Roller Furler brands, types for H27

[SamNelson]

I'm down to final touches after the rebuild of my '81 H27. I'm wanting a roller furler. My sailing will be inland and coastal. I've looked at the CDI FF-6 with bearings.. any input on that one?
I'm also looking at a guy that produces one out of his one-man shop under the name Superfurl. I like the guy, and what I've seen of his product, but can't find anyone that has one for a reference.
I'm also noticing the Alado, which Pratical Sailor says is very good.
I'd appreciate comments.
Thanks!

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

I installed an Alado on my c&c 24 and was very happy with it. I would recommend it in a minute. Far superior to my friends CDI curlers.

 

[jrowan]

CDI is o.k. but it is a budget furler & you get what you pay for. I had a Harken Mark III on my last boat & hated it. Not a good design - gets halyard wrap all the time. This by the way is the #1 problem with furlers: jamming when underway while trying to furl them up. I have a Hood furler now that's pretty tough, except for the plastic top & bottom plates of the drum that can chip or break. Shaefer's furlers are all metal that will always be more durable then plastic. I also have heard good things about the Alado, & Profurl's unit has a halyard wrap preventer built into their top swivel design. which is a very good idea. My 2 cents worth.

 

[MLampner]

My two cents on the CDI it works fine. Have been out in all sorts of conditions and it works well under load, single handing etc. it does have some weaknesses one of which can be done away with another can be lived with.

The first tensioning the luff can be a pain if you rely on just the pad eye to tie off on. Haven't done yet but came up with two solutions one my own another from a friend who is a rigger. My own add a turn buckle and tie off to it and you can use it to adjust tension. Still would require good knot skills and leverage to make it tight enough. My rigger friend has what I think I will try after the season. Replace the pad eye with a small cleat and it should be possible to adjust on demand.

Second issue as it relies on its own halyard to hoist and lower sail it can be a bit of a pain to change sails. As I rarely do this except at beginning and end of season or in the case of a severe storm expected it can be lived with.


Other than that three seasons on it and it works flawlessly and didn't cost more than the boat to buy and install.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

I have an aversion to any furler that doesn't allow you to pull the sail down from the groove. At least one of the cheaper, very popular ones is like this. In any bad BAD weather you are forced to keep the sail on the foil and risk what can happen to it there. Also you cannot change headsails; so the sails made for this type of furler are usually either cheap, ill-cut or otherwise intended to be essentially disposable.

Only the really respectable ones like Schaefer, Harken, et. al., with the feature of allowing you to use your existing halyard to set and strike the sail are truly seaworthy and convenient.