Furler

[Mark]

Is it really nessesary to have a foil on a 260 or would just a furler be sufficient. On one of our smaller yachts we have just the furler drum. The head sail has a wire from top to bottom with a swivell at the top. Works perfectly. Thoughts very welcome for I don't like the idea of having to raise and lower the mast with a foil attached every day.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Mark, I don't know what a foil is. My CDI furler

encloses the headstay wire within the unit and swivels at the top. When raising or lowering the mast, the furling unit stays attached to the upper mast. The only additional step when raising the mast, with the furling unit in place, is to wrap the drum with a towel so it doesn't scratch the bow window. I then pin the forestay to the bow eye. The sail has the standard UV protection sown onto the leach.Sorry I couldn't be clearer on the answer but maybe now I'll learn what a foil is.RayS/V Speedy

 

[Mark]

Oops

I guess Ray down under they are falled foils.(The aluminium section that the sail fixes on)I figured that if I get Doyle to sew in a stainless cable that I might get away with just the furler drum meaning I can pull down the head sail and store in the yacht. Hope this makes sence.

 

[Steve O.]

foils

The foil is the aluminum tube that holds the luff of the sail and spins on the forestay. Some racing boats have just the foil, and no furling drum. I had the wire luff system on a 18' Buccaneer, but I've never seen it on anything bigger than that, which leads me to believe that it doesn't work well on bigger boats.

 

[Tom Wootton]

Foils are not always aluminum...

...and are not always segmented. The foil for some smaller furlers, like the CDI used on most Hunter 26/260's, is a rigid plastic extrusion. It has a groove for the sail and one for the stay. The foil on the Snapfurl also is a full length extrusion, but it's in 2 halves which snap together lengthwise around the stay. I think I'd want a foil on anything bigger than a daysailor, but that's just my opinion. If you go "foilless" I think you have to either fully set or fully furl the jib--no reefing.The reason most trailerable Hunters have the CDI is that it has its own halyard built in. As far as I know, it's the only small boat furler with this feature. Without that feature, the jib has to be removed to lower the mast so that the halyard is available for lowering.