I know my questions on roller furling will seem dumb to most everyone on this site. However I have sailed for 35 years on boats without furling jibs. My largest boat was 33 foot and a cutter rigged ketch. I plan on a sloop somewhere in the 38 foot range for retirement. It will come equiped with furling gear for the jib. 1. What do you do when the wind is up and you want a storm size jib? 2. If the answer to the above is just furl the jib smaller how well does it set? 3. Can a furling jib be equiped with an extra stay for a storm jib? 4. Is the gear dependable enough for offshore work? I have fix many on other boats over the years but not in the last 10 years. 5. Any special do's and don'ts to furling the jib? 6. Any brand that you think is great or not so great? Thanks for any tips on this new to me gear.
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Just my opinion
A good sail designed for the furler will be fine offshore. Many sailors add an inner forestay to their boats for heavy air and storm jibs. The heavy air sails are hanked on.
A good sail designed for the furler will be fine offshore. Many sailors add an inner forestay to their boats for heavy air and storm jibs. The heavy air sails are hanked on.
roller is easy hank on jibsare better
My last boat had three head sails and they were hank on's. They just had a better shape. But I love my roller furling for it's ease of use. I did get into some trouble once in high winds. Somehow it didn't roll up correctly and a bigflap was flapping so hard that Iwas worried about the rigging. It wouldn't roll up or out!!!! I had to go forward and unwrap it by hand passing the sheets and everything around several times all the while getting wet with spray. Once I had it unwrapped to the flapping flap it was free and then rolled up nicely. But it was very exciting with a strong wind and vertical chop in shallow water fighting with the jib. It would have been much easier if we could have headed up into the wind but that would have made us run aground. All ended well and about an hour later we unrolled the sail and had a great sail all of the way up the bay.
My last boat had three head sails and they were hank on's. They just had a better shape. But I love my roller furling for it's ease of use. I did get into some trouble once in high winds. Somehow it didn't roll up correctly and a bigflap was flapping so hard that Iwas worried about the rigging. It wouldn't roll up or out!!!! I had to go forward and unwrap it by hand passing the sheets and everything around several times all the while getting wet with spray. Once I had it unwrapped to the flapping flap it was free and then rolled up nicely. But it was very exciting with a strong wind and vertical chop in shallow water fighting with the jib. It would have been much easier if we could have headed up into the wind but that would have made us run aground. All ended well and about an hour later we unrolled the sail and had a great sail all of the way up the bay.
Some Answers
Hello, > 1. What do you do when the wind is up and you want a storm size jib? For a storm jib you can't just roll up a 130 or so and expect it to work. Either drop the sail and put up a storm jib, use a sail like the Gale Sale (http://www.atninc.com/gale.html), or mount the extra stay you wrote about. > 2. If the answer to the above is just furl the jib smaller how well does it set? Lousy, so don't bother > 3. Can a furling jib be equiped with an extra stay for a storm jib? Yes, many boats do > 4. Is the gear dependable enough for offshore work? I have fix many on > other boats over the years but not in the last 10 years. Yes. The racers that do around the world races use furlers and rely on them. > 5. Any special do's and don'ts to furling the jib? Make sure to keep a little tension on the sheet when furling the sail. Make sure the furler was installed properly so you don't get a halyard wrap. I like to tie a line around the furled sail so that if the furler line breaks the sail won't unroll. > 6. Any brand that you think is great or not so great? I have a Furlex furler from Selden and I am very happy with it. Good luck, Barry
Hello, > 1. What do you do when the wind is up and you want a storm size jib? For a storm jib you can't just roll up a 130 or so and expect it to work. Either drop the sail and put up a storm jib, use a sail like the Gale Sale (http://www.atninc.com/gale.html), or mount the extra stay you wrote about. > 2. If the answer to the above is just furl the jib smaller how well does it set? Lousy, so don't bother > 3. Can a furling jib be equiped with an extra stay for a storm jib? Yes, many boats do > 4. Is the gear dependable enough for offshore work? I have fix many on > other boats over the years but not in the last 10 years. Yes. The racers that do around the world races use furlers and rely on them. > 5. Any special do's and don'ts to furling the jib? Make sure to keep a little tension on the sheet when furling the sail. Make sure the furler was installed properly so you don't get a halyard wrap. I like to tie a line around the furled sail so that if the furler line breaks the sail won't unroll. > 6. Any brand that you think is great or not so great? I have a Furlex furler from Selden and I am very happy with it. Good luck, Barry
Furlers
I used to believe in the "common wisdom" that you could only roll up a big furling headsail about 30 per cent or so and still get performance. Then I read an article by world class cruiser Webb Chiles who said that in his experience you could roll up the sail to just about any size and still keep the boat under control and headed where you wanted. So I experimented on my boat, using a 150 genoa with a foam luff and a Furlex 200 furler. Chiles was right. I've rolled my genny up to about to a 70 per cent sail and still got decent performance. I think the foam luff and keeping even pressure on the furling line helps a lot. You only do this, of course, when the wind is roaring. In those conditions, just about any headsail will work. Is this as good as a dedicated storm jib? Of course not. There are lots of offshore cruisers using furling systems successfully. I think the key here is to get as robust a system as you can afford and keep it maintained. If I were going offshore, I would also have a number of other sails that I could use with the furler, if conditions demanded it. Most furlers extrusions/foils have two tracks. You could also add an inner forestay on a 38 foot boat, but that might mean adding an adjustable backstay. While you could also add a furler on the inner forestay, if I were doing it, I would not. These systems make sense to me to be used with hand-on sails and a forestay that can be unclipped from the deck and secured to the base of the mast when not needed. I would also add a trysail and a trysail track to the mast. You could stand up to a lot of weather with a trysail and storm jib on an inner forestay. "Practical Sailor" did a long article on modern furlers a few years ago and gave most all of them a pretty good rating. It seemed to me that the brand was not as important as the quality of the installation and after-sale support and service.
I used to believe in the "common wisdom" that you could only roll up a big furling headsail about 30 per cent or so and still get performance. Then I read an article by world class cruiser Webb Chiles who said that in his experience you could roll up the sail to just about any size and still keep the boat under control and headed where you wanted. So I experimented on my boat, using a 150 genoa with a foam luff and a Furlex 200 furler. Chiles was right. I've rolled my genny up to about to a 70 per cent sail and still got decent performance. I think the foam luff and keeping even pressure on the furling line helps a lot. You only do this, of course, when the wind is roaring. In those conditions, just about any headsail will work. Is this as good as a dedicated storm jib? Of course not. There are lots of offshore cruisers using furling systems successfully. I think the key here is to get as robust a system as you can afford and keep it maintained. If I were going offshore, I would also have a number of other sails that I could use with the furler, if conditions demanded it. Most furlers extrusions/foils have two tracks. You could also add an inner forestay on a 38 foot boat, but that might mean adding an adjustable backstay. While you could also add a furler on the inner forestay, if I were doing it, I would not. These systems make sense to me to be used with hand-on sails and a forestay that can be unclipped from the deck and secured to the base of the mast when not needed. I would also add a trysail and a trysail track to the mast. You could stand up to a lot of weather with a trysail and storm jib on an inner forestay. "Practical Sailor" did a long article on modern furlers a few years ago and gave most all of them a pretty good rating. It seemed to me that the brand was not as important as the quality of the installation and after-sale support and service.
Furlex 100S
One thing that should be mentioned is to keep a bit of drag on the furling line as you let the genoa out to keep the line from over-riding. We've never had a problem bringing in sail in any situation. (Knock on wood...) Ours is a 150%, foam luff by North.
One thing that should be mentioned is to keep a bit of drag on the furling line as you let the genoa out to keep the line from over-riding. We've never had a problem bringing in sail in any situation. (Knock on wood...) Ours is a 150%, foam luff by North.
Furlers are worth it
I agree with all comments posted so far. I added a CDI furler to my Ericson 29 2 years ago and it is a great addition. Much easier than the hanked on and in theory gives much great choice of foresail size than hanked on. Thoughts. 1. If I had a larger boat or was planning on doing offshore work I would definitely put on an inner forestay. I have seen a couple of articles on these that can be set temporarily, they have some sort of quick release on the bottom. The huge advantage here is when using your primary there is nothing to get in the way when tacking or jibing. When you need to go with a smaller foresail you attach the inner forestay and hank on a small jib. Moves the center of effort farther back and small sail, definitely sounds like that with a reefed main would balance much better. 2. While happy with it I don't like how mine at least works when working close to the wind while reefed. The particular tack matters too. Mine rolls up on the starboard side. When I have it reefed and am then on a port tack the airflow is poor. When on a starboard tack the airflow is much better and I can point higher. This only seems to be when I try to point as high as I can. 3. Definitely keep tension on lines when rolling or unrolling. Have not had any problems but have heard what can happen and don't want to repeat. 4. When rolled up tie a line around the sail to keep it there. I again read about what can happen if the furling line parts and the jib unrolls. That big sail flapping around for who knows how long could cause a lot of damage. Cheap and easy insurance. Have fun!
I agree with all comments posted so far. I added a CDI furler to my Ericson 29 2 years ago and it is a great addition. Much easier than the hanked on and in theory gives much great choice of foresail size than hanked on. Thoughts. 1. If I had a larger boat or was planning on doing offshore work I would definitely put on an inner forestay. I have seen a couple of articles on these that can be set temporarily, they have some sort of quick release on the bottom. The huge advantage here is when using your primary there is nothing to get in the way when tacking or jibing. When you need to go with a smaller foresail you attach the inner forestay and hank on a small jib. Moves the center of effort farther back and small sail, definitely sounds like that with a reefed main would balance much better. 2. While happy with it I don't like how mine at least works when working close to the wind while reefed. The particular tack matters too. Mine rolls up on the starboard side. When I have it reefed and am then on a port tack the airflow is poor. When on a starboard tack the airflow is much better and I can point higher. This only seems to be when I try to point as high as I can. 3. Definitely keep tension on lines when rolling or unrolling. Have not had any problems but have heard what can happen and don't want to repeat. 4. When rolled up tie a line around the sail to keep it there. I again read about what can happen if the furling line parts and the jib unrolls. That big sail flapping around for who knows how long could cause a lot of damage. Cheap and easy insurance. Have fun!
Thanks for all the great replies.
Thanks for all the replies. Some of this I knew but lots I did not know.
Thanks for all the replies. Some of this I knew but lots I did not know.
Thanks for all the great replies.
Thanks for all the replies. Some of this I knew but lots I did not know.
Thanks for all the replies. Some of this I knew but lots I did not know.
furler
Hi Kenny - I have a Pro-Furl installation on my 150 and it works really well. Although I've never used it, I have an ATN Storm Jib that attaches over the furled jib. When the wind is more than about 15 kts, I like to fall way off the wind and allow the jib to billow out before furling it. I find this much easier on both the sail and the people - easier to furl because you can lessen the sheet tension without the sail flapping around and the jib doesn't wrap as tight. I've seen some jibs furled so tight - the crew trying to furl them on a beat and keeping the sheet tight to prevent flogging - that they run out of furling line on the drum before the sail is all the way wound. Dave S/V Pas de Deux Catana 471-44
Hi Kenny - I have a Pro-Furl installation on my 150 and it works really well. Although I've never used it, I have an ATN Storm Jib that attaches over the furled jib. When the wind is more than about 15 kts, I like to fall way off the wind and allow the jib to billow out before furling it. I find this much easier on both the sail and the people - easier to furl because you can lessen the sheet tension without the sail flapping around and the jib doesn't wrap as tight. I've seen some jibs furled so tight - the crew trying to furl them on a beat and keeping the sheet tight to prevent flogging - that they run out of furling line on the drum before the sail is all the way wound. Dave S/V Pas de Deux Catana 471-44
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