Boom furl;ing for full battened main on 336

[Eric Mitterndorfer]

Can anyone out there give me any information on adding boom furling to a 336 with a full battened main? I presently have jiffy reefing and would like to find an easier/simpler way to reef, particularly when single handing, without losing the drive of the big main as I might by going to in mast furling.

 

[Paul]

Profurl, Leisure Furl, Selden Furling

There are several products available now that do mainsail furling. The best is probably Leisure Furl, an in-boom furler made by a company in New Zealand. It got the best review in "Practical Sailor," anyway. Profurl also sells an in-boom furler. Selden sells an aftermarket behind-the-mast furler, similar to the factory in-mast systems now sold on new Hunters.Leisure Furl booms were originally designed for fairly large yachts. This year they released a product for boats like the 336 which they call "Leisure Furl Coastal." It's supposed to retail for about $4000, not counting the new mainsail that you really ought to get, or the electric winch that the guys at the local rigging shop tell me I'll need to get the main up.I have priced ProFurl systems at well over $8000 (again, not counting a new sail or other accessories). The makers of these in-boom systems claims that you can use your existing sail, but I don't buy it. It would still require substantial modification to the sail (adding a luff boltrope, for example). I've thought long and hard about installing one of these systems. For now, I'll concentrate on using my single-line reefing effectively. I can think of a lot better things to do with 10,000 bucks.Paulsv Escape Artist

 

[Bryce Grefe]

in boom furling

Eric,Paul is mostly right. He forgot to mention Furlboom manufactured by YSA in CA. I put a Furlboom on my 410 this past year and am pretty happy with it. Had some minor problems with the sail, as North Sails seemed to think they knew better than the boom manufacturer did and didn't follow Furlboom's sail making instructions prcisely. I'm not sure about your 336 but my 410 has about 8 inches of prebend in the mast. None of the manufacturers of these systems could accomadate that much prebend except Furlboom. Has to do with the track required for the sail. All the other systems required less than 2 inches of prebend for their track to work. I felt that reducing the prebend to this amount would greatly reduce the structural integrity of the mast and rig.I went to the Annapolis BS last year and spent 2 days looking at all the systems. My main reason for going the an in-boom furling system was the ability to reef. We got caught in a squall last year and expereinced 70 knot winds with the second reef set in the standard mainsail. Had a near knock down. with the in-boom system I can reef in 25 knot winds while on a beam reach with virtually infinite reef points. Now if the winds pick up I reef until the boat is back to 15 degrees of heel and off we go. Paul right in that its not a cheap date, but is sure improves the safety and ease of reefing when sailing short handed as my wife and I usually do. Lastly Furlboom and Leisurefurl hold virtually all the patents for these systems. So everyone else is designing around the patents they hold. Also Leisure Furl manufacturing rights are currently owned by a US company so there're all US made today. You certainly won't get the sail shape and size out of an in-mast system that you will with an in-boom system. I actually picked up about 20 square feet of sail area on the main with the Furlboom system. Just more power.Bryce S/V SpellbinderH410

 

[Paul]

No argument here

Yes, with a furling system you can roll the sail down to the size of a beach towel if need be, obviating the need for storm sails. That's the most significant benefit in my view as well, even if most people just appreciate the convenience.My "sqall strategy" is to turn head to wind, blow the main halyard clutch, and start the engine. Can you reef waaaay down faster than I could do those three things? I have a smaller boat, so it's probably not a fair question. I have a lot less sail to contend with.Interesting news about the patents.If I go shopping again, I'll look at Furlboom, too. I'll have to, since my 336 has way more than 2 inches of pre-bend.