In article ,
"GBM" wrote:
Straightening units that have been coiled for some time is not easy
I made the mistake of getting our FF6 early and leaving it coiled until
Spring ;-) I DID eventually get it mostly straight, but that's why I
suggested he get his shipped flat. The FF6 is *considerably* beefier
than the FF4/5. The FF9 specs indicate one serious extrusion.
BUT, with due respect to Jere's experience, we felt they were great
for lake or light coastal use, but would not recommend them for
offshore use. The people that make them ARE easy to deal with and we
sold a lot of their FF4 units for 22-24 footers.
We have the FF6, the next size up from the 4 and one down from the 9,
and have had no problems in a decade with a big genny, often furled. We
are coastal, but I wouldn't consider we're "light", as we do 60-80 days
a year, and we've been through some "stuff" as a result.
Remember too, their warrantee includes charters and mishandling, so it's
covered anyway.
Our experience: We did have lufftape pull out of PVC foil on one unit
and under heavy load, the flat sections, unlike round aluminum foils,
do twist.
I haven't seen a luff that didn't twist a bit, including the charter
boats I've crewed, but it's tougher to see with a round luff. That you
do "a lot" of the smaller units and can point to only one failure
sounds like a pretty good track record. I see more failures on our dock
each year amongst the various types.
Changing or removing sail is inconvenient in that you have to go to the bow,
attach a temporary halyard extension and then haul the sail down. In heavy
seas, not the greatest place to be!
VERY true! That's why it's a good cruising sail, as we either put a
smaller sail up early, or reef for the duration.
All luffs require someone at the bow to change out sails. The primary
difference is that temporary halyard -- and we could lead *that* back
to our cockpit for the other crew member to winch in with if we really
had to change in nasty conditions. (via the chute downhaul block.)
--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages:
http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics)
http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/