Rosalie B. wrote in
:

At my club we have several Beneteau's, Catalina's, Tayana 48, and even
a older Pearson 36 (among others) with in mast furling. They all have
had trouble without exception. Much of the time this is due to the
owner having it setup wrong and dealers certainly get it wrong, as in


Geoffrey's Amel Sharki has in-mast furling of both main and mizzen. Amel
takes the HUGE approach...huge mast with massive gear-driven shaft in a
very large, open slot. If you don't pull on the outhaul and warp the shaft
into the slot, it works extremely well and doesn't jam. It doesn't even
have to be tightly wrapped as the space is much larger than it really needs
to be to wrap the main around the shaft. We've sailed it partially furled
very successfully in heavy weather when the reef wasn't quite enough. Half
furled in a heavy breeze it still pulls like a tractor. The only time it
"gets stuck", which is easy to fix by just letting go of the outhaul and
unfurling it, releasing the pressure on the shaft, is when you try to wrap
it too tight.

The new Amel 52, of course, has ELECTRIC furling on them all, right from
the helm....(c;

We still have to haul out the winch handles into the spray on the
Sharki....(d^
12 winches and winch handle-powered tracks, too. Winch handles all over!

Larry
--
Halloween candy sure has dropped in price, lately!