Roller Furling and proper sail

[Lee Yonkers]

I want to install a roller furling and reefing system on my 1988 Hunter 23. Since this boat doesn't do well in strong winds, do I use a standard jib or a 135 Genoa? I am concerned that if I reef the Genoa, I will sacrifice a lot of performance. What would be a good roller furling and reefing system to use?

 

[Gerard]

Harken

I don't know enough about the boat to suggest 100 or 135 genny. As for the furler, I'd go with the best...Harken. It's more expensive, but it will last forever and if it ever needs repair (it probably won't) they'll be glad to help.I had a Harken on my last boat (a Cal 27) and it worked flawlessly. Easy to service. I now have a CDI which came with my H26 and it's falling apart. I called the company and the owner answered the phone. He could not have cared less about my furler. Said he couldn't help me, hire a rigger. He didn't even want to hear about the problem. I was horrified at the complete lack of customer care on the owner of the company's part.Spend the money...get the best. Good luck.

 

[Ron]

CDI

I am surprised at the response Gerard got from the CDI company. Many 26/260 owners have CDI furlers, including myself, and have had no problems. They are guaranteed for life - supposedly. Assuming you want a flexible furler, Harken does make a good one, plus there are others as well that now compete with CDI - the first in the flexible furler business. While Harken may be superior, when they first came out with their flexible design, Harken had to pull it off the market for a year while they fixed a poor design. I tried to buy it then and could not, and ended up with a CDI furler for my 26 and have had no problems with it for several years. Check this website's archives and you will find several articles about furlers. I think there are two or three options now being sold that owners have used successfully.

 

[steve f.]

135%

My last boat was a H23 and I had a 150% on the roller furler. It was too big and didn't reef well at all. If I did it again I'd put a 135 on. I also had a CDI and had no problems with it but I only owned it for four years. I've been reading with great interest the Spin-Tec roller furling system on this web site, sounds interesting. I'd seriously consider it if I were in the market for a new furler.

 

[David Foster]

110 jib and spinnaker for cruising

We have a '77 h27 for cruising on lake Erie. If you don't care about racing rules, use your standard jib, and an asymetrical cruising spinnaker. Our 110 ("standard") jib is on a roller. With the main, this gives us good sail shape and reefing in heavy winds (over 15 knots for our boat.) In light winds, a cruising spinnaker beats the daylight out of a big jenny unless we are trying to beat into the wind (an uncommon event for a cruiser.) We can go better than 60 degrees into the true wind in light air. We figure that the spinnaker converted two or three days from the iron jenny to sailing on a 13 week trip this summer.By the way, we have a 135 and used it before we got the spinnaker. Now we just don't bother to carry it and haven't regretted it once.DavidLady Lillie