Headsail reefing furlers

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From: reefka (Original Message) Sent: 11/01/2007 2:25 AM
Hi All,

Happy new Year - 2007 the year of the Top hat website taking off!!!

Just got back from sailing in the Bay of islands over the Christmas/new year period. If you ever get a chance to get over there I would highly recommend it... !

Amongst other things, the furling headsail that we had on the boat that we chartered has got me interested in making life easier on my top hat... so I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for furling systems...

At the moment I have 4 headsails (1, 2, 3 & storm jib) and have to clip them on and off - if there are 3 or more of us on board this isn't too much of a prob, but when it's just me and my girlfriend it gets a bit tricky...

The 2 that have taken my interest are

Reefurl from www.furlings.com and SanpFurl from www.furling.com

I would appreciate any opinions/suggestions...

Cheers
Gavin




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From: Rob Sent: 11/01/2007 8:40 PM
Hi Gavin
I bouht my Top Hat with a furling headsail - never taken it off, but if I
were to get serious about racing, I would. With 2 littlies, the furler is
great - all done from the cockpit, however it is hard to get the right
tension in the forestay, and the furler itself disrupts the wind flow around
the luff of the sail to a small degree. The brand of furler - I'd need to
check. It is easy to get the sail off the furler itself too.
Regards,
Rob

Isabella II
Pittwater

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From: Force_Fed17 Sent: 13/01/2007 2:33 AM
G'Day Gavin,

The Dec 2006 edition of Cruising Helmsman has a 7 page article on this subject with 11 different brands listed. My Top Hat has an older sytem by "Hood" which has a continuous line around the drum so i can let out all or part of the Genoa and tie it off on a cleat. Sail shape suffers when you reef but it's something I have come to live with for the convenience.

Steve
Windchaser
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From: BigLofty4 Sent: 15/01/2007 2:18 AM
Hello Gavin,

As Steve notes, the December "Cruising Helmsman" article is a good one. I had a Furlex furling headsail on my Top Hat, and it worked well. You need to have quite a bit of tension on your backstay to keep the forestay tight, otherwise you will have difficulty deploying and retrieving the furler. Also, never let the furler go out without tension on the furler control sheet. If you do, it will probably run onto the drum unevenly and jam when you try to roll the furler in. Just let it out slowly with tension on both the furler and headsail sheets.

Yes, the shape of the sail is compromised when you try to bring it half-way in. However, Brett Scott of Scott Sails ( I have his phone number) tells me that they have a system that "pads out" the sail so that it retains its shape when you reef. Worth a look.

If you are contemplating serious racing, Rob is right, and a furler is not the the way to go. However, I race in the non-spinnaker division, and it works for me. All that angst about should we go with No 1, No 2, No 3 is replaced by "The wind has dropped, let it out a bit" or "We're heeling too far, bring it in a bit, and while you're at it, pass me another beer".

Cheers
Cyril

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From: SilverGull Sent: 15/01/2007 4:04 AM
Will take a look at the make of mine this week and let youknow. Its old, but appears to have given no problems at all. The Furling headsail is the best piece of the boat as far as my wife is concerned...

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From: bboatey Sent: 15/01/2007 11:59 PM
Hi
I had a reefurl fitted on my boat and found my wife could furl it in any wind strength. It is fitted to most charter boats in the whitsundays as it is made locally, half the price of others and is idiot proof. Also requires vitually no maintnenceI have known a number of other satisfied yachtees. drawbacks are:
Sail can not be easily lowered in an emergency
unable to tension luff really tight.
not very good for reefing past 2 revolutions as sail shape become poor. Currently have a profurl fitted to current boat and would happily change for a reefurl as I cruise only and don't race. Wife constantly complains about how much harder it is to use.
I have no affliations with reefurl and have no knowledge of your alternative.
happy sailing
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From: reefka Sent: 16/01/2007 11:25 PM
Thank you all - I have noe equiped myself with a copy of the crusing helmsman and have 11 choices not 2

Despite the potential losses in performance, it certainly seems that you're all happy having furlers...

The 2 that I mentioned are both "snap on" furlers that go over your existing forestay and can be self fitted... it's something that appeals to me as I could potentially take it off (even if the reality is i probably wouldn't!!!!)

Looks like it's time to start putting teh pennies away - Cyril, i might contact you 'offline' to grab the sail makers contact details.

Will let you know how i go...!!

Gavin







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From: GosfordPhil3 Sent: 17/01/2007 3:12 AM
Hi Gavin

I have a reefurl furler. The Down side's of the unit are
1/ it rotates around the fore stay causing additional wear, riggers cringe when you mention this furler
2/ it has its own halyard that the sail furls around. This creates problems with halyard tension mainly in heavy air
3/ this unit has a large foil, this creates fore stay sag in heavy weather, and affects pointing ability
4/ the drum attaches above the turn buckle. On mine the sail sits above the life lines causing a loss of sail area

Upside is that they are the cheapest units on the market. This unit was on the boat on purchase. If keeping the boat for the long haul I would spend the extra on a better unit.

Cheers
Phil

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From: GosfordPhil3 Sent: 17/01/2007 3:17 AM
Hi Gavin
Forgot to mention that the reefurl have an open drum. On more that one occasion the furling line has unwound off the drum and tangled around the forestay. I have to go forward and untangle the mess before the sail can be retracted. Defeats the point sum what.
Cheers
Phil

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From: reefka Sent: 21/01/2007 7:16 PM
Thanks phil.... I really appreciate your honesty. Getting the "real" facts is often the hardest.

I went out on Sunday in 25 knots+ and really appreciated being able to get everything nice and tight... tangled furling lines, lack of halyard tension and saggy forestays make it sound a lot less appealing than teh manufacturers' webiste...

will keep on re-searching!!!

Cheers
Gavin