Hi everyone,

We're going to purchase a new headsail roller
furler for our Irwin C 38, and know very little
about the pluses and minuses of the various units.

Which units are the best for long term cruising,
considering overall quality of construction, and
ease of repair if something does go wrong?

Right now, we're looking at Harken, Profurl, and
Alado Nautica. Are there other brands we should
consider?

If you consider price, ease of maintenance,
longevity in a salt water environment, etc, which
unit do you think is the best overall value?

Regards,

Don W.

The Alado is cheap and simple and bullet proof and easy to install. That
said, you'll need a high cut jib and once the jib is tensioned, that's it.
Also difficult to get much tension.
Gordon


"Don W" wrote in message
m...
Hi everyone,

We're going to purchase a new headsail roller
furler for our Irwin C 38, and know very little
about the pluses and minuses of the various units.

Which units are the best for long term cruising,
considering overall quality of construction, and
ease of repair if something does go wrong?

Right now, we're looking at Harken, Profurl, and
Alado Nautica. Are there other brands we should
consider?

If you consider price, ease of maintenance,
longevity in a salt water environment, etc, which
unit do you think is the best overall value?

Regards,

Don W.

"Don W" wrote

Right now, we're looking at Harken, Profurl, and
Alado Nautica. Are there other brands we should
consider?

If you consider price, ease of maintenance,
longevity in a salt water environment, etc, which
unit do you think is the best overall value?

Don,

After 25 years of installing furlers and using them on boats from 22 to 50
ft, I have an opinion, but not a strong one.

Profurl - You can't go far wrong - But there are some who got a run around
getting parts when in distant parts. But, they are a world wide company and
more likely to have service than the lesser known makes.

Harken - ( I have one on my boat that is an original Mk 1from way back!) -
More streamlined, less rugged looking than Profurl. If sized properly should
give good service and parts widely available.

Alado - Never seen one despite having been in business - probably a choice
if the price is the main consideration. Maybe buy two so you will have spare
parts

Others to look at:

Hood Yacht Systems - Seafurl - Hood were one of the first into modern
furlers - probably still worth looking at. sailed many miles on the original
units - no experience with recent units.

Furlex - Definitely worth considering - Good Swedish engineering.

Schaeffer - Installed several of these - not bad, but I would choose them
behind Profurl, Furlex and Harken mainly because of lighter duty extrusions
and joining system.

If faced with same decision, I would price all of above units, except Alado.
Then add on any extras that may be needed such as furling blocks, furling
line, shackles, halyard wrap preventer, new forestay (may be needed), sail
modifications etc. Sometime the price/size breaks result in one make being a
better value.

Good Luck

GBM

"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!

Hi Charlie,

The intended installer will probably be me, and
I'm trying to figure out what brand I like best ;-)

The problem with this type of thing is that
furlers are an esoteric and fairly expensive piece
of hardware. Its hard to find a place where you
can look at different furlers side by side and
compare the designs. Once they're installed,
pretty much all you can see is the bottom drum.

Don W.

Charlie Morgan wrote:


I'd go with whatever brand the intended installer likes best. Proper
installation is truly a large part of the "quality" of any furler.

CWM

Thanks for your comments below. Since you've seen
so many of the units, can you tell me what to look
out for as far as failures? I recall a Cruising
World article where someone had their furler shed
its bearings at sea while the jib was partially
rolled up. They then could not roll it up, or
unroll it to strike it IIRC.

Am I correct in thinking that some furlers use
bearings and swivels such that the furler becomes
the forestay, while some furlers install around
the existing forestay? If so, what are the
advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

BTW, the price difference between the Alado, and a
Harken unit of the proper size is fairly
negligible (~30%) when you consider how long
you'll be using the furler, and the consequences
of a failure in a remote area.

TIA,

Don W.

GBM wrote:
After 25 years of installing furlers and using them on boats from 22 to 50
ft, I have an opinion, but not a strong one.

Profurl - You can't go far wrong - But there are some who got a run around
getting parts when in distant parts. But, they are a world wide company and
more likely to have service than the lesser known makes.

Harken - ( I have one on my boat that is an original Mk 1from way back!) -
More streamlined, less rugged looking than Profurl. If sized properly should
give good service and parts widely available.

Alado - Never seen one despite having been in business - probably a choice
if the price is the main consideration. Maybe buy two so you will have spare
parts

Others to look at:

Hood Yacht Systems - Seafurl - Hood were one of the first into modern
furlers - probably still worth looking at. sailed many miles on the original
units - no experience with recent units.

Furlex - Definitely worth considering - Good Swedish engineering.

Schaeffer - Installed several of these - not bad, but I would choose them
behind Profurl, Furlex and Harken mainly because of lighter duty extrusions
and joining system.

If faced with same decision, I would price all of above units, except Alado.
Then add on any extras that may be needed such as furling blocks, furling
line, shackles, halyard wrap preventer, new forestay (may be needed), sail
modifications etc. Sometime the price/size breaks result in one make being a
better value.

Good Luck

GBM

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!

We have a Schaefer 3100. It has been trouble free and easy to use.
Dick McKee
S/V ONE9TEEN

Don W wrote:
Hi everyone,

We're going to purchase a new headsail roller
furler for our Irwin C 38, and know very little
about the pluses and minuses of the various units.

Which units are the best for long term cruising,
considering overall quality of construction, and
ease of repair if something does go wrong?

Right now, we're looking at Harken, Profurl, and
Alado Nautica. Are there other brands we should
consider?

If you consider price, ease of maintenance,
longevity in a salt water environment, etc, which
unit do you think is the best overall value?

Regards,

Don W.

"Don W" wrote
Wrote a long reply (twice) and both times my computer froze just before I
sent it! Trying again!

Causes of drastic failu

1. Halyard wrap (do a web search for "halyard wrap" and furling)
2. Sail luff too short and no pendant to allow swivel to go all way to top.
3. Lack of proper rigging swivels top and bottom of forestay.
4. Foils sections coming loose - poor installation - needs locktite to
prevent
5. Bearing failure - usually due to lack of maintenance or heeding warning
signs.

Regarding design - all modern furlers fit over forestay - only differences
are that some incorporate turnbuckle in design (Harken/Furlex) while others
fir over existing turnbuckle.

Profurl, Furlex and Harken installation manuals are all on-line - do Google
search - They should explain all.

This is a good summary by Brian Toss - I agree with everything he says:

http://www.briontoss.com/education/a.../miscnov03.htm

GBM


Thanks for your comments below. Since you've seen
so many of the units, can you tell me what to look
out for as far as failures? I recall a Cruising
World article where someone had their furler shed
its bearings at sea while the jib was partially
rolled up. They then could not roll it up, or
unroll it to strike it IIRC.

Am I correct in thinking that some furlers use
bearings and swivels such that the furler becomes
the forestay, while some furlers install around
the existing forestay? If so, what are the
advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

BTW, the price difference between the Alado, and a
Harken unit of the proper size is fairly
negligible (~30%) when you consider how long
you'll be using the furler, and the consequences
of a failure in a remote area.

TIA,

Don W.