As I wrote above, I recently bought a 1994 351 Oceanis. After much deliberation, I went with in-mast furling, despite little prior experience with furling mainsails. I welcome any advice on how to avoid the jamming/pinching that seem to haunt some owners of that system.
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Shouldn't be a problem
David the roller furler main shouldn't be a problem for you if you keep a couple of things in mind. 1. Make sure the main is tensioned properly. Too tight and you'll distort the shape of the sail. Too loose and the sail can bunch up or twist as you're trying to roll her up. 2. Head up when either furling or unfurling the main. Too much wind in it will twist the sail and potentially cause it to bunch up and bind. 3. In heavy air, reef in time to prevent difficulty in furling. I've let it go into the low to mid 30s and had a heck of a time furling the main. A furling main won't give you the power in light air or the ability point as well as a conventional sail setup. However you'll love it at the end of the day when you're still in cockpit, have all the sails put away and you pass some other guy standing on a pitching deck sweating his butt off. Good luck with your new baby. Mike
David the roller furler main shouldn't be a problem for you if you keep a couple of things in mind. 1. Make sure the main is tensioned properly. Too tight and you'll distort the shape of the sail. Too loose and the sail can bunch up or twist as you're trying to roll her up. 2. Head up when either furling or unfurling the main. Too much wind in it will twist the sail and potentially cause it to bunch up and bind. 3. In heavy air, reef in time to prevent difficulty in furling. I've let it go into the low to mid 30s and had a heck of a time furling the main. A furling main won't give you the power in light air or the ability point as well as a conventional sail setup. However you'll love it at the end of the day when you're still in cockpit, have all the sails put away and you pass some other guy standing on a pitching deck sweating his butt off. Good luck with your new baby. Mike
I agree with Mike
My experience is similar with a '06 373. There is a lot of friction if the sail has wind in it and the fabric is being pulled over the edge of the furling slot. To avoid this, the bow must be within 15 to 20 degrees of dead into the wind when furling in anything above about 5 knots. Another hint: if there is too much tension on the main halyard, you will make the furler very stiff. If you need to use the winch, try letting the halyard down about an inch. Best of luck.
My experience is similar with a '06 373. There is a lot of friction if the sail has wind in it and the fabric is being pulled over the edge of the furling slot. To avoid this, the bow must be within 15 to 20 degrees of dead into the wind when furling in anything above about 5 knots. Another hint: if there is too much tension on the main halyard, you will make the furler very stiff. If you need to use the winch, try letting the halyard down about an inch. Best of luck.
Always use a winch
in order to get even tension when furling or unfurling - it also allows you to watch the sail carefully - looking for problems before they happen - My B321 furls/unfurls very well on allpoints of sail except head to wind - it needs some wind in the sail to keep it smooth & flat Mine does furl with slightly less friction when on starboard tack - the slot on the mast is slightly offset to starboard and furls counterclockwise. Keep an eye on the anount of bend in your mast - I use about 5 or 6 inches (half of the fore and aft section of the mast) which I've been told is pretty much the maximum Always unfurl the sail completely after sailing with it partially furled or reefed - Same as you should do with a genoa - so that the furling tension is equal thru-out the sail My only "problem area" is the outhaul friction on the track when unfuring the sail - mine will stick in the track about halfway across the boom and if left unchecked will just increase the tension on the leech to the breaking point - which the dummies that delivered my boat did back in july of 2005 - note your 1994 will likely have this same recessed track on the boom that I have - Newer Beneteaus have a proper 1" track ouned on top of the boom tha runs much free'er (?) Finally - just watch the sail - use common sense - it'll be just fine Best of luck - you'll love it
in order to get even tension when furling or unfurling - it also allows you to watch the sail carefully - looking for problems before they happen - My B321 furls/unfurls very well on allpoints of sail except head to wind - it needs some wind in the sail to keep it smooth & flat Mine does furl with slightly less friction when on starboard tack - the slot on the mast is slightly offset to starboard and furls counterclockwise. Keep an eye on the anount of bend in your mast - I use about 5 or 6 inches (half of the fore and aft section of the mast) which I've been told is pretty much the maximum Always unfurl the sail completely after sailing with it partially furled or reefed - Same as you should do with a genoa - so that the furling tension is equal thru-out the sail My only "problem area" is the outhaul friction on the track when unfuring the sail - mine will stick in the track about halfway across the boom and if left unchecked will just increase the tension on the leech to the breaking point - which the dummies that delivered my boat did back in july of 2005 - note your 1994 will likely have this same recessed track on the boom that I have - Newer Beneteaus have a proper 1" track ouned on top of the boom tha runs much free'er (?) Finally - just watch the sail - use common sense - it'll be just fine Best of luck - you'll love it
Use a winch?
David you suggest always using a winch. You must have arms like popeye because I always have to use a winch, there's just too much drag not to. It may be due to the size of the main on my 361 but I've also sailed a new 06 343 and it was pretty much the same way. Couldn't resist responding
David you suggest always using a winch. You must have arms like popeye because I always have to use a winch, there's just too much drag not to. It may be due to the size of the main on my 361 but I've also sailed a new 06 343 and it was pretty much the same way. Couldn't resist responding
Loosen vang and mainsheet to unfurl...
Mike, something is wrong if you have to use a winch all the time. Have you tried loosening the vang and mainsheet to unfurl? When Dragonfly was new, I unfurled and furled by hand -- B331. My wife could pull it about half way out by hand. We got to where we were using the winch last fall. We replaced the outhaul line. It now works great. No problem to pull it out by hand. Just use the winch to tighted as needed. Good luck. Mark
Mike, something is wrong if you have to use a winch all the time. Have you tried loosening the vang and mainsheet to unfurl? When Dragonfly was new, I unfurled and furled by hand -- B331. My wife could pull it about half way out by hand. We got to where we were using the winch last fall. We replaced the outhaul line. It now works great. No problem to pull it out by hand. Just use the winch to tighted as needed. Good luck. Mark
It's easy until
Mark you're right it's easy to pull out but that's until she starts to fill, then it's time for the winch. Part of the problem may be most times I don't bother to unfurl the main unless I have decent air. Mike
Mark you're right it's easy to pull out but that's until she starts to fill, then it's time for the winch. Part of the problem may be most times I don't bother to unfurl the main unless I have decent air. Mike
The winch isn't for the power
It's for the consistancy and the ability to free up one hand for tension on the outhaul if your furling or tension on the furling line if your unfurling. These two lines have to work in harmony with gentle presure in or out so that the furling unit doesn't "free wheel" I completely agree from a strength / friction standpoint - the winch isn't necessary - if it is - something is wrong! - I never use a winch furling my 155% genoa which is probably twice the size of the main - but then again I don't have to worry about making sure the genoa is wrapped snuggly enough to fit inside of a 3" mast cavity
It's for the consistancy and the ability to free up one hand for tension on the outhaul if your furling or tension on the furling line if your unfurling. These two lines have to work in harmony with gentle presure in or out so that the furling unit doesn't "free wheel" I completely agree from a strength / friction standpoint - the winch isn't necessary - if it is - something is wrong! - I never use a winch furling my 155% genoa which is probably twice the size of the main - but then again I don't have to worry about making sure the genoa is wrapped snuggly enough to fit inside of a 3" mast cavity
Not a problem with the main
I've never had a problem or need to keep tension on the outhaul when furling the main, she just rolls up very nicely. I do keep tension on the genny lines though. I want that as tight as possible as I've seen some ugly results from high winds when they're left loose. As far as using the winch is concerned, as I said it's usually a case of being out in good wind. I can furl, unfurl by hand in light wind but I generally don't bother to set sail in those conditions as I won't get much speed out of her. When I sail I like to sail as fast I can. With some exceptions, ghosting along at 3-4 kts doesn't do anything for me. Actually anything less than full speed, usually the 7kt+ range, is left for lazy days.
I've never had a problem or need to keep tension on the outhaul when furling the main, she just rolls up very nicely. I do keep tension on the genny lines though. I want that as tight as possible as I've seen some ugly results from high winds when they're left loose. As far as using the winch is concerned, as I said it's usually a case of being out in good wind. I can furl, unfurl by hand in light wind but I generally don't bother to set sail in those conditions as I won't get much speed out of her. When I sail I like to sail as fast I can. With some exceptions, ghosting along at 3-4 kts doesn't do anything for me. Actually anything less than full speed, usually the 7kt+ range, is left for lazy days.
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