Does anyone have experience with this furling system? Good price just over $300. I am looking for a furler for a "blooper" that I use (upside down) as an asymmetric; it has a foot of 27 feet. I am wondering if this would do the job for me in light air inland sailing.
RONSTAN Series 60 Gennaker Furler
- Thread starter jimfrankelly
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Great price. However, Ronstan states they are rated for up to 23 ft sailboats. You can buy a CDI a-spinnaker furler or Furlex GX furler for < $1000 rated for larger sailboats and sails. I plan to purchase either a CDI or Furlex.
I had read that they are rated for 23 foot boats, but was wondering if they would be suitable for a 26 foot boat that was sailing in very protected waters. I have an old asymmetric and hate to buy a high end furler for it.
I have also looked at the Facnor line of furlers. The Facnor Gennaker furlers that might be suitable for the 270 are the Facnor FX 900 Furler (under $600) and the Facnor FX 1500 Furler for about $750. Their Asymmetric furler AFX- Model 1500 is about $1000. What I would like to find out is the difference in design/construction of the Gennaker furler versus the Asymmetric furler.
Jim, Can't say if you could retro fit your old sail but I'm using the facnor fx900 and a custom kevlar gennaker with a 40" carbon bow sprit on our 260 and it works exceptionally well, especially off the wind on a broad reach. Comfortable working range is 3kts to 12kts. Ease of use is beyond words.
FX-vs-AFX, I considered both Facnor units but after discussions with our friends at Knighton sails I ended up with a broader range of use and better windward performance with the fx900 which uses a low/no stretch luff rope to furl the sail from head to tack at one time on their continuous line drum. They did a great job incorporating the furler onto the new sail while the boat rigging fell to me.
http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/gennaker__code_0_furlers/continuous_line/default.asp
I believe the AFX has a sail attachment only at the head and tack and incorporates a line into the leading edge of the A-sail to the luff rope about 1/3 down from the head. The tack and head begin to furl and the line retrieves the leading edge of the spinnaker only until the sail itself finally contacts the luff rope. A good sailmaker might be able to fit your Asail to the Fx900 with that mid sail retrieval line sewn from the sails leading edge to the luff rope.
http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/asym_spi_furlers/default.asp
The Jib block on the 260/270 mast will need to be replaced as the plastic toy that was installed up there will self destruct immediately. The bow sprit was a chore to R&D but it now holds the sail well fwd of the bow and amazes me with how much load it bears.
Sailing home yesterday we were heavily loaded for over nighting, using our genneker with gusts to an honest 15kts on the rear quarter. Our overstuffed boat was running full on at 6.2 to 6.5 kts on a broad reach so I'm very satisfied. The wind eventually began to rise higher and in under 60 sec the genneker was easily doused. I rolled out the stock jib and our speed fell dramatically.
Good luck in your choice and have fun. Mike
FX-vs-AFX, I considered both Facnor units but after discussions with our friends at Knighton sails I ended up with a broader range of use and better windward performance with the fx900 which uses a low/no stretch luff rope to furl the sail from head to tack at one time on their continuous line drum. They did a great job incorporating the furler onto the new sail while the boat rigging fell to me.
http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/gennaker__code_0_furlers/continuous_line/default.asp
I believe the AFX has a sail attachment only at the head and tack and incorporates a line into the leading edge of the A-sail to the luff rope about 1/3 down from the head. The tack and head begin to furl and the line retrieves the leading edge of the spinnaker only until the sail itself finally contacts the luff rope. A good sailmaker might be able to fit your Asail to the Fx900 with that mid sail retrieval line sewn from the sails leading edge to the luff rope.
http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/asym_spi_furlers/default.asp
The Jib block on the 260/270 mast will need to be replaced as the plastic toy that was installed up there will self destruct immediately. The bow sprit was a chore to R&D but it now holds the sail well fwd of the bow and amazes me with how much load it bears.
Sailing home yesterday we were heavily loaded for over nighting, using our genneker with gusts to an honest 15kts on the rear quarter. Our overstuffed boat was running full on at 6.2 to 6.5 kts on a broad reach so I'm very satisfied. The wind eventually began to rise higher and in under 60 sec the genneker was easily doused. I rolled out the stock jib and our speed fell dramatically.
Good luck in your choice and have fun. Mike
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Thankyou for the information, explanations & advice. Photos are great. What are the dimensions of your A sail, especially the foot length (the foot on my A sail is 27 feet & I worry about wrapping up that much sail)??? Also How did you attach the bowsprit to the bow ??? Thankyou for leading the way for the rest of us.
Jim, I can't imagine how your sail could possibly be rigged on a furler without being re-cut to better fit your boat even with a bow sprit. While I don't remember the exact dimensions, the foot on my gennaker is nowhere near 20'. Anything near 27' would nearly wrap the entire length of the boat.
After a few failed attempts on the bow sprit I ended up fabricating a SS socket that bolts on the nose of the boat at the base of the pulpit. I set the base of my reinforced carbon sprit(an unused wave sailing mast section) in the socket with stays and turnbuckles to 3/8" SS eyes set on each rail a few feet back from the bow. I ran low stretch 5/16 line on 3-to-1 blocks(martingale) from a loop of line around another 3/8" eye in the sprit(where the stays and sail tack attach) down to the bow eye on the boat.
I tighten the martingale snugly allowing a slight upward angle adjusted into the port/star turnbuckles. The snap shackle on my Facnor furler clips into the sprit eye and I haul the sail/jib halyard exceptionally tight so it furls with ease and consistency. The whole sprit unclips in 10sec with a single release and packs into the sail bag when trailering but otherwise remains on the bow, while the sail waits its next day stowed in its bag down below.
Hope that helps in your decision. Go get 'em. Mike
After a few failed attempts on the bow sprit I ended up fabricating a SS socket that bolts on the nose of the boat at the base of the pulpit. I set the base of my reinforced carbon sprit(an unused wave sailing mast section) in the socket with stays and turnbuckles to 3/8" SS eyes set on each rail a few feet back from the bow. I ran low stretch 5/16 line on 3-to-1 blocks(martingale) from a loop of line around another 3/8" eye in the sprit(where the stays and sail tack attach) down to the bow eye on the boat.
I tighten the martingale snugly allowing a slight upward angle adjusted into the port/star turnbuckles. The snap shackle on my Facnor furler clips into the sprit eye and I haul the sail/jib halyard exceptionally tight so it furls with ease and consistency. The whole sprit unclips in 10sec with a single release and packs into the sail bag when trailering but otherwise remains on the bow, while the sail waits its next day stowed in its bag down below.
Hope that helps in your decision. Go get 'em. Mike
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