Harken vs Profurl furling systems

  • Thread starter Eddie, Cape Coral, Fl.
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Eddie, Cape Coral, Fl.

I have a 1983 Hunter 31 and have an old Hood furler. I am replacing the standing rigging and thinking about replacing the furler too. My rigger likes the Profurl R350 or Profurl C320. He can also get the Harken unit 01 all within about $200.00 of each other. Would love to hear what you guys think... I am a very laid back sailer, don't race. I sail in the southwest Fl. area, Cape Coral/Ft Myers and down to the Keys. Thanks in advance for any and all opinions.

By the way.... What a Great site for learning... thanks again.

Eddie
S/V Blue Heron
Cape Coral, Fl.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,041
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Hi Eddie,

I keep reviewing this issue even though I haven't pulled the trigger for a purchase yet. Currently, we hank our headsails.

I have concluded that the Harken furler is the way to go. I want the option of a dual sleeve so I consider the MKIV as the choice for me. From a performance standpoint, I have heard only great things about Harken. I want a system that works particularly well for furling AND reefing. There is a difference and not all furlers can also reef the sail effectively so you should make a point of asking about this. I have to admit that I have heard very good things about Profurl but it seems that the features I want in the Profurl are a significantly more expensive model than the comparable Harken.

I spent some time with the Harken rep at the Annapolis boat show and I was very impressed with the installation simplicity and rigidity of the foil section. Harken also seems to be priced better.

Does your rigger prefer Profurl because it will mean a rigging job for him? Just a question ... nothing wrong with that when they are standing behind their work.

I also considered Schaefer because quality is important to me, but price and complexity of rigging it sways me away. I keep going back to deciding that I will choose Harken. The cruising furler from Harken is available on this site.
 

Rick I

.
Jan 6, 2007
414
CS36Merlin and Beneteau 393 - Toronto
I have both. I've had a Harken for twenty years and a Profurl for four. Both work well but I would go with a Harken as it does not have sealed bearings. With the Harken you flush out the bearings every so often with fresh water. With the Profurl there is nothing to do about the bearings and they do fail every so often. Also if you take your mast down every year (as we do in Toronto), the Harken is a lot easier to work with. The only knock on the Harken is halyard wrap but that is always operator error as the sail has to be hoisted to within a couple of inches of the top of the foil.
 
Jun 8, 2004
550
Macgregor 26M Delta, B.C. Canada 26M not X
There is also the Schaefer models to consider, I use a Schaefer Snapfurl CF700 and it works just fine, also has flushable bearings.
 

Alan

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Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
I've had my ProFurl R 350 system for 15 years with never a day of problems. The sealed bearings are just that, they never need servicing.
I have removed and installed the unit when replacing my headstay with no problem.
I have below decks furling which allows for a deck sweeper genoa. In race mode I simply use the foil as an extrusion to hold the luff tape of my racing sails without furling. The split drum is easy to remove and install as needed.
If anything were to happen to the ProFurl unit I would buy it again in a NY minute.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
There are a few things that lead me to buying a Harken MK-IV last year.

For me the choice was very easy as I was able to see them side by side and all the Parts and pieces. Pro-Furl is a very well built unit as are Schafer & Furlex but at the time I was buying Pro-Furl had been sold by the founder and parts were hard for my rigger to get. This piece of info alone made the Harken a very easy choice. I know Harken to be one of the best in the business for customer support and they will be there when you need them.

I chose the MK-IV over the less expensive cruising model..

#1 The MK-IV has four more races of Torlon bearings than does the Cruising model and neither ever need need any lubrication.

#2 The MK-IV has unique independent upper & lower swivels the Pro-Furl does not. These swivels allow the head and tack to lag behind foil as you pull on the furling line. This feature allows the center of the sail to furl first and the tack and clew lag behind because they independantly swivel on their own. While many furlers have an independant top swivel only the Harken has both top and bottom swivels that are independant for a much better reefed shape. With two extra rows of Torlon bearings in both the upper and lower drums, that support this feature, the sails furl easily even under load not that I suggest this. That indpendant swivels help aid in a better sail shape when reefed and it WORKS! This feature is worth EVERY penny!!

#3 The adjustment factor is a BIG plus! Simply pull a pin and loosen four allen head machine screws and raise the drum to have access to the head stay turnbuckle. See photos..



This is how user friendly the Harken MK-IV really is:

Step one: Loosen these four bolts and pop the retainer plate out off the corresponding notch on the foil (you do not need to take them all the way out, just loose, a NICE feature to prevent losing the bolts):

Step two: Remove this pin and slide the drum up the foil and snug down the previous four screws to hold the drum up and out of the way:

Step 3: Adjust your turnbuckle! Yes it's that easy!!!
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
You may also want to check out the Spintec unit that is sold on this site. You may be able to install this yourself (I did, with some help from some friends). It took about 5 hrs. for a bunch of rookies.

These units have a little different concept, but are very straight forward. You should be able to save several hundred dollars with one of these units over the other options.

http://www.spin-tec.com/
 
Jun 9, 2008
1,771
- -- -Bayfield
Furler options

I have a 1983 Hunter 31 and have an old Hood furler. I am replacing the standing rigging and thinking about replacing the furler too. My rigger likes the Profurl R350 or Profurl C320. He can also get the Harken unit 01 all within about $200.00 of each other. Would love to hear what you guys think... I am a very laid back sailer, don't race. I sail in the southwest Fl. area, Cape Coral/Ft Myers and down to the Keys. Thanks in advance for any and all opinions.

By the way.... What a Great site for learning... thanks again.

Eddie
S/V Blue Heron
Cape Coral, Fl.
In my opinion, the Harken is better, but if I were you I would also take a look at Furlex. In my opinion, it is the best furler out there. And you get a new forestay which means you have quality control over all the components of the system. You are not putting a new furler over an old forestay. Plus the completeness of the kit is nice too. You get everything you need instead of having to buy kits to complete the system. BTW Furlex is used on all new Hunters too.
 
E

Eddie Cape Coral, Fl.

Thanks to all

Thanks everyone. Sounds like both system are good quality furlers. Also sounds like I should check out some other furlers. As I said in my original post, What a Great site to learn from.

Thanks again,
Eddie

PS.
Steve.... The rigger likes the Profurl better but also sales the Harken so he would get the job either way.
 
E

Eddie, Cape Coral, Fl.

Thanks to all - correction

In my PS I answered Steve. However it was Scott that asked why the rigger likes Profurl better. Sorry for the mixup.
 
Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
While I like the Furlex unit, which is what I have on my boat, I think the Harken Mk IV is a better unit for one reason. It allows you to adjust the forestay tension reasonably easily, which is not the case on the Furlex.

In my opinion, the Harken is better, but if I were you I would also take a look at Furlex. In my opinion, it is the best furler out there. And you get a new forestay which means you have quality control over all the components of the system. You are not putting a new furler over an old forestay. Plus the completeness of the kit is nice too. You get everything you need instead of having to buy kits to complete the system. BTW Furlex is used on all new Hunters too.
 
Sep 24, 1999
1,511
Hunter H46LE Sausalito
i've used both

the last boat had profurl and the new boat has harken. The next boat, should there be one, will also have harken.

it's far more user friendly--something to consider if you ever have to adjust headstay tension and your rigger's not around.
 
Feb 13, 2010
8
Pearson 30 Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club
Looking at Alado as well.

There are other options other than Harken and Profurl..

I just installed one of these myself for half the cost of the Harken unit.

http://www.alado.com/
I too am looking for a furling unit for my Pearson 30.

I like the Harken, but as Fairwind mentioned, the Alado is almost half the price.

That is the unit I was looking at and was wondering how you liked it?

Thanks.
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
I too am looking for a furling unit for my Pearson 30.

I like the Harken, but as Fairwind mentioned, the Alado is almost half the price.

That is the unit I was looking at and was wondering how you liked it?

Thanks.
Just a heads up, since this thread is almost 2 years old you might also try sending a personal message to Fairwind regarding your inquiry.. just click on his name in the box.
 
Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
I too am looking for a furling unit for my Pearson 30.

I like the Harken, but as Fairwind mentioned, the Alado is almost half the price.

That is the unit I was looking at and was wondering how you liked it?

Thanks.
I got a Profurl 320 on sale on defender for $800 including shipping. It is oversized on my boat but that is better that way. I can furl in a real blow. This original post is 100 years old but I see you are looking now. For the price I couldn't pass it up. Alados look like they are built well but I am not sure about customer service. It did get a favorable review in a popular sailing magazine, but I would call their customer support line and see if you get a real english speaking person that will talk to you about their product and their service.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Furling Systems

Harken is really proud of their stuff .. I am not sure I'd have purchased one but the PO had put one on the boat back in the 1986 timeframe.. One of their early "MK 1" units; same top and bottom swivels that Maine mentioned. It has worked very well for me and is now 24 years old.. The only problem I have had with it was not its fault.. The roll pins that hold the foil sections together came out a couple of years ago when my headstay was sagging excessively due to the compression beam problem. That caused the foil to roll in an catenary and not a straight line, which stresses the joints between the foil sections. Harken was very responsive and still provided roll pin kits for the old furler.. Another problem happened when I was taking the thing apart to replace the roll pins.. I found out that the torlon balls aren't captured.... uuhhhh, and they don't float when they go into the bayou! They are a standard size torlon ball so I was able to buy a bunch of loose ones to re-assemble the unit.. It has a gate that lets the top swivel go down past the feeder so that very low cut sails can be used for racing.. they don't furl in that configuration; the unit basically converts to a double groove racing headfoil. Because of the build quality and the customer response, I am a fan of Harken..
 

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