Man, I hate them. Perhaps some are better than others, but the last
experience I had with them was that you have to be dead into the wind for
unfurling, but especially for furling. There's so much friction between the
sail and the track groove that I was concerned we would damage the sail.
Headed directly into the wind isn't always a problem, but it can be when the
wind is shifting constantly (an example is the hurricane gulch area on the
bay). In other areas, this is also possible, so it seems like it's a lot of
pain for very little gain.

I also wasn't thrilled with the outhaul and furling lines (a continuous line
that's got two clutches). We couldn't get the main all the way out (the clew
position is marked on the boom). At first I thought it was mis-marked, but
then when we anchored for lunch, I went up there and we examined it closely.
There was still a wrap or two inside the mast. Sitting at anchor, we tugged
and heaved and finally got it all the way out, then furled it back and
unfurled it a couple of times to ensure it was going to work when we needed
it. Maybe there's an adjustment, but not in the middle of a class.

The furling mechanism has a "ratchet" position, which is basically the
outhaul lock for furling, and a free-style position for unfurling. So,
bottom line, you still have send someone up there to switch it if you need
to power up or if you need to set the reef point. With normal non-furling
mains, you might need to go forward (or not, depending on your reefing
system), but I thought the whole point was to make things more simple.
Doesn't seem that simple to me, not to mention the position switch is none
too easy to use - it seemed to be pretty stiff.

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"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com