Schaefer Snapfurl 700
Hello, I went with the Schaefer Snapfurl 700 on our 26.5. Unfortunately the original unit that was designed to go in the anchor well is no longer available so the drum has to go above the deck. There are two ways to go about adding a furler. The first involves shortening the headstay and then adding link plates or tangs to reach the forestay attachment in the anchor well. The second, and the way I did it, doesn't involve shortening the headstay. This method utilizes two long, and I mean long, link plate tangs to move the drum away from the forestay chainplate. This arrangement does create some difficulty when rigging the boat, but I keep it in a slip for the season and only have to mess with it twice a year so it is not too bad. If you e-mail me at svwalkabout at hotmail.com, I can send photos and get you all the details on how I did it. The other thing to consider is cutting down the headsail. I did my own luff conversion on one of the stock UK sails and it worked out pretty well. The only thing that I would recommend that I added later is a foam luff pad so that the sail rolls up fairly well. Drop me a line and I can e-mail photos so you can see how I did it. Regards, Clayton s/v Walkabout
