BoatBanter.com - headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!

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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.

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?

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

headsail furlers -the good, the bad and the ugly...sound off!