Two tracks in furler?

[Don Crowther]

Ok this may sound like a silly question but I need to know why.
We were putting up our jib last weekend and I noticed that there are 2 tracks on the foil. Does it matter which side you use?

Thanks
Don
ps I don't have the make or model of the furling

 

[tsmwebb]

It doesn't matter which track you use. You could, in theory, use the twin tracks to run twin headsails for running down the trades... On some furlers you can remove the drum and drop the swivel and use the twin grooves for jib changes... But for most folks most of the time you will only use the one groove and it doesn't make much difference which you use... That said, my furler reefs by rotating counter-clockwise and I use the starboard groove because it doesn't fold the sail at as sharp an angle... But, I think that is more of an aesthetic issue than a practical one.

--Tom.

 

[Andy1237]

Or changing jibs while racing. I was crewing once when we holed the jib on a bad tack. We ran a second jib up inside the ripped jib, tacked, and peeled the old jib off the inside. We never ran bare-headed and did well in race-much better than if we had to pull the old jib down and run bare while we fiddled with getting the new jib up.