"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Aug 2006 18:01:36 -0400, "GBM" said:

Alado - Never seen one despite having been in business

It's a Brazilian company, apparently trying to break into the US market.

I have been aware of the company for some time. But what I meant was, that
I have never seen one installed on a boat in our area, which might indicate
that they have not been too successful in marketing in our area yet.

Looking over the installation manual on their site, there is good reason for
the low price. This unit should be compared with the CDI units rather than
Profurl, Harken et al. Reason - It has no top swivel (it has it's own
integral rope halyard. It has no bottom drum bearings - A great saving just
there. It does not have the normal S/S support plates at the bottom - Just a
plastic clamp. The drum appears to rotate on a plastic bushing.

This is not to say it would not work - The CDI units work quite well on
smaller boats and are also cheap.

But, for a 37 footer, get a decent system!

GBM

"GBM" wrote in news:kdSBg.63494$Uy1.13613
@read1.cgocable.net:

This is not to say it would not work - The CDI units work quite well on
smaller boats and are also cheap.

But, for a 37 footer, get a decent system!


REality check - Will it furl it in a gale with 12' rollers breaking over
the bow?

I'm with you....the stouter the better! Going up there in that gale to
fool around with cheap plastic crap might lose the kids a daddy!

And that is precisely why I think it's worth
investigating different people's experiences with
the units before putting one on my boat. There
are a lot of things on a sailboat that are
unnecessary, but a working headsail and forestay
are not among them.

Don W.

Larry wrote:

REality check - Will it furl it in a gale with 12' rollers breaking over
the bow?

I'm with you....the stouter the better! Going up there in that gale to
fool around with cheap plastic crap might lose the kids a daddy!