Hood Furler

[captcoho]

Hey, I want to get rid of my Hood 810 LD....Hood no longer offers the the 800 upgrade, but now upgrades to a 707SL.
anyone with any experience with this furler?? And reefing capabilities?

thnx

 

[jrowan]

Just curious why you want to get rid of your Hood furler? If you do, can I salvage the drum for parts? My top drum plate has a crack at the seams where someone drilled the furling line to attach to this plastic plate, rather then in the drum core itself. I would be glad to pay for the shipping expense, etc. Thanks, Jeremy Rowan.

 

[captcoho]

Just curious why you want to get rid of your Hood furler? If you do, can I salvage the drum for parts? My top drum plate has a crack at the seams where someone drilled the furling line to attach to this plastic plate, rather then in the drum core itself. I would be glad to pay for the shipping expense, etc. Thanks, Jeremy Rowan.

Because it's not a reefing furler. Too often when the need to reef, is when this furler dosen't work. As you may have experienced in heavy air and the wind just unfurls the full 155%. Not always a good thing in 25 + knots winds. And even with light air, it can be had to furl, or unfurl. I've moved the stantion blocks every which way, and it still hangs up at times.
As far as parts, the requirement from Hood is the old unit must be returned to them. Probally to insure continued market share.Otherwise I be more than happy to help out.
They used to offer the 800 SL as an upgrade. This would have been far easier to install. It would have used the same extrusions. And not required having to go up the mast to the forestay attachment.

 

[dj2210]

I have one on my boat also. The other day the it gave me grief trying to furl the sail. It seemed to be dragging and twisting. After I got back in I loosened the lower housing below the line and forgot about the line stripper. Plop- in the water and sunk. Not sure if it will work without it.
I agree it is irritating trying to furl it sometimes but has worked for me so far.

 

[jrowan]

I have found that furling & unfurling with the Hood & indeed many furlers is that it takes two crew to do it right. You have to keep even tension between the furling line & the jib sheets when unfurling so that the furling line doesn't loosen up & fall off the drum as it is coiled up. When furling up you have to keep tension on the jib sheet, or the genoa will not roll up tightly & hang "baggily"on the forestay. I have a UK Halsey 135 genoa with a padded luff built in that helps maintain sail shape, & seems to stop the center from getting baggy as the foot & head of the sail want to wrap up first. I've also noticed that if your lines are old & hard it makes it much more difficult to furl & unfurl the sail. Kind of goes with the territory of an old sailboat.

 

[fox islander]

My Hood furler was difficult to furl and quite often jammed until I replaced the furling line with a 5/16" cored line (first 20' cored)...very smooth operation after that.

 

[captcoho]

Some of you guys refer to a single line system ( the SL ), the old Hood furler I refer to the LD, has a continues line. As dj mentions, it has a line stripper that seems to jam on occasion, although it seems never at a good time.
The LD unit is really a furler only.....you can try to reef. It does reef, but you got to hang on tight to both sides of the line or the wind will unfurl all the sail. This can occur if after one side of the line is cleater off, and the "other side" of the line has the least little slack.
It would seem from my research that Hood Systems are not on the bottem of the list. And are a quality system. I think it's great that they have acknowledged the short comings of the 810 LD and continue to offer replacement solutions. I just hope that the 707SL will not be throwing good money after bad.
The upgrades offered in the past, only required replacing the drum. The new 707Sl will require going aloft to remove the fore stay. Along with now installing new extrusions.
This may be the best as it will cause me to look at the condiction of the exsisting stay. But ultimently, I will replace it for good measure incurring another two to three hundred dollar expense. Kind of like the "free boat" post.
I'm just hoping that Hood 707 SL will be on the upper end of industry quality.
Upgrade drive unit + luff extrustions + halyard swivel = $ 900.00
Fore Stay ( catalina direct ) = $300.00
Beer & Brats to get friends to help = $100.00
no hassel furl/reefing = priceless

 

[Barnacle Bill]

In the "business" LD has a moniker of "Light Duty" (though it really means Line Drive continuously). Buy, that unit is not made anymore, but parts are still available. In my opinion, Furlex is the best furler on the market, so I would consider that as a replacement.

 

[adirondackbob]

My C30 came with this furler, and I had the same problems trying to reef the headsail that others have described here. However, like Fox, I replaced my furling line and then installed a second cleat (a clam cleat) near the original horn cleat so that I now cleat both "sides" of the continuous furling line independently. When reefing, I cleat one "side" of the line on the horn cleat and the other "side" on the clam cleat, adjusting if necessary to keep full tension on both sides of the line. I have found that the reason the sail would unfurl in stiff winds was that the "lazy" side of the line wasn't making full contact with the furling drum. With a single horn cleat I couldn't keep tension on that lazy side of the line. Now with two cleats, cleating each side of the line independent of the other allows me to get sufficient tension so that the furling line is contacting 270 degrees of the furling drum. Since I installed the second cleat, I have not had any trouble reefing my headsail, and I've sailed in 25+ knots of wind a number of times without the headsail unfurling.

Bob
"Valhalla"
Lake Champlain

 

[dj2210]

yes I've been thinking on placing a second cleat of some sort also. It seems difficult to keep tension on both sides with one cleat. I also thought about placing two cam cleats side by side and not using the horn cleat.

 

[Time Out]

My C30 came with this furler, and I had the same problems trying to reef the headsail that others have described here. However, like Fox, I replaced my furling line and then installed a second cleat (a clam cleat) near the original horn cleat so that I now cleat both "sides" of the continuous furling line independently. When reefing, I cleat one "side" of the line on the horn cleat and the other "side" on the clam cleat, adjusting if necessary to keep full tension on both sides of the line. I have found that the reason the sail would unfurl in stiff winds was that the "lazy" side of the line wasn't making full contact with the furling drum. With a single horn cleat I couldn't keep tension on that lazy side of the line. Now with two cleats, cleating each side of the line independent of the other allows me to get sufficient tension so that the furling line is contacting 270 degrees of the furling drum. Since I installed the second cleat, I have not had any trouble reefing my headsail, and I've sailed in 25+ knots of wind a number of times without the headsail unfurling.

Bob
"Valhalla"
Lake Champlain

I have been using a Hood continious line furler on a Catalina 27 for years and agree that as long as both sides of the line are cleated off and there is no slack on either side of the furler drum it will not unwind. I use a 150 on the furler, I have reefed it to juat about every size immaginable in all types of conditions and have never had a problem as long as both sides of the furler line are pulled tight and cleated off.
I use two horn cleats to tie off the line which works just fine.

-Eric

 

[dj2210]

captcoho- Have you replaced the 810LD yet with the 707 and if so how did it go?

 

[captcoho]

captcoho- Have you replaced the 810LD yet with the 707 and if so how did it go?

Still winter here in Wisconsin. With this " Bi-Polar" weather we continue to have, as soon as I think about the boat, the weather turns cold and snows again. (one day 50 degrees and sun, the next 10 degrees and snow)
I will need to uncover at least the front of the boat. Then, get aloft to take down the head-stay ( after securing the mast with one of the jib halyards ).
Then have either a local rigger build a new head-stay, or mail the old one to either Hood, or Catalina Direct , to get a new stay. ( They need the old one to be sure of the exact lenght). Then after assembling the new stay,extrutions, and furler. I will then need to get aloft to reattach the head-stay furler assembly.
This will require using one jib halyard to secure the mast, one jib halyard to hoist the furler/stay , and the mainsal halyard to put some up to the mast head.
I will keep you posted.....

 

[dj2210]

Our weather is like that too but not as cold. I guess my question is if you received the furler and compared quality with your old one. I read somewhere that the 707 is lighter duty- just curious. It is one of the lowest cost units out there.

Still winter here in Wisconsin. With this " Bi-Polar" weather we continue to have, as soon as I think about the boat, the weather turns cold and snows again. (one day 50 degrees and sun, the next 10 degrees and snow)
I will need to uncover at least the front of the boat. Then, get aloft to take down the head-stay ( after securing the mast with one of the jib halyards ).
Then have either a local rigger build a new head-stay, or mail the old one to either Hood, or Catalina Direct , to get a new stay. ( They need the old one to be sure of the exact lenght). Then after assembling the new stay,extrutions, and furler. I will then need to get aloft to reattach the head-stay furler assembly.
This will require using one jib halyard to secure the mast, one jib halyard to hoist the furler/stay , and the mainsal halyard to put some up to the mast head.
I will keep you posted.....

 

[Donnybrook]

I have an old Hood SeaFurl that has served me well. I rebuilt it a few years ago, and Hood has the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. If you have not made the purchase yet, I would look at Schaefer furlers before you buy.

 

[Nahart51]

I also have an older Hood Furler, and I need a new foil. The Furler is great , but I agree the company has horrible customer service. Also, a replacement foil will cost me my unborn child. So I'm hanking.

 

[captcoho]

Still have'nt pulled the trigger on the new furler yet.....
I'm wondering if the 707sl is a good replacement even with the "special" reduced price from Hood.....
As some have said, keeping the lazy sided cleated does the trick. And like most, I did go out and imediatly buy a clam-cleat thinking that was the way to go. I ended up moving the jib-car rail horn cleat back, now being able to wrap all the furler line around the one cleat. This kept the line tight, preventing unfurling, and didn't have to do any work, other than mix another drink. ;-)
If I don't change the furler this winter, the clam-cleat gets installed.
Still like to get more input on the 707 SL