Anyone have any experience with these? They are made in England & seem to have decent specs. I could pick one up for about $100 & use as a cheap substitute for the original Scheafer drum for my Oday 192 standard jib. Any opiniopns? Thanks, Jerry
Barton marime furling drum
- Thread starter Jerry Shenkman
- Start date
Depends on what you want. If you are ok with having a wire luff furler that typically can't be reefed, there are also others out there such as Harken Small Boat furlers.
If your jib is getting old and baggy, and you are considering a new one, you might consider getting a 135% genoa, provided you can decide the best place to run longer adjustable track for fairleads (I haven't decided on mine yet...) in which case you might consider a CDI Flexible Furler or a Schaefer Snap-Furl. Both of these solutions allow reefing as well as roller furling. The Schaefer is considered to be more performance oriented, as it uses the jib halyard to maintain luff tension, whereas the CDI has an integrated halyard that relies on foil rigidity for luff tension, and in my experience, not very much luff tension. If considering a reefable headsail, talk to your sailmaker about foam luff for better reefed shape, colored Sunbrella strips on leech and foot for rolled up UV protection - or a Sunbrella jib sock (Schaefer would require a second halyard, such as spinnaker halyard, to raise a sock), and reinforcements at leech and foot for typical reef points to prevent premature stretch in the sail.
Sorry, I have not had any experience with the Barton drum. Or the Harken for that matter. Based on my experience with the Scheafer drum standard on the 192, I would say that a ball bearing swivel at the head of the jib, as well as ball bearings on the drum would be a requirement for smooth operation and limited twist differential as you roll up the sail.
If your jib is getting old and baggy, and you are considering a new one, you might consider getting a 135% genoa, provided you can decide the best place to run longer adjustable track for fairleads (I haven't decided on mine yet...) in which case you might consider a CDI Flexible Furler or a Schaefer Snap-Furl. Both of these solutions allow reefing as well as roller furling. The Schaefer is considered to be more performance oriented, as it uses the jib halyard to maintain luff tension, whereas the CDI has an integrated halyard that relies on foil rigidity for luff tension, and in my experience, not very much luff tension. If considering a reefable headsail, talk to your sailmaker about foam luff for better reefed shape, colored Sunbrella strips on leech and foot for rolled up UV protection - or a Sunbrella jib sock (Schaefer would require a second halyard, such as spinnaker halyard, to raise a sock), and reinforcements at leech and foot for typical reef points to prevent premature stretch in the sail.
Sorry, I have not had any experience with the Barton drum. Or the Harken for that matter. Based on my experience with the Scheafer drum standard on the 192, I would say that a ball bearing swivel at the head of the jib, as well as ball bearings on the drum would be a requirement for smooth operation and limited twist differential as you roll up the sail.
Most owners that stil lhave a roller-furling jib on their 192 or 222 have upgraded to the CDI Flexible Furler (D&R Marine has good price on those!) or the Schaefer Snap-Furl. I would say that if you want to replace the original Schaefer wire-luff furler, with a good, basic modern furler, but don't want to spend too much, you can't beat the CDI furlers. We had one on our old CAL 21 and it was one of the best things we added over the years. We never had any trouble wit ha lack of luff tension using the integral halyard and it totally eliminates any chance of halyard fouling with the furler. Changing headsails on the CDI furler is easy, but can be a bit cumbersome, since all luff tension must be applied using the line that attaches the jib tack to the furler. Again, not hard, but not something I would want to do a lot. The opening in the extrusion where you feed the jib luff into the extrusion tends to wear a bit after several years (we removed the jib from the furler each Fall before hauling boat and after 10 years or so we did have to watch that slot opening).
I am a GREAT fan of the CDI Flexible Furler, but if I were to do it again.... I'd look pretty hard at the Schaefer Snap-Furl before buying another CDI. The Schaefer is still not that expensive (CDI is around $600-700 for one that fits the 192, the Snap-Furl would be $800-900, prices estimated based on the last time I checked!) and is a much more rugged setup, including a stainless-steel guide to protect the opening In the groove where you insert the jib luff.
Even for my DS II, I really wouldn't want to use a wire-luff style furler. (I got a good buy on one of those Schaefer 100 setups as used on the DS III, 192 and 222, but would not want to use it for my primary jib after using a CDI. I probably would choose the CDI if I changed to a roller-furling jib on my DS II, but on a bigger boat.... I think the Schaefer Snap-Furl would win out.)
I am a GREAT fan of the CDI Flexible Furler, but if I were to do it again.... I'd look pretty hard at the Schaefer Snap-Furl before buying another CDI. The Schaefer is still not that expensive (CDI is around $600-700 for one that fits the 192, the Snap-Furl would be $800-900, prices estimated based on the last time I checked!) and is a much more rugged setup, including a stainless-steel guide to protect the opening In the groove where you insert the jib luff.
Even for my DS II, I really wouldn't want to use a wire-luff style furler. (I got a good buy on one of those Schaefer 100 setups as used on the DS III, 192 and 222, but would not want to use it for my primary jib after using a CDI. I probably would choose the CDI if I changed to a roller-furling jib on my DS II, but on a bigger boat.... I think the Schaefer Snap-Furl would win out.)
Thanks for the info. I only do casual sailng in Barnegat Bay and only on relatively light wind days. My GF is no fan of much heeling over & "freaks out" easily so I don't sail all that close hauled. All I am looking for is an inexpensive substitute for the original Scheafer. I will probably give the barton a try. If & when my lady becomes more comfortable on the boat, I will then go for a proper furler.
You can explain to her that sometimes it's good to "wash the toe rail." But don't ever try to wash the coaming!
Sometimes I hold onto a puff, and don't round up, and the toe rail gets wet. I've learned that's no big deal. If it happens very frequently, that tells me it's time to tuck in a reef. Coming from a background with centerboard day sailers, and this being my first ballasted keel boat, it honestly took me some time to learn to trust the ballast.
But last fall it was a NW wind, and strong to begin with. On days like that, the typical pattern is that the wind will lift to the North, while at the same time gusting. So I was sailing along in a westerly direction, close hauled, and then one of those big lifts came down with a big gust. And I held on to the heading, and didn't round up. The boat heeled. And then heeled more. And the next thing I knew, the toe rail wasn't just wet, but there was water pouring over the top of the coaming.
In my mind I was like "Damn, I am sitting awfully high up on the high side here. That's a lot of water that just came in the boat. I shouldn't do that anymore!" and then there was the anxious out-loud laughter. As I recall, I already had my reef in. What I should have done was to also put on my inflatable PFD and put the drop boards in and pull the hatch closed. :naughty: You know, just in case I got another seriously overpowering lift like that again. :naughty: I sailed along on that heading until the seat dried off, rounding up for each subsequent puff, and then I tacked over for a reach back home. I didn't wanna get my shorts wet!
Sometimes I hold onto a puff, and don't round up, and the toe rail gets wet. I've learned that's no big deal. If it happens very frequently, that tells me it's time to tuck in a reef. Coming from a background with centerboard day sailers, and this being my first ballasted keel boat, it honestly took me some time to learn to trust the ballast.
But last fall it was a NW wind, and strong to begin with. On days like that, the typical pattern is that the wind will lift to the North, while at the same time gusting. So I was sailing along in a westerly direction, close hauled, and then one of those big lifts came down with a big gust. And I held on to the heading, and didn't round up. The boat heeled. And then heeled more. And the next thing I knew, the toe rail wasn't just wet, but there was water pouring over the top of the coaming.
In my mind I was like "Damn, I am sitting awfully high up on the high side here. That's a lot of water that just came in the boat. I shouldn't do that anymore!" and then there was the anxious out-loud laughter. As I recall, I already had my reef in. What I should have done was to also put on my inflatable PFD and put the drop boards in and pull the hatch closed. :naughty: You know, just in case I got another seriously overpowering lift like that again. :naughty: I sailed along on that heading until the seat dried off, rounding up for each subsequent puff, and then I tacked over for a reach back home. I didn't wanna get my shorts wet!