Furling jib recommendations

[CaptDon01]

Tom,

The foam luff gives a little fullness to the luff of the sail, this way with the curvature designed into the sail, the fatter center portion will naturally take in more sail material to help maintain the sail shape as the sail is reefed. Raising the tack is no big deal, and no modification is required, just increase the distance on the tack to the furling drum. It also helps to secure the tack of the sail to the luff extrusion with a short length of line, this just helps relieve the tension of the sail in the extrusion groove.

Don

 

[Stu Jackson]

Tom, raising the tack is a safety issue, as well, for racers, a performance issue. A deck sweeper with the foot of the sail close to the deck mimics the curve of the hull and provides more lift (if I understand it correctly). Raising the tack separates the hull and the foot of the jib, but gives you life saving advantages of visibility forward. It involves no compromises to the furler, but you have to know the distance between the drum and the head swivel to size the luff length of the jib.

I have always felt that foam or rope luffs are a true compromise, as is reefing a jib at all to begin with. I have two jibs, a summer small one - an 85 (racers here use a max 130), and my winter biggy - a 110, which I use for racing, too.

I never have ever reefed either of my jibs.

You might also want to read or reread my link in reply #4 about jib sizing.

I agree with Don about using a line at the tack of the luff of the jib, much easier than a stiff metal pendant and the halyard, and before you furl the jib it's easy to release the luff tension in the grooves of the extrusion.

Good luck.

 

[Leeward Rail]

When you raise the mast, the CDI furler is already attached to the forestay, and the sail is normally rolled up on the furler.

The sail is on the furler BEFORE raising the mast ?
My CDI unit must be different, because I can put the sail on the furler AFTER the mast is up.
It simply slides into the extrusion like a bolt roped mainsail. A halyard line runs to the the top of the furler and back down.
You simply raise the sail, remove the messenger line, tie the halyard end to the drum, and you are done.

Why would someone "normally" have it rolled up on the furler, when raising the mast ?

That said, raising the mast with the furler attached is still a bit of a PITA. Though my current experiment with a strong bungie running from the drum to the pulpit helps keep the drum from bashing around too much on deck.

 

[dobrosailor]

As for the size of the sail, IMHO its all about where you sail and how you like to sail. Reefing a headsail is a compromise, if your not hard core its a great compromise, I do admit I have no experience with new foam luffs. When I was in San Francisco, I ran a 110 most of the time which gave me 80%-110% roughly with respectable sail shape, I could go more but the sail shape and position on the forestay was not great e.g. I would rather have the small sail lower on the stay in big gust. Occasionally I would put the 130 on but it usually didn't stay on long for the kind of sailing I liked out there. In Southern Calif I might go 130 possibly 150 some times of the year, Choose the right sail for the lighter end of the spectrum of winds you expect most of the time in your stomping grounds wanting to stay well within 30% reefing for 75 to 80% of your sailing daze IMHO. for instance On lake Cayuga, my current stomping grounds I would probably go 130 expecting to spend most of my sailing days between 100% and 130% with infrequent outlier days running smaller but the bulk of my days with the sail completely unreefed note: Unless I'm being lazy, my personal preference is to reef the main (Jiffy reefing a MUST!) to the first reef before reefing the jib. Hope that helps...

One last point, I am beginning to think I understand there is a difference between Furling and Reefing systems trying to figure out what is in a box of furling parts that came with my boat. Make sure the system you choose is intended for reefing as opposed to being a quick way to put the sail away - only.

M

 

[allen-deckard]

The sail is on the furler BEFORE raising the mast ?
My CDI unit must be different, because I can put the sail on the furler AFTER the mast is up.
It simply slides into the extrusion like a bolt roped mainsail. A halyard line runs to the the top of the furler and back down.
You simply raise the sail, remove the messenger line, tie the halyard end to the drum, and you are done.

Why would someone "normally" have it rolled up on the furler, when raising the mast ?

That said, raising the mast with the furler attached is still a bit of a PITA. Though my current experiment with a strong bungie running from the drum to the pulpit helps keep the drum from bashing around too much on deck.

Kind of depends on your mast raising method.. With mine it makes no difference if the sail is attached or not. Thus I leave it attached and the entire thing bungeed to the mast in 2 places. The sail is "normally" for most put on after the mast is raised but again kind of depends on your system.

Want to add that the entire cdi system "can" be put on after the mast is up. I've done it once long time ago when I simply forgot to put it on before and didn't want to take the boat out. can say it's like balancing a wet noodle 30 ft tall while trying to push a wire down the center. I don't recommend it but it can be done hehe

 

[Leeward Rail]

Want to add that the entire cdi system "can" be put on after the mast is up. I don't recommend it but it can be done hehe

Sounds like a perfect compliment to the usual entertainment of watching people at the ramp or pulling into the dock.


The relative ease with which I can hoist our jib on the CDI furler, has me wondering if it can be done while sailing.
I'd really like to be able to have a large light air sail like a drifter, genaker available.
One single sail just doesn't cut it IMO. I'm not thinking of racing... Just keeping moving when the wind is very light.
allen-decker: For your planned big trip, what type of winds can you expect ?

 

[allen-deckard]

0 on bad days up to 20ish that time of year. Obviously there is always the off chance of a storm at which point who knows but average is around 12ish.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

As a former dealer for Catalina, let me shed some insight. The CDI FF2 is the correct furler for the Catalina 22 but with some modifications as posted earlier to include swaged fittings and the use of a swivel style toggle as seen. Originally the rigging was crimped on and needed to be retrofitted for the CDI.
The CDI furler is a one piece that can bend vs. the other metal furlers that more care has to be taken to prevent from breaking the metal extrusions when the mast was being raised or lowered. The swivel toggle allows the forestay to sway sideways; otherwise, the rigging particularly the old crimped style rigging, the strands can and will break. The CDI has it own internal jib halyard which does not require the standard jib halyard to be used. This is a good set up if you are using a mast raising system wherein the mast jib halyard is being used in mast raising and the owner wants to leave the sail furled around the furler itself. When raising/lowering the mast with a furler regardless if the sail is on or off, I always suggested centering that with the mast when using the mast raise system to help prevent sidway movement of the mast
On a trailerable boat, many look for ways of saving time in set up and leaving the jib on with the internal CDI jib halyard is furled around and secured to the furler as long as there is a cover on it helps a lot. Later flexible furlers that came out still used the standard mast jib halyard for raising/lowering the sail as well as mast raising which took more time in set up. The CDI furler is a one piece that can bend without any issue is another reason I used them.
As for the jib, it can be raised off the deck with it tied to the lower drum with a line and it works. In fact the higher the better. Many will have various opinions but I was looking at this from trailering a boat all the time and Catalina used this system and with the mast raise system for the Sport 22 and the newer C 22 with the mast raise systems which looks very close to other manufacturers systems for example the early Hunter water ballast boats with the same set up which I am familiar with.

 

[$tingy Sailor]

Here's a picture of what Don's talking about as I rigged mine (vinyl covered). The headsail downhaul/spinnaker tack line is also shown.

 

[dbk0630]

So last winter I too was thinking about adding a furler to my '86 C22... and was intrigued by the Harken furler option described by Capn'n Don on this site and in the March Mainbrace. Shortly after, almost as if by fate, I came across a Harken 436 furler on ebay at a price too good to pass up... and it pushed me over the edge. In the spring I was able to follow Don's instructions... including installing a Wichard U-bolt to replace the bolts at the back of the bow stem fitting and adding two fairleads and a stanchion mounted cleat for the furler line. I also had a local sailmaker remove the hanks from my jib (a standard 110 jib) and install a cable and eyes to the luff. When installing the cable, the sailmaker (who had experience using a similar setup) recommended installing two wires in the luff to make it furl better. In total the project set me back just over $400.

The furler has been a great addition... I really like the flexibility and ease of use it provides. It would be nice to be able to reef on the fly but I have a storm jib that I can still hank on when needed... as well as a 135 for when the winds are light... though I haven't used either this season. Included are some pix of our setup. Since these were taken I've added the quick release lever for the forestay... which I like a lot too.

 

[CaptDon01]

dbk0630.....Nice set-up, looks familiar Yeah, I bought mine on eBay also, new in the bag at a price I also couldn't pass up..'

Don

 

[Solace of Freedom]

I usual dont have much more to add because there are so many good comments/feed back on this forum. But, we have a few things in common. Maybe I can help. I sail out of Gibraltar on NW Lake Erie. If you see a C 22 w/ red dragons on the bow wave me down. The original owner put a CDI furler w/ a 190 genny on my boat. Why anyone would put such a big furlowing headsail on is a mystery. Either it is too windy to open it or the sail is too heavy to open in light winds. I sail it reefed all the time and it works great. People have said that a reefed furlowing sail has less than optimal shape. But, I won't have thought about it if I had not read it. I usually gradually let it out until the boat is moving swift enough. With a large headsail reefed it keeps the sail lower (the open part), possibly, reducing heel. If I didn't have a furlowing headsail on my boat it would be a prioirty. It would be on by spring. I, also, frequently single-hand. And, if the wind is up at all I'll just open up the headsail. I would suggest a 140-150. I haven't had experience w/ any other furlers but I like the CDI. It is simple, works well, and is low maintenance (it appears to be more affordable). The only complaint is that the plastic foil will warp if not kept straight (when not raised). I had to replace mine. This would be an issue for someone who frequently trailers their boat. I store mine in the basement during winter. If you want to contact me, trade more info, let me know on my post-page.

 

[allen-deckard]

I bungie my foil to the mast in several places when it's down for extended period. Anyway just pointing that out.