Hunter 212 Headsail Advice Needed

[MikeRottenborn]

Hi Folks,

I'm a new owner of a Hunter 212 (built in 2000) and very glad to have found these forums! The boat came with the jib furling system but no jib sail, and I'm having a lot of trouble finding a replacement at a decent price. There's a remnant of the old jib attached to the eyelets right above the roller furler and right below the swivel, about 1 foot below the point where the headstay attaches to the mast, but no furling track on the headstay itself. I seem to have 3 options:
1. Use the existing rigging and find a hanked-on jib that stops below the swivel (maximum luff=20'8").
2. Remove the Harken roller furler and replace the headstay with a standard one. This would allow a slightly larger jib with a maximum luff=21'11" to be used.
3. Find an exact replacement for the original jib with an integrated furling wire. Is this a Schaefer furling jib or did Hunter have their own system for this? This would be the easiest option but I'm having no luck finding anything like this.

If anyone has advice or a used jib they're interested in selling, I'd really appreciate your help.

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Joe]

What do you consider a decent price?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Due to deck layout, suggest staying with roller furling. Ask the forum store which is a good start to inquire with.

 

[MikeRottenborn]

Hi folks, I wanted to thank the forum members for your advice and reply with the resolution and lessons learned. There are a lot of online stores selling used sails, but their inventory lists are not always up to date. One place listed several jibs that would have worked but couldn't locate any of them, another had a sail in inventory but no price or ability to order it online, and a third one (minneysyachtsurplus.com) had one sail that was perfect. They sent me lots of pictures and the price and shipping were fair, so I bought the sail and tested it last weekend.

My sailing buddy suggested using paracord to tie the head grommet to the swivel at the top of the headstay, and the tack grommet to the furling roller, and I was pleased to see that the jib furled perfectly around the headstay just as designed. (The hanks were just snaps, so there was no tight connection to the headstay other than at the top and bottom, but that was enough for furling.) The ability to furl and unfurl the jib from the cockpit is very nice to have, and I'm glad we were able to use the existing roller furling system.

So, a good outcome all around. Thanks again for the advice!

 

[isaksp00]

I think you can have a loft sew on luff tape that has the wire that slides into the slot in the furler, which should not be too costly.

 

[MikeRottenborn]

Hi Peter, thanks for your input. From what I have been able to find out, I believe that the optional roller furler for this particular boat did not have a full furler all along the headstay, but just a drum at the bottom and a swivel at the top, with the jib sail fixed at those two points but not all along the headstay itself. Maybe that's a "poor man's roller furler" but it seems to work well, and our new sail operates the same way as the original.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The forestay was encapsulated in a sense in the sail.