Roller Furling partially furled...bad shape

TFrere · Oct 17, 2011

My headsail has a foam luff. The foam is narrow towards the head and foot of the sail and is thicker in the mid section. It helps the sail to maintain a normal shape when partially furled.

RichH · Oct 17, 2011

saltysailor said:
We experienced some good gusts today and I tried furling the headsail about 10%. We would head into the wind enough to luff a bit and roll it up 4-5 turns but as soon as we fell off a bit to fill the sail the upper 3/4's of the sail would unfurl. I realize that if we made more turns of the roller the sail would likely stay furled but I know the shape would be a mess as 50% of my sail would be rolled up. Does anyone have any suggestions with this? Maybe I'll roll it up all the way first, and then let it out a little bit at a time until it's where I want it.

I know i could have reefed the main but I wanted to try the headsail.

Some have furlers and some have furler/reef units.
A simple furler is ONLY approriate for a jib to be ALL-THE-WAY 'out' or ALL-THE-WAY 'in'.
A reefing capable furler will have a top swivel that is INDEPENDENT of the furling drum at the 'bottom' ... this allows the head of the sail to be 'rolled' at an independent rate than the 'bottom' of the sail. If you have only a furler and not a furler/reefer you wont be able to a a 'constant' smooth and tight roll of the sail.
EVen with the best 'reefing' furlers and with special shapes or foam luffs, the 'best' that one can 'reef' will be about 30% of LP / sail area MAXIMUM (reduction to 70% of sail area) ... once you reef beyond that value the sail will become 'very' baggy in the middle of the luff.

That you observed the top sections 'unfurled/loose' would tend to indicate that you didnt ALSO move the fairlead car forward when you 'reefed'. Without ALSO moving the fairlead car forward when you roller reef a jib, the head will ALWAYS be 'slack' and non-tensioned (to varying degrees) and the head / top sections will not be 'tightly' rolled on the furler foil. So when reefing, You really need to 'first' (or simultaneously) move the fairlead car forward, and put some 'restraining' force on the jib sheets as you 'furl' so that you get a consistent and 'tight' roll on the furler foil.
;-)

Warren Milberg · Oct 17, 2011

What kind of furling system do you have? If it is anything similar to the Hood Continuous Line furler, it will never be a reliable reefer.

Lost Parent · Oct 17, 2011

how is a Harken MK4 furler is this reasonable furler ?

PSTEVEN · Oct 17, 2011

It may be that your sail is not made for reefing. To get a decent shape of any kind they need a thickened area along the leading edge- my older sail had a foam piece sewn inside to take up slack in the lower section and I have a newer one that has pieces of rope shown into the leading edge at the bottom for the same purpose. If your sail is not made this way it probably will never have a decent reefed shape.

Cayennita · Oct 17, 2011

I use the Harken system. You still need to have the fairlead car in the right position. If the genoa is like a deck sweeper you'll have some problems furling. In a perfect world you need a high clew sail that will always be properly led. Or get an adjustable track.