with it.

Can we please have people search well known information instead of bringing up the same old stuff?

@MFD I'm not sure what you are looking for? I don't "bring up the same old stuff" - I give my opinion based on direct experience.

I've only sailed one boat with in mast main sail furling so my experience level on that is low. Hence I did not speak to it. I have spent decades sailing boats with more tradition systems and my current boat has in boom roller furling. I've also sailed other more modern in boom roller furling systems - hence my comment on those systems.

dj

 

[MFD]

Fair enough, and with a boom roller the sail always comes down when you need it to.

I was caught some years ago when new to my inmast with the wind piping up to ~30kn plus gusts and we had problems.

For sure, inexperience and blame it on the owner/operator or crew. Meanwhile being able to reduce with 100% reliability, always, even under fatigue or other considerations, is an important consideration to me. Especially in coastal or inland waters.

 

[MFD]

There is a serious discussion about the benefits of mainsail reefing during high wind conditions from the cockpit.

One thing I do like I do like about my inmast system is exactly that. Being able to easily have a sliver of main out, no need to go on deck or special work for reefing. Definitely a good thing. It is just more maintenance and a touch more knowledge as opposed to ‘the sail comes down and gravity is your friend’. ?