Roller Furling -- to furl or not to furl

[frmreilly]

I just bought an older pearson without roller furling. Evidently, the guy has a 130 and a 70 and a jib bag. He would leave the sail in the deck bag all season & simply hoist, sail, lower, & stuff in the bag. He even had a reef put in the 130. Is it worth investing in roller furling. (I can't test the boat yet as it is undergoing engine repair).

 

[NautiDuck]

Here we go!

Some love them, some don't. I feel that the furler is the best thing we ever bought for the boat. Convenient and safe. I would never go back.

 

[shemandr]

Another opinion

I had a Ranger 29 and kept a working jib (135) in a bag on the bow. Now I have a H 356 with furling main and jib. I never really minded folding the jib and putting it in the bag. In going out I could have that sail raised almost as fast as someone can unfurl a furled jib. I knew I could always get the sail down when I wanted and it had nowhere to go since it was hanked on. Even so in retrospect, I might have kept that boat longer if I had the 135 on a furler. That's because I learned to sail the boat in 18+ knots with the main safely stored in the sail cover. The jib was plenty of sail for non racing sailing and if I had a furler I would be able to reduce even that sail when the wind piped up which it can around here. On the other hand, its harder to change sails on the furler so if you race or just like performance sailing, you may want to be able to change sails easily. So, the answer is complicated. I think the answers lies as it always does with boats in knowing how you are going to use the boat.At 51 years old, I'm getting lazier but I always felt the work of hoisting sails and folding was good exercise in a sport I enjoy as opposed to, like, running.

 

[grigs]

When the Wind Blows

There is much to said when that wind picks up and all you have to do is roll it in a little or roll it in alot. I sail on a friends boat without a roller and have been out there on the deck trying to gather it in and tie it to the life lines. (not that much fun) Then you dont want to bag the wet sail so you throw it below and come back the next day to dry and fold and pack it back in the bag. My moneys on the roller furling, but thats just my opinion. Grigs

 

[Tom Atkins]

Stay in the cockpit?

I don't have furling but if and when I can afford it, I would install it just so I would not have to go forward to control the downed jib. My jib doesn't want to 'drop to the deck' and if it did - it would be in the water. I make do with a 'downhaul' line running to the cockpit. With this and tight jib sheets I can sometimes keep it dry. I have a small 21' boat and often sail in rough seas and windy conditions alone. *cry.

 

[CalebD]

Ditto Shemandr

What sized Pearson do you have and how do you want to sail it? It is nice to have at least 2 different sized jibs you can use with your boat given how the wind can vary from season to season in the NE. It is not so difficult to unhank a sail and stow it (if your crew have the skill to let you do it) but it can be a pain to lower a jib/genoa on a furler with wind pressure on it. It is also somewhat more expensive to have 2 foresails that will fit your RF than with hanks.You need to think of how lazy you want to be (RF) and how much extended sailing time you are planning on doing to justify the expense (Harken furling for a 27' boat is about $1500 - not installed, and you will need to have your old jib(s) taken to the sailmaker so they fit the furler OR a new genoa made up ($1k+/-)) for the furler you get.I love the hank on jib on my 19' Lightning and also similarly adore the roller furling Furlex mechanism on my 27' Tartan. When theer are predicted bad wind events (hurricanes, full gales, etc) come up I need to take my gib down off my furler on my 27 footer and take the 19 footer out of the water to her her trailer.All that said, try a season with the hank on jibs. You might like it or you might continue to think that the seagrass is greener on the other side of the pond. Boat size and age might help determine your decision matrix.Good luck and enjoy the water.

 

[John5961]

Sail hassle

I turned 64 this month and have a bad back. My lady friend, who is my constant sailing partner, just turned 60. We both love sailing (she is a neophyte, I'm on my 3rd sailboat) but to be honest, raising, lowering and stowing the sails is becoming tedious. My 110 lapper stays hanked on (in a sail bag made for that purpose) and I have a 150 that I hardly ever use because it's just too much of a hassle changing sails. We plan to add lazy jacks for the main this fall and to put the 150 ginny on a reefing furler next spring. This will hopefully enable us to sail a few more years before trading Testudo for a Sea Ray 360 or 370. Being unable to spend time on the water is NOT an option even if it means moving DOWN to a power boat (grin).

 

[Warren Milberg]

Some years ago....

I wrote an article that was published by Sailnet on having furling or hank-on sails. At the time, I had a smallish C&C that had 5 hank-on headsails. With a main that had 3 reef points, I could sail that little boat in just about any wind condition, and know I could get the sails down when I needed to. But as I got older, and got bigger boats, the idea of crabbing out on to a pitching and wet foredeck, while single handling, to change or lower a headsail became less and less attractive -- and pretty dangerous. Controlling a headsail from the cockpit with a reliable furler became very attractive. At this juncture, I would say that, without question, furling is the way to go for me. While both hank-on and furlers have distinct advantages and disadvantages, I personally feel that furling systems really make sailing for me, particularly when alone and/or in difficult weather conditions, much easier and, most importantly, much safer.

 

[Bob Fox]

Roller Furl?

I have a pearson 26w with 4 jibs. #1 down to storm jib. Im 70 but still in pretty good shape. I dont think a jib was designed to use half rolled up.Im not anxious to go up on deck in a blow to change a jib but If I had to Im still capable. I figure I dont want to roll the jib half way anyhow so im going to haveto change it. Ive got a jib down haul which works quite well and I have a choiceof 4 jibs when I sail as opposed to one rolled up jib. Still now a days Im conservative, If I think Its going to blow I put up a smaller jib.If I had a boat over 30ft I probably would consider roller furlBob Fox 1975 p26w #76 Whitecap Marblehead MA

 

[MoonSailer]

Hank on Better but more Work

My last boat had three hank on headsails and it was more work. But for that work you get sails that have shape and better match conditions. My present boat has roller and two headsails. Rolling up part of the way gives a smaller headsail with poor shape. What I would do is keep the boat as it is and if after a few months you find that you don't like changing headsails then buy a roller furling system. A lot depends upon your ability. I have no trouble going forward and yanking on sails. But I have friends that would have trouble going forward even in a lake. Sailing my last boat if the wind came up it was some work going forward and pulling down the 160 and hanking on the 100 but the boat sailed much better. We wrapped the roller once and it wouldn't roll in or out and was flapping horribly. The flapping was shaking the whole boat. It was a mess and took me about 30 minutes to fix. I had to hand unwrap the sail from the roller to free the tangle. This was all at the bottom of Mobile bay with 4' chop and 25kts plus of wind. My wife kept us out of the surrounding shallow water using the main and the engine. After that mess we had a great sail up the bay all of the way to Dog River. We have been very carefull rolling in the jib since that time and haven't had many problems. A plastic piece in the roller broke and we had some trouble rolling in and out until the replacement part was located and obtained. The company sent the wrong part 2 times finally sending the right part the third time over a month later.

 

[HukilauMike]

Unless you race seriously

unless you race seriously, roller furling is the way to go. No question that with multiple headsails and without the foil to spoil airflow, you can get better sail shape in a variety of conditions with hank on sails. For those of us who would use a maximum of two headsails anyway, roller furling is a wonderful investment. I have a 135 genny that I can roller reef down to about 110 with almost no sacrifice in sail shape, and it is still very usable at 100.Cost of roller reefing is very dependent on the size of your boat. The turnkey cost of roller furling on my Oday 23 (four years ago) for me was about $800, including the CDI unit, assembly of the unit, installation and sail modification. Larger units and sails for larger boats will cost more. As others on this thread have said, this was easily the most useful, best upgrade I have made to my boat. Its like your first air conditioner or big screen tv: once you've invested in one, you won't be able to imagine how you did without it in the first place. And while its not an investment that will bring a lot of resale dollars, I think it will make your boat easier to resell.

 

[Rob19574]

My 2 cents

Adding a roller furling could be an expensive option and depending on how old the boat is and how long you plan to keep it - it may not be worth the convenience. Keep the hanks going for a season and maybe add a down-haul to the headstay so you could quickly get the headsail down. If you do decide that after a season or 2 you want the convenience and expense of a roller-furling...go for it. Aside from the hardware, you will need to get work done on the sail (tape luff added). In some cases it may be better to but a new headsail than have a sailmaker work on an older perhaps worn sail.On my Catalina 30 - I added a CDI furler and a new 135. the total cost was about $2300. Thats about 20% the value of my boat (do the math on that one) but I plan to keep the boat for the next 10 years or so.Rob

 

[Ross in Tampa]

Love my hank on jibs...

We have a 100% jib and 135% Genny for Lola, both hank on. We love them, but that being said, we have never sailed on a boat with a furler.We are fortunate that our boat, 1979 Oday 25, is condusive to going forward. She has wide walkways and is relatively easy to tend to the sails on the bow. As my buddy Mike in Sarasota would tell you, his Hunter 26 is not as easy to go forward. Thus, he has a furler and loves it.I don't think I would buy a furler for our boat, but if there was one on it when I bought her, it would have sweetened the pot.I am not familiar with the layout of the boat of the original poster, but, that should be considered also.