I just bought a 1976 oday 28 and have thought about installing a Schaefer snap furler but don't know if this is a wise move.
Brian in Reno
Brian in Reno
snapfurler
- Thread starter sailherr
- Start date
Is your question about installing a furler or buying a Schaefer?
A lot of purists like hank on jibs but for convenience a furler is great. Personally I wouldn't own a boat without a furler.
I like the furler for a few reasons:
1. The furler is worked from the cockpit so you don't need to go to the bow to attach/detach the jib.
2. The furler allows you to sail easily with the jib only if you want to take it easy and not play with the main sail.
3. The furler, if made to allow reef furling, makes it easier to reef the jib.
I believe Schaefer is known for higher end components. Other choices are Harken, Furlex and CDI. CDI is a popular furler at a lower cost than most.
Hope this helps!
I can't compare to any of the other furler options, but I've been happy with the CF-500 on my Catalina 22. We find that we get sails up sooner and keep them up longer than we did with hank-on headsails - because we know that 'raising' / dousing the headsail is just a few seconds of work.
The CF-700 would probably be appropriate for your boat, but you might want to double-check that. 28' is the edge of Schaefer's recommended range for the 700, so it might depend on your headstay size, sail area, displacement, etc. @DrJudyB might be able to comment. Or you might talk to her successors at Hyde Sails Direct or call our hosts here at SBO.
one thing you might want to consider, is if it is available with 2 sail tracks? If I were shopping again, I would want two tracks , allowing 2 head sails to be poled out going down wind. this sure seems to be a stress free way to get out a lot of sail area. good luck, enjoy!
Furlers with twin tracks cost considerably more. Neither CDI nor Snapfurl are available with twin grooves in the foils.
Keep in mind that you really shouldn’t store two headsails on the furler due to chafe, so you pretty much have to hoist and take down the second sail daily. There are additional chafe issues from bending the luff tape 90 degrees as well.
Hanking two headsails onto one forestay is a lot less work than two on one furler foil. It works really nicely.