Converting a standard main to roller furling

[Ernie]

The roller furling mainsail on my 1979 H33 took a severe beating during one of our recent winter storms. The sail was a bit "blown out" anyway, but I wasn't planning on replacing it quite yet. Anyway, The boat came with a spare main. This sail is not set up for roller furling. It has batten pockets and uses slides to go up the mast. I think the bolt rope is a different size as well (haven't had a chance to measure it yet).First of all, is it possible and/or plausible to convert this to a roller furling model? Secondly, what kind of price am I looking at as opposed to just breaking down and getting an entirely new sail?Thanks

 

[Bill Colombo]

Mainsail Conversion

Ernie, My feeling is that you would be better off selling the sail that you have and putting that money towards a new RF mainsail. Basically a RF main is more like a genoa than a standard mainsail. Since it does not require most of the features of a standard main they are relatively inexpensive. On the other hand, in order to convert it you would have to remove:1. Headboard2. Slides3. Batten Pockets4. Reef Tack and Clew Rings5. Reef Patches(optional) Once you do that you have to:1. Recut Luff Leech and Foot2. Install new luff leech and foot tapes3. Install Clew Block and Clew CoverYou would have a lot of needle holes in the sail where varios items were removed. These could cause potential weak spots. You are probably looking at about 1/2 the cost of a new sail.Thanks,Bill C.Doyle Sails