Roller furling that converts for racing

[Ducati]

I'm looking for roller furling for sailing with the family but can convert for racing.

Please offer any assistance on options available + costs + reliability.

Thanks

 

[Todd Smith]

Re: Roller Furling That Converts To Race

On the Tartan 28 that I race on the most, there is a Harken furler with a removable drum and a twin groove headstay. It's a good system and doesn't take too much work to remove the drum. If you get the sail cut accounting for the furler unit, you can fly it with the drum in place still. But you do need the remove the drum and drop the top swivel to do headsail changes.

The harken seems pretty robust and solid. I help install it and it was not a terribly hard job. We did it in the slip with the mast up. I don't know the cost, check Harken's site for the specific size for your boat.

Todd

 

[Joe]

Re: Roller Furling That Converts To Race

check out ProFurl... very highly rated equipment... and a little less expensive than harken.

http://mauriprosailing.com/Profurl/Profurl-Roller-Furling-Units.htm

Whether you get removable drum or not... I think it's good sense to get a twin groove foil. All of profurls cruising systems, except one have twin grooves. The main diff. between racing and cruising systems is the shape of the foil.

 

[Alan]

Joe is right. I have the ProFurl R35 system. It's a twin groove foil that is aerodynamically shaped with both grooves facing aft. On my boat I have the added advantage of below deck furling drum. This means I can use the unit with furling head-sails or I can use the twin groove foil with my racing decksweepers without having to remove anything. I like the no maintenance feature of the sealed bearings, a real advantage. It is also the only furling system I know of that allows the use of a winch, if needed, to furl the head-sail. I've used the Profurl for 16 years now with never any issues either racing or cruising.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

One bad tack and you have lost the slight advantage of a hanked on jib! To me it sounds like a PIA to change around the furler. Some have twin grooves(Harken for sure) to allow a sail change. I've read your posts, get a boat first and go out and find out how it performs. I have seen lots of boats with furlers kick butt in phrf races. Knowing how and when to reef is an art that you hope that you will learn, but only by trying.

 

[Joe]

Sorry Rob

One bad tack and you have lost the slight advantage of a hanked on jib! To me it sounds like a PIA to change around the furler. Some have twin grooves(Harken for sure) to allow a sail change. I've read your posts, get a boat first and go out and find out how it performs. I have seen lots of boats with furlers kick butt in phrf races. Knowing how and when to reef is an art that you hope that you will learn, but only by trying.

I'm not quite sure how to intrepret your statements here. What is a bad tack and how can it destroy the slight advantage of a hanked on jib. For that matter, what is the advantage of a hanked on jib?

Whether Ducati has a boat or not is irrelevant to his interest in more advanced roller furlers. Perhaps he's narrowing down his new boat search, or looking to replace his current system.

Regarding your last statement about lots of boats with furlers kicking butt...... what does that mean, and how does it relate to this discussion? Dude, you've got me confused.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

A hanked on sail is better to maintain sail shape and has cleaner airflow over the sail and is basically faster than a sail that is on a furler. Various sails that can be interchanged depending on wind conditions are better than reefing your headsail on the furler. As you reef a 150 down to a true jib, the center of effort heightens and the boat heels over faster and that is not good for boat speed.

You can put all the hi-tech racing crap on your boat, but if you screw up a tack and put the boat into the "irons", there goes your advantage.

Ducati's past questions have been related to purchasing various boats and this was not meant as insulting, but rather after he has found a boat, sail it and find out its behaviours

Boat for boat, the guy with hanked on sails is faster than the guy with the furler.

 

[Jumpstart]

Harken Unit 0

If your headstay is 7/32" or less, the Harken MarkIV unit 0 is the way to go. Drum is small enough that you can tack around it to normal deck tack shackle without any sail modification. To go to racing you open feeder (one screw) and drop swivel then close feeder and put screw back in. No need to remove the drum. Using full hoist sails is a huge advantage in light air venues. I have raced with a unit 0 for over 15 years and it has worked well. If you need the next size up (Unit 1) you probably should look at the removeable drum option.