All right - no furling main - how about dutchman..

[Tom]

I had lazy jacks on my 280 and hated them. They always slid back and forth across the sails and never collected the sail that well anyway. I switched to a Dutchman flaking system and loved it. I could go with that instead of furling. Has anyone tried the dutchman or other brand batt cars? Seems like they would make hoisting and dropping a lot easier than with slugs.

 

[Mark Dixon - UK sailmakers]

go Dutchman

I used to own a Legend 37.5, and even with that big main, the Dutchman system worked fine. As you know, the Dutchman system always brings the main down on the boom. That's not always true with other systems.(Hint: when you have the main flaked on the boom with a Dutchman, put littlemarks on the port or stbd. side of the folds. This makes the final flaking go easier) Mark.

 

[bob]

yes to dutchman

i've used the dutchman system on 2 different boats, and it is wonderful..bob s/v reliance

 

[schaefer]

raising the main..uggh

i chartered a 33.6 with a fully battened main dutcman system..it was a bear to raise that thing..maybe 'cause the boat was beaten up but i would post this on hunter sail net and get other opinions

 

[Stephen Ostrander]

main is a pain

Some hunters tend to have this problem because they have tall rigs with large mains and a pre-bend in the mast. Keep the track and slides clean and lubricated (don't use WD40 or any petroleum based lube). Another trick is to shackle a block to the head of the sail to give extra purchase, but you may need to lengthen the main halyard. The halyard would then go through the block and make fast to the masthead.

 

[Leon Maraist]

Strong System

I own a 336 and raising and lowering this full batten main was tough. I installed a "strong sailing system" system and it works like a charm. The sail goes up easily and drops in seconds so fast it is scary. The system sells for about $1000.00 and you can install it yourself. It consist of new bat cars and a teflon like material that you slide in the mast grove that comes in a roll. You push the slide up into it reaches the top of the mast. This then creates a new grove of teflon that the bat cars fit in.