I am seriously considering ditching my roller furler and going with hank on sails. The main reason is performance. I want the deck sweeper and to easily change sails. Also, the furler is not so easy to roll up (it's getting on in years) especially in the SF Bay wind. One thing that is making me pause is that my current headsail is fairly new so even though I plan to get a new headsail I hate to just throw away the old one. I wonder how practical it is to have a sailmaker add hanks to a roller furled headsail. Seems easy enough but am I missing something? I planned to add the downhaul line to make it easy to drop the sail in heavy air when needed. Anyone else done this? Are you happy with it? Issues?
Converting from roller furled to hank on
- Thread starter markwbird
- Start date
Should not be a challenge to any competent sail maker. Remove the bolt rope, reinforce the luff, add the hanks.
A 7+ out of 10 sail is cost effective to keep and retrofit, though may be a bit short of your expectations due to luff length converting from furler to hanks.
You can sorta have both. Sorta. My old Harken furler foil has the ability to fly a deck sweeper by removing the furling jib And dropping the swivel below the feeder. It won’t reef but because of the two halyards and tracks in the foil, the performance sails can be changed quickly. Better sail shape than hanks.
What kind of furler do you have? Does the foil have twin grooves. Can you remove the drum and still use the foil for the sail. Many RF systems are set up that way, Profurl, Harken, etc. If you like the security of hanks to keep the sail from sliding off the foredeck, you might look into a product called Kiwi Luff Slides.
This is one of “those” discussions that has been ongoing. I speak of hank on vs foil and sail shape. My previous boat was hank on and when the halyard was taught the sail shape seemed great. Or when a little loose you get those scallops that show it. Same thing as with the main. I may have to book some time RWDI‘s wind tunnel and really get the skinny on this.
I grew up sailing on the Bay, and other than the midwinter races, I don't remember the need for a deck sweeper being high on our sail inventory list. Has the weather there changed that significantly?
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,338
The need as defined by sailors often feels like more is better. From what I have been reading, the opportunity to get more sail higher up is of greater consequence to increasing boat speed. To affect the sail vortices by altering the sail shape in the upper 1/3 of the sail. That is if I understood the sail design theory correctly.
A deck sweeper will cause the boat to point a little higher. The pressure differential between the Windward and leeward sides of the sail is enhanced by having the sail come down close to the deck. This creates a slight lift out in front of the sail as the air rushes toward the low pressure (leeward) side of the sail. You can actually turn the boat into it. It’s slight but it’s there.
I think I was referring more to the average quantity of wind on the Bay, not sailing performance. I remember as being a rather windy place. And as crowded as it must be today, you'd probably want someone watching your forward lee full time with a deck sweeper.
Our next staysail will be a deck sweeper, cut more like a genoa than a staysail. Then as I roll it in I'm bringing down the sail more quickly than in.
The end plate effect was a big deal in windsurfing slalom for years. Not so much for wave sailing
Everyone went to great effort to “close the gap”. Sailmakers even started to add an anti-chafe strip on the foot.
Most modern WS race sails are still designed to rake parallel to the board deck but the focus has shifted to a rig with a shorter foot and more sail area higher that twists off in gusts or higher wind ranges.
Sure. new technologies. This is something I can do that is fairly easy. I guess the real question is: will the added performance just be cancelled out by the reduction in my phrf rating?The end plate effect was a big deal in windsurfing slalom for years. Not so much for wave sailing
Everyone went to great effort to “close the gap”. Sailmakers even started to add an anti-chafe strip on the foot.
Most modern WS race sails are still designed to rake parallel to the board deck but the focus has shifted to a rig with a shorter foot and more sail area higher that twists off in gusts or higher wind ranges.
I’m not a racer so assume the change is driven by a now “larger” headsail?
I’m not totally convinced that closing the gap adds much anyway in a sailing environment. I can see how in static (wind tunnel) or high speed aerodynamic situations it might be a factor.
I think the close the gap thing for Windsurfing happened around the same time they were challenging boat speed records. Every little bit helped in that effort and then the masses wanted to go “fast” to.
It might depend on your PHRF region. In the Chesapeake there is no explicit adjustment for a deck sweeper vs a higher clew. Roller furling with drum above deck is work 9 seconds/mile. Roller furling with a below deck drum is 6 seconds. Both adjustments only count if you have woven (generally Dacron) sails or a taffeta and UV cover. (Pure laminate sails don’t get the adjustment.) The only other headsail related adjustments are for modified I, J, or LP.
Right. The PHRF drop will come from switching from roller furler to non roller furler. In my experience faster is better and phrf does not change that. The exception is light wind combined with time on time scoring. In that case it is very difficult to beat the smaller, slower boats.