Roller reefing options

[Steve Beynon]

Has anyone seen a good non-biased comparison of roller reefing systems.The price range is rather large and I would like to know if the more expensive units are worth the extra money

 

[Geoff Kloster]

Harken/CDI

I'm no expert, sailing my H23 on inland waters. She has a CDI furler. Last week we chartered a C&C 30 in the Apolstles that had a Harkin. The Harkin with a 145% jib on a masthead rig, 30' boat in 35 knots of wind worked better than the CDI with a working jib on our fractional rig 23' boat in 15 knots.The difference manifested in two areas; the Harken was much easier to furl in spite of the increase size and winds and the harken kept a good sail shape when furled from 145% to 90%. Some of that, I suspect, is in the quality of the sail.I thought the CDI is OK but not good in heavy weather.

 

[Mark]

Practical Sailor

PS had an article comparing roller furling system about a year ago. Love my Harken. It is over 12 years old and haven't ever had a problem with it, and very easy to use.

 

[Barry]

R/F Opinions

As I recall Furlex got very high marks from PS and Profurl was #2. I found it difficult to get a discount on the expensive Furlex. I just installed a Profurl which I was able to get from JSI at an excellent price. Works great and am happy with the performance. What you buy depends a lot on boat size.Barry

 

[Marc Honey]

Harken too!!!

Roller furling was top of my list when I looked at boats in the 27-30' range to replace my 24'. My Hunter 28.5 came to me with a Harken unit in-place that has been a dream. I regularly reef my 130 down to 110-100 and it maintains great shape. I do agree with other post about this being as much a function of a well cut/crafted sails as the furling unit. You'll likely not hear many negative reports about Harken...