How to operate a roller furling...

[Rene Schmidt]

I just purchased, and had installed a Hood 700SL roller furling system.I used it for the first time yesterday, and have several questions about it. This might be a general question pertaining to the operation of all roller furling systems.When I am close hauled, should I be able to reef without the use of a winch? The way that I tried to reef was to loosen the jib sheet, and then pull the furling line. I was unable to do this without the use of a winch. Am I doing something wrong, or can you not reef when you are close hauled?Thanx in advance!Rene Schmidt Mai-Tai, 285 San Francisco

 

[Doug B]

Heave

Close hauled should be easier than a beam reach as your angle to the wind is less. On our recently installed harken system, it takes some doing but we can roll her up when needed. If you just cant pull hard enough to roll, you have a couple of options. Running to a winch is the most obvious if you do not want to lose boat speed. My recommendation is to shift course slightly and head up until your jib just begins to luff, crank her in and fall off. Obviously on a beam reach you would have to change your course by 45 degrees to do the same thing. Happy sailing.Doug

 

[Bryan C.]

Run

If there is a strong load on the sail, it will be very difficult if not impossible to furl/reef. You could winch it in if you had to -- I refrain from doing that unless it is an emergency, because I can imagine the load that places on the rigging. By far the easiest way to furl (if you have your main up) is to point her just off downwind so that the main blankets the jib. With no pressure on the jib, you can furl it in easily. Otherwise, I head up and ease and luff the jib to furl it. If the wind is blowing 20+ knts and the jib is flapping this can still be difficult.

 

[Greg Downs]

Be careful of jams

Whenever I have tried to reef my 150 geneoa, my line jams inside the furler drum. Check with Hood to make sure you can reef your model.