To add a furling or not to on a Hunter 23

dlochner · Feb 25, 2018

scott hall said:
Have a Hunter 23. Only use about 15-20 times a year on large lake in Nashville. Is adding a furling sail really worth it? Can a sail maker fabricate my existing Jib sail or do I have to buy new. Is there a more economical way to put a system with new sails together than spending 2K. Any ideas and help appreciated.

Thanks Scott

To answer the first question, maybe. Depends on how much of an issue it is for you to flake and store your headsail. A furling will make things easier and faster. If you sail by yourself it may be worth the expense as flaking a headsail by yourself can be a pain. If you have crew to help, it's not as much of an issue.

Converting a headsail from hanks to roller furling is pretty easy. I've done it a couple of times. Any decent sail loft can make the change. The old hanks are removed and new luff tape is sewn on. A good heavy duty sewing machine can probably handle it. The luff tape can be purchased at Sailrite.com

Not sure what a new headsail will cost or the cost of a new furler. If you have access to a good sewing machine you can convert the sail yourself and save a considerable amount of money.

HukilauMike · Feb 26, 2018

I think your estimate of 2K is too high; more like 1K. I use my Oday 23 about as much as you use your boat, and I think the roller furling I installed about 15 years ago is the best investment I ever made in the boat. It makes single-handing soooo much easier. Get an inexpensive unit like a CDI, have your existing jib retro-fitted as dlochner has suggested, and you should be able to get away with spending way less than 2K. One caveat: when you install a roller furler, you will need to "shorten" your headstay by the size of the roller drum. Most headstays can be adjusted to accommodate that adjustment, but some are not; if your headstay is too long to adjust small enough to fit the furler unit, you will need to replace your headstay too. When choosing a furling unit, you should keep in mind that some brands may require headstay replacement, and some won't, and factor that into the costs.

capta · Feb 26, 2018

I couldn't think of any good reason not to have roller furling on any boat that can handle it, unless it was for racing. Perhaps having the furler will get you out on the water a few days more a year?
I remember the old days of having to take off sail covers, hank on a jib or two and run sheets. You could easily spend as much time getting her ready and putting her to bed as you would for a couple of hours of sailing.
These days a couple of halyards have to come back to the mast, the sheet winches need to be uncovered, as do the autopilot and chartplotter at the helm. Then it's anchor up and we can have sail up in less than 15 minutes.
Just going out for a few hours is so easy now.

Barnacle Bill · Feb 27, 2018

Roller Furling is convenient and adds an element of safety as you don't have to go forward to unhank the headsail, fold it and bag it - which can be especially dangerous if in high winds and big seas. With the sail easily furled you eliminate the need to stow a bagged sail somewhere in the cabin (takes up room in the living area of your boat), or perhaps the cockpit locker. There are several manufacturers to choose from and you should consider your budget and how you use the boat. If you often raise and lower your mast traveling to different bodies of water to enjoy, then you might want to pick a furler with a flexible extrusion. The two basic types that come to mind are the CDI (Cruising Design Inc - now owned by a Canadian company) and Schaefer's Snap Furl. The CDI uses it's own halyard system while the Snap Furl uses your existing halyards. If you have more than one head sail, like a racer might have, then you will better be served with the Snap Furl. Otherwise, the CDI is cheaper. Both are easy to install. If you have a bigger budget and your boat sits with the mast up all summer, then you might consider a more sophisticated system like Furlex (Selden) or Harken. As far as sail modification is concerned, you have to have the hanks removed as mentioned before and a luff tape installed to fit the slot in the system you choose. In addition, the hoist of the leading edge of the sail may have to be shortened to accommodate the drum at the bottom and a swivel at the top, if the system uses one (CDI doesn't). For better headsail shape when the sail is partially furled, you would want a foam or rope luff (depends on the sailmaker) as that will help develop better draft. If you just have a luff tape without the foam or rope luff, the sail will be very flat midway for reefing. I believe CDI is not recommended for partial furling, but the Snap Furl is as are more expensive systems. Also, since your headsail will be wrapped around your forestay/extrusion, a sacrificial cloth should be added to the luff and foot of the sail to protect the sail cloth from sun degradation. It is easier and cheaper to remove old UV material and add new stuff than replace the entire sail. If you have a very old sail that isn't worth much, it doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of money on it to accommodate the furling modification. You will be much happier with a new sail, designed and built for furling and made to fit the system that you choose.

Crazy Dave Condon · Mar 1, 2018

@Barnacle Bill hit all the major points which is professionally suggested to you. Barnacle Bill thank you very much for that.
May I add a few points. Not sure if it is the original sail but if it is, a new one is suggested. I would add a Sunbrella cover and you would need to advise which way the furling drum line side would go down toward the cockpit so the cover would be sewn to accommodate that. The CDI will take a number 6 luff tape. Make sure and I am not sure which one of the others it is, but the snap furlers one has a tendenacy to slide up and down when taking the mast up or down so I would suggest the other one as it did take some time to readjust. The cost and performance of course as Bill pointed out tremendously will depend on the type of sailing and of course the monies spent.

Should you go with the CDI, the Hunter 260 boat information has the posted #2 system ownners manual in the downloads and if you order direct it will come up coiled in a box. I would suggest then sending me a private message so I can tell you how to unwind that safely from a retired dealer perspective who put many on sailboats.
Crazy Dave

Meriachee · Mar 1, 2018

Modifying a sail is not something your average person should be entertaining, unless you understand the possibility of, and costs associated with replacing it if you manage to wreck it. It's not something that can be done with a home or craft quality machine, and your normal household thread will last about 11 seconds out on the water.
Any sail loft can assess the change to a furling setup, and assuming the sail can be converted, will do the job for much less than you can buy the infrastructure for.

DrJudyB · Mar 1, 2018

Both the CDI FF2 and the Schaefer Snapfurl CF-500 work fine for reefing on a Hunter 23. The CDI is more basic and a little less technical to install; the Snapfurl is more sophisticated.

The CDI doesn't use the boats jib halyard at all; and getting a halyard wrap can't happen. It's the KISS version of curlers. It works great. Reliable, sturdy, etc.

The Snapfurl operates like most other furler and uses the boats jib halyard; and you can adjust the shape of the sail by changing the halyard tension. It works great. Reliable, sturdy.

The FF2 and Snapfurl 500 are very close to each other in terms of price. Both can use the existing forestry assuming it has an open body turnbuckle. The one you choose depends on your preference for KISS (CDI) vs ability to adjust the shape via luff tension (Snapfurl)

If your current jib is in great shape and you can do the conversion work yourself, you will save a ton of money.

If the jib is stretched out and worn out, it's not worth investing in it, IMO, no matter who does the work. My advice would be to buy a new one and sell the old one.

If you hire a sailmaker to do the conversion, be sure to include the cost of the conversion from hanks to luff tape, new Uv cover, luff pad for furling the 135 Genoa (this is optional for a smaller jib), and maybe reefing patches on the foot and upper leech.

I recommend you compare the bottom line cost of

* converting the old sail
*buying a new one purpose built for furling and selling the old one.