Hans,
In fact anyone buying a new headsail furling device.
If you take down your mast every winter you might wish to consider a
flexible furling device.
When my old one had to be replaced a couple of years ago, I did so
with a Harken furler with a continuous flexible foil (which holds the
sail). It is made of metal-reinforced plastic and if necessary, can
be rolled in a circle with diameter of a couple of metres. It works
fine, about the same as any other (after i solved the problem of
catching the spinnaker halyards).
The advantage is you can lower the mast yourself, fore or aft as you
please, without doing any damage to the furling device. My old one
had aluminum foils in sections, with little aluminum fittings to join
them. Every time I raised or lowered the mast, I bent some of the
fittings.
If you always leave the mast up, this will not be important.
Three years ago, there were only a couple of manufacturers who made
flexible furling devices. If anyone is interested, I can look up who
made them and the name of the model at that time.
John
J.B. Sprague. Salt Spring Island B.C. # 1492
In fact anyone buying a new headsail furling device.
If you take down your mast every winter you might wish to consider a
flexible furling device.
When my old one had to be replaced a couple of years ago, I did so
with a Harken furler with a continuous flexible foil (which holds the
sail). It is made of metal-reinforced plastic and if necessary, can
be rolled in a circle with diameter of a couple of metres. It works
fine, about the same as any other (after i solved the problem of
catching the spinnaker halyards).
The advantage is you can lower the mast yourself, fore or aft as you
please, without doing any damage to the furling device. My old one
had aluminum foils in sections, with little aluminum fittings to join
them. Every time I raised or lowered the mast, I bent some of the
fittings.
If you always leave the mast up, this will not be important.
Three years ago, there were only a couple of manufacturers who made
flexible furling devices. If anyone is interested, I can look up who
made them and the name of the model at that time.
John
J.B. Sprague. Salt Spring Island B.C. # 1492