Furling Systems - Dutchman experiences and opinions?

[NYSail]

Loved my dutchman on my old boat. Worked flawlessly...... when sailing I would loosen up on the toplift so not to interfere with sail shape, then tighten when dropping. Sail would come down and be contained. Would go up and flake sail after everything was underway and safe. Now have in mast furler and once got the mast straight goes in and out with no problems... so far like the convenience.... just working on the tuning of the sail now....

 

[Justin_NSA]

I replaced my furling line with one long enough to lower the Dutchman filament clamps to where I can reach them. In the Fall I disconnect the filaments from the clamps and remove the mainsail with the line still attached at the foot and threaded. Makes for an easier Spring launch. My next task is to add a cleat near my clutches so I can ease or tighten the system from the cockpit. Now there is a horn cleat on the mast.

 

[jviss]

I'm probably over-thinking this, but I'm currently frustrated with the documentation from Dutchman, which seems to me to at times be contradictory. I think it might just be the style and organization of the writing. I assume that it's so, that if you have a "C System," with the jam block shackled to the end of the boom, then you need a halyard-style topping lift. But if you have a halyard-style topping lift, why not just implement the recommended "A System?"

 

[walmsleyc]

I had the Dutchman system on my Legend 35. Always worked reasonably well, and work best when everything was adjusted well. Spacing of the attachment points of the Dutchman lines on the topping lift is critical, as well as overall length/tension of the lines. When you release the halyard, and the boom drops, if the Dutchman lines go from slack to taught, then the main will drop nicely flaked. I eventually change the system so that in the winter, when I removed the sail, I would also remove the whole topping lift line, and the Dutchman attachment points would be removed together and folded with the sail. This meant that no adjustment would be needed next season (except for wear and stretch)

My sail did NOT have the official plastic thru-sail grommets from Dutchman (with the oblong hole), but instead just had brass grommets. These did not work as well. They bind a little because the path through the sail was not fair, and I had to use McLube on the Dutchman lines to keep things sliding smoothly (usually only an issue when hoisting in light air).

My new sail is a higher performance sail, and my sailmaker sort of begged me not to put holes in it for the Dutchman system.
So, at the moment, I've got nothing.
Chris

 

[jssailem]

Chris. Not true. You have a pure higher performance sail without holes driving your boat to new levels. Time to rejoice and go old school with sail ties in your teeth, grabbing the cloth and wrangling it secure to the boom.

Just don't throw your hands up and look to see your time.


It may work in the rodeo but on a boat, you may find yourself doing an unplanned backflip.

 

[walmsleyc]

Chris. Not true. You have a pure higher performance sail without holes driving your boat to new levels. Time to rejoice and go old school with sail ties in your teeth, grabbing the cloth and wrangling it secure to the boom.

Yup!! It can be a wrestling match for sure. (I did put small chevrons on the leach and small squares on the luff, made out of draft stripe tape. When flaked properly, the chevrons align along the top of the boom, and the luff squares are all on the same side. Works great for guests on board, and me too!)

 

[capta]

I bought this boat with UK tape drive laminate sails. I hated them! They were nice enough as sails, but they wore out many years before a suit of properly made Dacron sails should have. Every year until I replaced the main I would have to put in several Dacron panels to replace the laminate ones.
I would never buy a cruising boat with them again, unless the price was dropped by the cost of a new suit of Dacron cruising sails.

 

[jamhass]

Boat came with a Dutchman system. Worked fine on the old main, a very soft sail. Went with a heavier main, and the Dutchman is more of a PITA than a flaking system. Would not use a Dutchman ever again.

 

[jviss]

Boat came with a Dutchman system. Worked fine on the old main, a very soft sail. Went with a heavier main, and the Dutchman is more of a PITA than a flaking system. Would not use a Dutchman ever again.

Thanks for the input. Can you be more specific about what didn't work with the heavier main? Did you set it up yourself, or did the yard, or sailmaker?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Boat came with a Dutchman system. Worked fine on the old main, a very soft sail. Went with a heavier main, and the Dutchman is more of a PITA than a flaking system. Would not use a Dutchman ever again.

New sails require some "learning" where their folds belong.

 

[Justin_NSA]

+1 on what Don said. That's why I store mine in the off season with the same folds when flaked. My sail is pretty "young".

 

[Rich Stidger]

New sails require some "learning" where their folds belong.

I guess I had totally dumb sails. In 15 years I couldn't get them to flake correctly. And yes, proper adjustment and usage did improve the performance, but nothing like what you see at the boat shows.

 

[NYSail]

I had an older sail...... it would drop but not perfectly flake..... I would go up and do a few pulls to get it perfect. After a few years of the sail flaking in this position it got better however was never flaked perfect. However for me that was not an issue and I was fine straightening things out when lowered. Just for me a very convenient way to drop sail quickly without having to worry about it being all over the place.

 

[jamhass]

Sailmaker (UK Sails) built our new main from hydranet and installed the Dutchman. He used 2 lines, should have used 3. The main is fully battened, so the dutchman "holes" don't line up with the slugs, and so have a significant side-load. Sailmaker should have known these issues would have made a dutchman impractical for this main. I was inexperienced and mistakenly trusted his judgement.

And yes, I did try to "train" the main and I do adjust the lines and topping lift. Had no issues with the old main and dutchman, but IMHO, a dutchman is unlikely to work with a heavier main.