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#81
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!
wrote in message ... On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:38:43 +0200, "Edgar" wrote: wrote in message ... On Aug 9, 8:10 am, "Edgar" wrote: ... My boat came with a nearly new Profurl system which has been entirely satisfactory and easy to use. The foil cames with two grooves so theoretically you can hoist one sail before you lower the other as I have several extra halliards. ... But not when using the "furling" option. If you have a furling sail up it will be attached to the swivel and if you hoist a new sail before lowering the old you will not be able to lower the swivel or the old sail... There may be other justifications for dual slots (twin headsails for trade wind sailing, redundancy, or racing sail changes when the swivel (and therefore the furling) is not used) but they aren't for changing sails when cruising. -- Tom. Yes that is true of course. My boat came from a racing background and has several Mylar foresails, all of which fit the grooves. This is all very well but it needs two peole to handle sail changes as one has to man the halliards while the other feeds the sail into the foil. I sail with just my wife for crew so all those racing sails are in the basement at home and I stick with a 130% dacron genny which is specially designed for the roller. Even though we only cruise I do not like a slow boat and we hold our own pretty well with most boats our own size so I am happy. Is there some reason you don't want to use a pre-feeder? I routinely change sails by myself. I get the sail started in the track, and then the prefeeder takes care of guiding the rest of the sail in while I man the halyard. Rarely, I have to stop at some point because the sail is too twisted on the deck to feed well. Takes but a second to fix that when it happens, and get back in the cockpit. My pre-feeder is homemade out of starboard, and splits in two pieces, held togeter by bolts with wingnuts, in case I ever need to remove it from the bolt rope while somewhere in the middle of it's length. So far, I've never used that option. Yes, if I planned to revert to racing mode I would add a pre-feeder but still feel that a !50% Mylar genny lying on deck would need a helping hand from time to time. Even my storm jib needs feeding into the groove on the foil so while shorthanded I prefer to stick with the Profurl and dedicated foresail designed for it. I have the spinnaker winch handy in the cockpit if I need it for the furling line but have never had to use it yet as the line has a good lead and I have always been able to haul it in by hand. I have no wish to have to go onto the foredeck well offshore in the middle of the night to change a foresail in heavy weather although I have fitted a jackstay so that I can be clipped on all the way forward if I have to. .. Had my fill of that sort of thing in the English Channel with my previous boat when I lived in Uk-that boat had hankon foresails. But at least here in S. Norway it is never actually dark in the middle of the night in summer so that is a bonus. |
#82
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:58:34 +0200, "Edgar"
wrote: wrote in message .. . On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:38:43 +0200, "Edgar" wrote: wrote in message ... On Aug 9, 8:10 am, "Edgar" wrote: ... My boat came with a nearly new Profurl system which has been entirely satisfactory and easy to use. The foil cames with two grooves so theoretically you can hoist one sail before you lower the other as I have several extra halliards. ... But not when using the "furling" option. If you have a furling sail up it will be attached to the swivel and if you hoist a new sail before lowering the old you will not be able to lower the swivel or the old sail... There may be other justifications for dual slots (twin headsails for trade wind sailing, redundancy, or racing sail changes when the swivel (and therefore the furling) is not used) but they aren't for changing sails when cruising. -- Tom. Yes that is true of course. My boat came from a racing background and has several Mylar foresails, all of which fit the grooves. This is all very well but it needs two peole to handle sail changes as one has to man the halliards while the other feeds the sail into the foil. I sail with just my wife for crew so all those racing sails are in the basement at home and I stick with a 130% dacron genny which is specially designed for the roller. Even though we only cruise I do not like a slow boat and we hold our own pretty well with most boats our own size so I am happy. Is there some reason you don't want to use a pre-feeder? I routinely change sails by myself. I get the sail started in the track, and then the prefeeder takes care of guiding the rest of the sail in while I man the halyard. Rarely, I have to stop at some point because the sail is too twisted on the deck to feed well. Takes but a second to fix that when it happens, and get back in the cockpit. My pre-feeder is homemade out of starboard, and splits in two pieces, held togeter by bolts with wingnuts, in case I ever need to remove it from the bolt rope while somewhere in the middle of it's length. So far, I've never used that option. Yes, if I planned to revert to racing mode I would add a pre-feeder but still feel that a !50% Mylar genny lying on deck would need a helping hand from time to time. I still don't understand why you don't have a pre-feeder. It's probably more important on a cruiser than on a race boat where there would usually be more crew on board and less actual need for one. You can buy one that works just fine for about $20. Even when changing sails at the dock before going out, it's a big help. What is the downside that makes you resist having one? |
#83
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!
I still don't understand why you don't have a pre-feeder. It's probably more important on a cruiser than on a race boat where there would usually be more crew on board and less actual need for one. You can buy one that works just fine for about $20. Even when changing sails at the dock before going out, it's a big help. What is the downside that makes you resist having one? Because I only hoist the jib once a year in spring and lower it again in autumn |
#84
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!
On 2008-08-20 17:49:01 -0400, (Richard
Casady) said: Some reason a furler couldn't have a shear pin like an outboard motor? A real good one: If you DO have high enough winds that you need to winch in, the possible cost of overstressing the luff is well below that of losing the boat. -- Jere Lull Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
#85
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:52:48 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:
On 2008-08-20 17:49:01 -0400, (Richard Casady) said: Some reason a furler couldn't have a shear pin like an outboard motor? A real good one: If you DO have high enough winds that you need to winch in, the possible cost of overstressing the luff is well below that of losing the boat. The shear pin is to protect the metal, not the sail. Casady |
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