O'Day 192 Roller Furling
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Not in my opinion, but I don't yet have experience with a "real" roller furler. Still trying to decide if its cost justified, as I may trade up soon.
I currently have an 84 Oday 222, which shipped with the same small plastic furler as the 192s, I am told. It works okay for the original jib, and the PO added a hank on Genoa 135. I rigged up the furler just for kicks, and came to prefer its convenience right away. I single hand a lot, so not having to go to the bow is a big plus.
The only downside I can see is this device is not a true roller Furler, in that you cannot partially furl the sail. Hasn't been an issue for me.
Ymmv.
I currently have an 84 Oday 222, which shipped with the same small plastic furler as the 192s, I am told. It works okay for the original jib, and the PO added a hank on Genoa 135. I rigged up the furler just for kicks, and came to prefer its convenience right away. I single hand a lot, so not having to go to the bow is a big plus.
The only downside I can see is this device is not a true roller Furler, in that you cannot partially furl the sail. Hasn't been an issue for me.
Ymmv.
The original Roller-Furler for the 192 and 222 was the old Schaefer model 100, this was designed for boats like the DAY SAILER, although the small jib o nhte 192 would most likely still furl OK. It was DEFINITELY too small for the 222 (and that opinion comes from Schaefer). The main problem with this type of furler in general is that it used a wire luff in the jib to roll around, instead of using a foil over the forestay. These "wire-luff" furlers were the old-style furlers and the idea had been around for a long time. They work OK, but can not be used to partially furl the sail to "reef". They do not allow yo uto put enough tension on the luff of the jib to get a good shape to the sail, they tend to sag off to leeward tremendously. For casual sailing, that isn't a huge problem...... but for racing or performance cruising, well it really hurts windward performance. They can also get tangled with the forestay as they furl/unfurl, since the forestay and the jib luff are sharing the load, if you tighten the jib luff too much (possible if you have hte optional jib halyard winch) it causes the forestay to sag, if the jib luff is too loose then it will sag. The newer jib-furlers that have a foil (plastic or metal) that fits over the forestay with a groove to take the jib luff allow the forestay to take the load and the jib is supported along it's full luff giving much better shape to the jib. Partial furling can be used to "reef" the sail, although unless the jib is made for this, reefing really doesn't work well since as the sail furls, it gets fuller since a sail is not flat and the shape sewn into the jib does not roll up uniformly. Not a big problem off the wind, but this limits use of the "reefed" jib for windward work. (Full sail holds more wind and increases heeling while reducing forward drive.)
For casual sailing, especially if trailier-sailing, the wire-luff furler makes rigging/unrigging easier since the jib can be lowered as a "sausage" and removed. The over-the-forestay type furlers are harder to remove the sail, so you almost need to leave the jib on the furler while trailering. The furling drum will also usually cover the forestay turnbuckle.
I keep my boat on a mooring all summer, so if I added a furler (unlikely on a DS II, but not out of the question!), it would be one that fits over the forestay. But if I trailered, I'd probably go for the wire-luff style. On a 192 or 222 it would be possible to upgrade to a larger size wire-luff furler, you still could not "reef", but furling the sail would be easier than with the under-sized original setup. Cost would be less than replacing the Schaefer 100 with a over-the-forestay furler (especially since jib would not need further mods), although the CDI flexible furler is not much more $$ than either a Schaefer or Harken wire luff setup. Also the Schaefer Snap-Furl is not that much more $$ than the CDI. If you keep the boat rigged for the season (mast stays stepped), the over-the-forestay furlers are a big improvement in both furling ability and sailing performance. If you trailer and don't mind the reduced pointing ability of the wire-luff jib....... stick with that.
If, like me on my DS II, simplicity is desired and needing to instantly furl the jib is not important....... switch to a hank-on jib. A partially furled ("reefed") large roller jib is not equal in performance to having a choice of 2 hank-on jibs (genoa and working jib), but it is more convenient and most likely much less $$$.
For casual sailing, especially if trailier-sailing, the wire-luff furler makes rigging/unrigging easier since the jib can be lowered as a "sausage" and removed. The over-the-forestay type furlers are harder to remove the sail, so you almost need to leave the jib on the furler while trailering. The furling drum will also usually cover the forestay turnbuckle.
I keep my boat on a mooring all summer, so if I added a furler (unlikely on a DS II, but not out of the question!), it would be one that fits over the forestay. But if I trailered, I'd probably go for the wire-luff style. On a 192 or 222 it would be possible to upgrade to a larger size wire-luff furler, you still could not "reef", but furling the sail would be easier than with the under-sized original setup. Cost would be less than replacing the Schaefer 100 with a over-the-forestay furler (especially since jib would not need further mods), although the CDI flexible furler is not much more $$ than either a Schaefer or Harken wire luff setup. Also the Schaefer Snap-Furl is not that much more $$ than the CDI. If you keep the boat rigged for the season (mast stays stepped), the over-the-forestay furlers are a big improvement in both furling ability and sailing performance. If you trailer and don't mind the reduced pointing ability of the wire-luff jib....... stick with that.
If, like me on my DS II, simplicity is desired and needing to instantly furl the jib is not important....... switch to a hank-on jib. A partially furled ("reefed") large roller jib is not equal in performance to having a choice of 2 hank-on jibs (genoa and working jib), but it is more convenient and most likely much less $$$.
I didn't like the Schaeffer Furler that came with my O'Day 222 and I wound up giving it away to a friend of mine. If you plan on trailering your boat, you're better off either using it or converting the Gennie over to snaps or piston hanks and going with the conventional set up. If you plan on using a mooring or slip and you want a good roller furler for your boat, the CDI FF-1 Roller Reefing Furler without the ball bearings would work out great for your boat. Furlers are great but they can be a pain if you plan to trailer. It takes a little more time to step the mast and extra mast stepping gear is sometimes required if you plan on doing the mast raising/lowering all by yourself.
Joe
My 192 has a small Harken furler that works pretty good. The line on it was cheap bulk store stuff and has now been replaced. It should work even better now.
This one:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|77896|299748|750993&id=1015158
This one:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|77896|299748|750993&id=1015158
That Harken roller furler is a better furler than the Schaeffer furler that came with your boat. Both of them will furl the sail for you. They just aren't designed to reef the sail.
If you have a Jib with the wire set up in the luff for this furler, you should give it a try and see if you like it. It has to be better than having to out on the bow to hank on the Jib and pull it up or even taken it down each time and stowing it.
If you do like it and want to use it all the time, you should have a UV sun shield installed on your Gennie or Jib sail or your sail will only last about three seasons. I had my sails made in the mid 1990s and they're still kicking. I take good care of them. New sails are pricey these days.
Joe
If you have a Jib with the wire set up in the luff for this furler, you should give it a try and see if you like it. It has to be better than having to out on the bow to hank on the Jib and pull it up or even taken it down each time and stowing it.
If you do like it and want to use it all the time, you should have a UV sun shield installed on your Gennie or Jib sail or your sail will only last about three seasons. I had my sails made in the mid 1990s and they're still kicking. I take good care of them. New sails are pricey these days.
Joe
I think it's because the other type of furlers have a vinyl luff which has it's own halyard built into it. The vinyl luff slides right over the fore stay, and the Gennie or Jib has a special tape on the luff of the sail that fits into a groove on this Vinyl luff. These type of furlers offer more of a rigid base for the sail to roll up on than the stock Schaeffer furlers that came with our boats which are attached to the Jib halyard via a swivel device, drum, and a wire in the luff of the sail. Give it a try and see if it will reef. Maybe I'm wrong about that.
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