Hood Seaflex
I purchased my '86 H23 with a Hood Seaflex furler.  I've had two problems with it.  First, when my mast was down and the luff extrusion (the thing that slides up the forestay and which the sail then slides through) was snaked from bow to stern, the extrusion snapped.  Hood's response to this was excellent, and I had a replacement within 2 days.  Second, I agree with Jerry, that the sheetmetal guard is NOT attached well.  It's held in place with two friction pins that don't hold well.  On one occasion, I lost my pins to the water.  To my surprise, Hood also replaced these for free.  Then, on my next voyage, the pins popped out while unfurling and I lost the entire metal guard.  I called Hood about this one, and they didn't call me back.  I guess they've had enough of me!  The purpose of the guard is to hold the line around the furler unit, and keep it from uncoiling around the base of the forestay.  I have been using it without the guard with no problem--I just have to pay attention to keep tension on the furling line so it doesn't have a chance to slip around the base of the furler.Happy Sailing!- Kris Coxadded a Hood "Seaflex" furler to my '85 H 23last spring. If your forstay is attached in the anchor locker like mine, you will need to attach two plates about a foot long by 1" wide to the bottom of the furler so it will clear the anchor locker. The plates straddle the forstay clevis. I used a longer pin that goes through both plates and the forstay clevis. The furler worked fine except that the sheetmetal guard isn't attached well. It was donated to Neptune one afternoon. I made another and attached it with screws. If you'd like, I can send you a picture or a sketch via e-mail. I'm at swalleyjc@aol.com