Roller Furling

[Fairwind]

I just installed an "Alado" headsail roller furling system on a Lancer 28 and the installation went quickly and smoothly. Anyone considering roller furling should check this equipment out as buying "factory direct" can save quite a bit of money and the design of this system makes DIY installation possible with no mast climbing or forestay cutting. I'm in the process of modifying a couple of hanked on sails to use with this furler. I keep you posted!

 

[Ross in Tampa]

Let us know the verdict. I have seen their website, unit looks good, but haven't heard any actual reviews.

It might be time to graduate up from the hanks.

 

[Brian D]

I'm thinking the same thing. Need roller furling on my Lancer 27PS.

 

[jimq26]

I looked at Alado this past spring but went CDI instead.

I didn't want the halyards exposed and banging when racing like they are on the Alado.
After much research, I figured the CDI would be easier for do-it-yourself installation (took one afternoon only, and works like a charm). I also wanted the ability to furl the headsail when necessary, and the luff tape installed on my 153% genoa allows me to do that and still maintain a pretty good sail shape down to about 115%.
The price on the CDI when I bought it was better than the direct Alado price.
Nothing wrong with the Alado unit - everyone has certain preferences.
Enjoy!

 

[sailingdog]

Not a big fan of the CDI furlers. The halyard system they use is not really up to the task IMHO, and the furlers aren't very robust.

 

[Maine Sail]

Not a big fan of the CDI furlers. The halyard system they use is not really up to the task IMHO, and the furlers aren't very robust.

For small boat and budgets they serve a purpose and Jim is only on a 26er so it will work fine for a long while.

I had one quite a few boats ago and it was a decent bay furler, on price, but was not what I consider reliable reefing/furler. Mine actually failed and was replaced with a Furlex. There was no comparison between the two and your really can't fairly compare the two as the CDI was about a third the price. CDI was good about getting parts out though. On anything over 8k-9k displacement I'd prefer a beefier furler..

While I do think the Alado is a better built unit than a CDI it is significantly more expensive and actually more expensive than that of a comparable Harken unit.

A Harken cruising model "Unit 1" for a 36 footer is about $1400.00 and an Alado for a 36 footer is $1495.00! Unfortunately you can't really compare the features and quality of the Harken to the Alado especially when the Harken is less expensive. This is not to say that the Alado is not a good furler, it is a decent furler, but the Harken is an exceptional furler at one heck of a price.

Harken has become very, very competitive in with furler pricing as of recently. Most people don't even consider them because they wrongly assume Harken will be very expensive. Even with the price of a CDI FF9 for a 36er at $1100.00 the Harken is still a steal.

 

[Fairwind]

I purchased the Alado A-2 model, suitable for forestays up to 35' in length. $695 delivered three days after ordering..For day-sailer's and coastal cruisers, sail changing does not happen very often once the owner is happy with his headsail. So having the halyard isolated from the mast (it rotates with the foil) is an advantage not a drawback for most sailors as there is no troublesome halyard swivel at the masthead. Once the chosen sail is hoisted and tied off, you forget the halyard for the rest of the season.

The Alado unit foil has two grooves so it is POSSIBLE to have two sails attached to the foil at one time. But this adds a lot of bulk and weight and unless you are planning a long downwind run offers no real advantage..The fitting at the top of the foils does have two sheaves to accommodate two halyards if desired...

 

[mlsalwa]

I installed an Alado furler on my 26.5 this past spring. Did the job by myself with no problems. The best thing about the Alado is no changes to the forestay and the large drum. I can use 7/16 line on the drum with no problem. First 15 feet de-cored. Makes it more comfortable on the hands.

 

[Fairwind]

Alado makes many different sized units, choose the correct one for your boat and they are beefy enough.. The simple, low-tech design can be maintained and repaired with few tools or parts. There is little to go wrong and they have a lifetime guarantee.

We converted our existing working jib and a 120% Genoa from hanked on to roller furling since we owned a Morse (same as Sail-rite) HD sewing machine. This included adding Sunbrella UV resistant suncovers along the foot and leach of the sails to protect them while furled on the foil. I can see the need for adding luff pads to improve sail shape when using the furler as a reefing device. But lets face it, if you are reefing 30%-40% you usually have enough wind to move the boat reguardless of sail shape unless you are trying to beat upwind. In that case, the iron sail always works best for me..

One of our hanked on foresails (our best one) is a Kevlar job the former owner bought to race with. (a Lancer 28!) It figures out to be a 110% sail on this boat. But it pulls better than the 120% Genoa mentioned above. It's a stiff, nasty sail to handle and I don't know how it would tolerate being converted to roller reefing. Just sewing the luff tape on the would require a major effort . I suspect a very special sewing machine is needed to work on Kevlar sails....So for the time being we will see how the two sails we have work out..

I have now had time to clean up the installation, the two halyards installed on the foil neatly secured to the lugs on the drum with snap-shackles, no loose ends or knots to deal with. A 35' long halyard extender (needed to lower a sail) stowed in the anchor locker. In a few days Sempre Libra should be in the water and I'll post an "on the water" report..

 

[Fairwind]

We have now had a chance to use our furler in all conditions. It works GREAT. No problems. I had an old Hood hanked-on foresail made to be a 150 Genoa for a J-24. On our L-28 it's about a 120 Genny. When removing the hanks, I noticed it already had the correct luff tape in place! We sewed some blue Sunbrella sun protection panels on the leech and foot and this sail has worked GREAT! While its shape is not perfect when reefed, it still does pretty good. So the whole project has been a great success. The effort needed to reef or furl the sail in a stiff breeze is not excessive and the furler works smoothly even in those conditions. We have had NO problems with it.