Does anyone have experience with one of these main-furling systems?

I'm considering putting one on my current boat, if I choose to keep her for
a while longer. But I'm open to other suggestions. I'm not a fan of
in-mast furlers. Too risky, considering a jam with the sail half-furled
could be disastrous to the sail--or boat-- if caught in a blow. And mast
furlers don't allow for horizontal battens--I'm not sold on the new vertical
battens yet.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

Max

Any suggestions will be welcome.



Well.....I've sailed a few boats this season with Dutchman's,
stackpacks and in-spar furling systems. In mast furling and electric
hoists are laughable...until you use them.
I think the sto-boom has been around for 15 years or more and is well
liked, but I've only seen it (on an Endeavor) and never used it
underway. You will keep your old boom of course for the purist buyer
coming at you.
It seems like a bit too much trouble and expense if you're in any way
serious about moving to a different boat.
Do you have a stackpack or other system for handling the main?
Also...are you aware of the swing batton systems for in mast furlers?

RB
35s5
NY

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Does anyone have experience with one of these main-furling systems?

I'm considering putting one on my current boat, if I choose to keep her
for a while longer. But I'm open to other suggestions. I'm not a fan of
in-mast furlers. Too risky, considering a jam with the sail half-furled
could be disastrous to the sail--or boat-- if caught in a blow. And mast
furlers don't allow for horizontal battens--I'm not sold on the new
vertical battens yet.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

Max

Used in-mast furlers on both Tortola charters and they worked flawlessly.
Only observation I can offer about Hood, from experience, is that their
customer service is poor for older products. Don't know if this is common in
the industry or not, could be that Hood isn't quite up to snuff as they are
now owned by Pompanette, a French company! I think the biggest problem with
the inmast systems would be that they are fairly expensive, and if they do
fail would be a real pita to fix, probably.

John Cairns

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Does anyone have experience with one of these main-furling systems?

I'm considering putting one on my current boat, if I choose to keep her
for a while longer. But I'm open to other suggestions. I'm not a fan of
in-mast furlers. Too risky, considering a jam with the sail half-furled
could be disastrous to the sail--or boat-- if caught in a blow. And mast
furlers don't allow for horizontal battens--I'm not sold on the new
vertical battens yet.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

My experience with in boom furling is dated.... but none of it would entice
me to ever have such a system aboard any vessel I owned. Maybe they have
improved the system since then.

CM

I've had one in-mast furler jam and it took lots of
playihng with it to get it to furl. Consider what a
have furled in mast sail will do when the wind picks
up. The in boom furlers, if the fail, will at least let
your drop the sail normally. Also the battens have
to be vertical as you said, and the leech straight or
hollow.

I've read that the angle of the boom to the mast
is critical for in-boom furlers. Even with this headache
I think in boom is best option if you can afford $10k or
more for a boom.

Maxprop wrote:
Does anyone have experience with one of these main-furling systems?

I'm considering putting one on my current boat, if I choose to keep her for
a while longer. But I'm open to other suggestions. I'm not a fan of
in-mast furlers. Too risky, considering a jam with the sail half-furled
could be disastrous to the sail--or boat-- if caught in a blow. And mast
furlers don't allow for horizontal battens--I'm not sold on the new vertical
battens yet.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

Max

"Bart" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've had one in-mast furler jam and it took lots of
playihng with it to get it to furl. Consider what a
have furled in mast sail will do when the wind picks
up. The in boom furlers, if the fail, will at least let
your drop the sail normally. Also the battens have
to be vertical as you said, and the leech straight or
hollow.

"Bart" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've had one in-mast furler jam and it took lots of
playihng with it to get it to furl. Consider what a
have furled in mast sail will do when the wind picks
up.

Yes, they are fine when they work but if they do not work you have big
trouble. In a foresail the sailmaker can cut the sail to allow for the
inevitable sag in the forestay. My boat has a Mack foresail which sets
beautifully when unfurled and also has padding so that it also furls neatly.
But a furling mainsail is constrained by being held within the mast. The
foil on which the sail is rolled wants to sag in the middle like a forestay
but it cannot. So, it sags as much as it can until further sag is resisted
by friction between the sail and the slot from which it emerges. So there is
always friction between the 'canvas' and the slots in the mast which is
going to cause wear on the stitching and constant maintenance and there is
always the possibility of the whole thing jamming.
Since it is unlikely to jam while already furled it is most likely to jam
while halfway back in and if you are caught out in increasing wind you will
have real problems.
So, for me, conventional reefing and lowering of the sail is the way to go
for serious sailors.
Just my 2 (kroners, pence or cents) worth.

"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...

Do you have a stackpack or other system for handling the main?

I have a lazy jack system from Sail Care, Inc. It uses shock cords in the
lower part and holds the sail fairly well on the boom, even in wind. It
also retracts against the mast when not in use. It's okay, but not as
convenient as a roller boom.

Also...are you aware of the swing batton systems for in mast furlers?

Nope.

Max

"Bart" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've had one in-mast furler jam and it took lots of
playihng with it to get it to furl. Consider what a
have furled in mast sail will do when the wind picks
up. The in boom furlers, if the fail, will at least let
your drop the sail normally. Also the battens have
to be vertical as you said, and the leech straight or
hollow.

I've read that the angle of the boom to the mast
is critical for in-boom furlers. Even with this headache
I think in boom is best option if you can afford $10k or
more for a boom.

Your observations pretty much mirror my own, Bart. I'm just not a fan of
truncated roaches and vertical battens, etc.

Max