BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!

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On Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:42:22 -0500, lid (Jonathan
Ganz) wrote:

In article ,
wrote:
On Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:38:55 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Sounds like your cockpit is arranged quite a bit differently than mine. I'm
always using my jib winch when furling because I run a single turn of the
sheet around it to get a nice tight furl.

I can't see anything wrong with the way you are doing it though. The key
point is to have some "feel" which swigging provides. Too easy to over pull
with a winch. I was just looking at a broken Harken torque tube a couple
days ago.

Harken says that if you need to use a winch to furl, there is
something wrong with either your setup or your technique.

I find I have to use heavily padded gloves for that small diameter
furling line when the wind is up, but never had to resort to using a
winch.

Schaefer says the same thing, as do all the people I know with furlers.

I've never had to use more than regular effort to furl, even in 20kts. It's odd that there would be that much on the furling line.

When the wind suddenly pipes up, my 170% genoa can be a bear to wind
up. That's where heavy gloves come in handy. If I seem to be having
more trouble than normal, I immediately check to see if I've neglected
something, such as the backstay adjuster, or an over tight halyard.
I've always avoided using the winch, because the manufacturer said
that was a bad thing to do and should never be necessary of everythng
is setup and adjusted properly.