"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...

You don't have to use a hank on actually. They do make storm sails that
fit around a furled jib. But, underneath the aluminum roller is the
headstay. It's not that hard to remove if you have enough time.

I don't know what you mean. My roller is a solid tube with the wire inside
it and it is upwards of 45 feet long so removing it is not an option. If
you can somehow remove your roller where are you going to stow it?

And, you don't need a
jib to sail. You can sail under greatly reduced main (e.g., 3rd reef or
storm main).

yes, of course. That is why a roller beats hanked on sails. You do not have
to go forward and mess with flogging sailcloth in bad conditions. This is
where 'Wilbur' has not thought it through. By the time you have removed the
sheets to another sail and then unhanked it the sail is completely free to
wash overboard if conditions are bad. He thinks he can bag it up on the
deck!
snip

I've never had to put the furling line on a winch... even on a 60 ft
boat... Chances are good that you may roll it too tightly, and thus it
won't go all the way.

One does not normally have to use the winch but in any case the winch has
nothing to do with how tight it rolls. This depends on the tension you keep
on the sheets while rolling. You need some tension to get a neat roll but
you certainly do not need to hold the sheets so tight that you need a winch
to fight the strain. But a self-tailing winch makes the job much easier if
you are one person doing both jobs.

If you think that going onto the foredeck in a storm and unhanking one
sail, getting it down the forehatch, and replacing it with another which
you fetch up through the open hatch is a good option I can confidently
assert that you have never been out in a storm with only one other
crewmember.

Never said I did nor would I do such a thing. That's called bad planning.

Don't know anything about conditions on the US West coast but around Uk you
cannot bank on planning not to be caught out sometimes as the weather can
change in a matter of an hour or two and the forecasts cover a general area
within which local conditions can vary quite a bit.