But you must admit, mainsail furling and considering racing or overall speed
aside, is easy on crew or those who single hand. For example, I sailed solo
from Annapolis through the South Pacific with mainsail furling and found in
the trades sailing wing and wing the only adjustment I had to make was to
the windvane. So, down wind sailing is somewhat simplified; don't you
think? Moreover, from what I've notice, Hinckley, plus several other major
boat builders have incorporated furling mainsails as an option. Although
somewhat bias, since I have mainsail furling and consider the advantage of
not going topside to furl sails or zip covers is more than just an
opportunity, but safety for me in all conditions, I totally agree that the
investment is substantial.

"Graeme Cook" wrote in message
...
| I have sailed extensively with both boom furling and lazyjack systems and
have
| very firm views, all prefaced with KISS - keep it simple ... .
|
| In boom furling is a very expensive means of doing a job very badly for
the
| following reasons:
|
| * You have no outhaul control, especially when the sail is reefed, and so
you
| cannot vary the sail shape and draft location to suit wind and swell
| conditions. Yacht will not point.
|
| * Boom and reefing assembly is very heavy which flattens sail in light
weather
| when you need maximum sail shape. Yacht will not sail well in light
conditions.
|
| * When reefing/furling boom must be absolutely horizontal or sail creaps
along
| furler and may jam due to bunching.
|
| * Needs at least two people reef/furl - one to crank reefing winch (hard
work)
| and another to lower halyard at exactly the same pace, else sail will furl
| unevenly and may jam. Also needs autohelm or a third person steering.
|
| I would urge you to look at a jiffy reefing system (also called slab
reefing) in
| conjunction with lazyjacks or dutchman lines. I have never used the
dutchman
| system so cannot comment on it.
|
| Lazyjacks are almost fault free although you do have to watch that batten
ends
| do no get caught in them when hoisting sail - just drop the sail five feet
to
| free them, then continue.
|
| My next mainsail will probably have full length battens, oversize batcars
or
| similar, firm roach, and fit the existing lazyjack system.
|
| Finally, make sure that the sail cover is large enough. In normal
cruising mode
| you will not drop and flake the main as neatly as your sailmaker, so you
will
| need more room in the sailcover. Some sailmakers, especially Hood, seem
to put
| a premium on making sailcovers very small and inobtrusive.
|
| Considering size of investment proposed you might consider sailing (even
| chartering) on yachts fitted with both systems to try them yourself. Just
talk
| around your local yacht clubs and some helpful souls may emerge.
|
| Hope this helps.
|
| Graeme
| sv Leonidas
|