Jonathan Ganz wrote:
Would like to hear comments from those who have had both systems.

working at the bow. for distance trips, the main downside to furling
is that if you need to put up a storm jib, you'll need to completely
remove the furling mechanism (not a big deal if you plan ahead)..
unless of course you have two forestays I suppose.

It may be difficult to repair a furler while underway on a long trip,
but I do know people who carry a spare unit. They're really not that
complicated anyway.

Certainly, if you're single handing, you need a good and quick way of
bring the sail down. With a furler, it's easy, but a standard rig can
be easy too... just use a downhaul, which is what I did on my previous
boat.


For sailing with the family I would go with the furling gear. It makes
reducing or removing the genoa easy and painless, which is important if
you are underway with your family. There are special storm-jibs made to
fit over a furling sail, with a familiy you would probably plan ahead
enough to avoid storm situations in the first place.
Reliability can be a concern with furling gear, but if it is your own
boat the you can look after it and maintain it as necessary. I've bee up
to the mast repairing furling gear on the sea, fortunately the weather
was good. The boat was a bareboat charter and was not looked after well
enough.

Markus