I am sure that questions concerning in mast furling have been fully answered but I cannot find any in the forum. Can you please either direct me to a thread or give me some advice on adding this option to a new 320? The main advantages I see for adding the furling are : 1) NO heart attack while raising main. I used to have a 280 and the main on that little thing was a bear to raise. Someone thought my mast may have been gunked up or something else wrong. I just remember sweating and breathing real hard after hoisting. That made it real difficult to sail single handed. 2) I'll reef when I should instead of waiting too long. On the 280 I was under the impression that I had to go to the mast to hook up the reef point. Is this true or can you truly do it from the cockpit? Seems like reefing time is exactly when I want to be in the cockpit rather than at the mast. 3) Quicker to deploy main in case of engine problem in tight quarters 4) Easier overall single handing. Disadvantages: Poor sail shape. How poor? I don't know. I don't race so an extra tenth of a knot is not important to me but half a knot is on a passage. How much does the battenless sail affect performance? The other disadvantage is unnecessary complexity but, hey, I'm even thing of adding air conditioning so complexity is not something I tend to avoid anyway. (If it was I guess I'd just keep my Capri 18!) Thanks guys and gals - I'm sure this topic has been beat to death but I appreicate any input for a newbie.
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T
Tom
and another thing...
Why doesn't Hunter go to in boom furling? Put a solid vang on to align the boom properly and you get to keep the full battens. should I go with the normal rig and hope for decent in boom furling as an add on later?
Why doesn't Hunter go to in boom furling? Put a solid vang on to align the boom properly and you get to keep the full battens. should I go with the normal rig and hope for decent in boom furling as an add on later?
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Michael Cohn
Sigh
Poor performance - really poor. Lots of weight. Expensive. Dangerous as hell when it jams. MC
Poor performance - really poor. Lots of weight. Expensive. Dangerous as hell when it jams. MC
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Justin Wolfe
Buy a different brand
If raising the main easily is one of your primary concerns why not buy a different brand boat. The rest of world seems to have figured out how to install a few sheeves and mast track without causing a heart attack. Why can't Hunter? Incidentally my parents just replaced their mast top sheeve with a Garhauer ball bearing sheeve and it makes a world of difference. Much cheaper than a roller furling mast. If the sheeve idea isn't enough, how about an electric halyard winch. At least this way you still retain the positive aspects of the B&R rig. With a roller furling main you get. An undersized sailplan, poor sail shape, weight aloft, an undesirably straight mast, potential jamming, AND you get with the B&R rig swept back spreaders and a small jib. Talk about a load of compromises. Not convinced. Roller furling masts are for people who should buy trawlers, but can't swallow the fact they are really power boaters. Ouch! Did I say that. Just trying to get my point across. Yes a roller furling boom does seem like a better solution, at a cost though.
If raising the main easily is one of your primary concerns why not buy a different brand boat. The rest of world seems to have figured out how to install a few sheeves and mast track without causing a heart attack. Why can't Hunter? Incidentally my parents just replaced their mast top sheeve with a Garhauer ball bearing sheeve and it makes a world of difference. Much cheaper than a roller furling mast. If the sheeve idea isn't enough, how about an electric halyard winch. At least this way you still retain the positive aspects of the B&R rig. With a roller furling main you get. An undersized sailplan, poor sail shape, weight aloft, an undesirably straight mast, potential jamming, AND you get with the B&R rig swept back spreaders and a small jib. Talk about a load of compromises. Not convinced. Roller furling masts are for people who should buy trawlers, but can't swallow the fact they are really power boaters. Ouch! Did I say that. Just trying to get my point across. Yes a roller furling boom does seem like a better solution, at a cost though.
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Mike DiMario
Convenience vs. Convention
Tom, We have a 376 with the selden furling system and we love it. I think you need to judge your use. We are in the Chesapeake Bay. We see so many sailboats sailing without their mains and it is quite evident that it is too much hastle for variable winds, or short distances, or ............. Single handing is a snap. I had one jam when we first got the boat two years ago. A regular main could jam as well. The boat is fast. It has no roach, Not to be confused with no shape. It is a thing of beauty, loose footed and very adjustable. You loose shape if you furl, I am sure you know what it is like to furl your jib and what effect it has on shape. If your more concerned about convenience than convention it may be you. Some are very intimidated by unconventional. Happy Hunting, Mike D.
Tom, We have a 376 with the selden furling system and we love it. I think you need to judge your use. We are in the Chesapeake Bay. We see so many sailboats sailing without their mains and it is quite evident that it is too much hastle for variable winds, or short distances, or ............. Single handing is a snap. I had one jam when we first got the boat two years ago. A regular main could jam as well. The boat is fast. It has no roach, Not to be confused with no shape. It is a thing of beauty, loose footed and very adjustable. You loose shape if you furl, I am sure you know what it is like to furl your jib and what effect it has on shape. If your more concerned about convenience than convention it may be you. Some are very intimidated by unconventional. Happy Hunting, Mike D.
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G. Baggett
Maybe Hunter has Improved.
I don't know about the older boats, but raising the main an my H290 is a breeze. Maybe Hunter has made some changes. I mostly single hand and have had no problems. With three wraps, I can raise the main nearly all the way with minimal effort. A couple of cranks and the job is finished. Comes down equally as well.
I don't know about the older boats, but raising the main an my H290 is a breeze. Maybe Hunter has made some changes. I mostly single hand and have had no problems. With three wraps, I can raise the main nearly all the way with minimal effort. A couple of cranks and the job is finished. Comes down equally as well.
J
Jay Hill
Would work on the current sail
I can raise my mainsail on an H31 (P = 37'5") all the way to the top from the cockpit without a heart attack. Then, as G. said, about a turn to top it off. I do this single-handed as well. I did take the time to wax each individual slide and spray the track with a teflon sail track spray. If it wasn't for all the weight and fairleads on the halyard path, the sail would even drop all the way down. (All but about 4' plummets to the boom.) To address some of your other issues: 1) See above, clean the track, spray, wax slides, ball bearing sheaves and deck organizers. 2) IMHO, reefing time is BEFORE the condition hits you, but then again, winds pick up AFTER you are underway and do not necessarily indicate a storm. So, for single-handing, I installed two single-line jiffy reefs I can control from the cockpit. See "Single-Handing an H31, The Gear, Routes, Etc." in the Photo Forum. 3) Hmmm, got me there but something still has to be pulled. A line to pull out the main or a line to pull up the main. I still think with proper lubrication, the main will go UP just as easy as OUT. (Except of course for the physics of weight.) 4) Probably so. disadvantages: IMHO outweigh the advantages. The sail performance associated with the foot being attached to the boom on regular mainsail allows better control of the draft and provides more "push" downwind. Without the foot connected, shape is more difficult to control with just the outhaul and boomvang. You cannot have a downhaul or cunningham on a roller main either. (not that I've seen or figured out.) I would not be near as concerned with no battens as no foot. Complexity: If you install the system, don't forget to install (if you don't have it already) another halyard, either spinnaker or main, to provide a means of getting up the mast to fix the roller if it ever breaks.
I can raise my mainsail on an H31 (P = 37'5") all the way to the top from the cockpit without a heart attack. Then, as G. said, about a turn to top it off. I do this single-handed as well. I did take the time to wax each individual slide and spray the track with a teflon sail track spray. If it wasn't for all the weight and fairleads on the halyard path, the sail would even drop all the way down. (All but about 4' plummets to the boom.) To address some of your other issues: 1) See above, clean the track, spray, wax slides, ball bearing sheaves and deck organizers. 2) IMHO, reefing time is BEFORE the condition hits you, but then again, winds pick up AFTER you are underway and do not necessarily indicate a storm. So, for single-handing, I installed two single-line jiffy reefs I can control from the cockpit. See "Single-Handing an H31, The Gear, Routes, Etc." in the Photo Forum. 3) Hmmm, got me there but something still has to be pulled. A line to pull out the main or a line to pull up the main. I still think with proper lubrication, the main will go UP just as easy as OUT. (Except of course for the physics of weight.) 4) Probably so. disadvantages: IMHO outweigh the advantages. The sail performance associated with the foot being attached to the boom on regular mainsail allows better control of the draft and provides more "push" downwind. Without the foot connected, shape is more difficult to control with just the outhaul and boomvang. You cannot have a downhaul or cunningham on a roller main either. (not that I've seen or figured out.) I would not be near as concerned with no battens as no foot. Complexity: If you install the system, don't forget to install (if you don't have it already) another halyard, either spinnaker or main, to provide a means of getting up the mast to fix the roller if it ever breaks.
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