headsail furler

[Stranded Mariner]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Luff shaping tapes can include foam or rope along the leading edge, offering a better draft shape when partially reefed.

The Rope Luff* is claimed to last longer than foam, better resist mildew, and (unlike foam) won’t compress under load, and has no "memory".
* A tapered series of polypropylene ropes in a polyester sleeve along the sails’ luff .

Has anyone any longer-term experience with both “RopeLuff*” and Foam Reefing Pads?
* North Sails call their option “RopeLuff”

Thanks for the heads-up on RopeLuff. I am going to order my sails from North Sails in South Africa.

[Sunspot Baby]

We have a Banks Genoa with foam pad on a Harken furler. Banks sewed on two blue dots to indicate approximate reef points one and two. Our sail shape works pretty well when reefed but I am not sure it is as efficient for its size as when fully deployed. But heck, we are cruisers and not always seeking that extra 1/2 knot of speed so sometimes good enough is perfect.

When confined to the ICW south or north bound and when winds are favorable, we frequently deploy to the first reef point just so the foot of the sail is higher and we have better visibility.

We are happy with our arrangement.

George

[jdoe71]

We have a CDI furler, it is a bit unusual in that it does not use the boat's halyard, it has its own. We didn't know anything about it when we bought the boat so we hired the "pro" at the marina to rig it, he insisted he'd seen 'em all but when he tried to hook it up to the boat's halyard we knew we were in big trouble, I should have kicked his ass off the boat then and there. And so it worked terrible at first.

Got some good advice from our boat user group and sister-in-law's manfriend who is a racer and fixed what the "pro" did wrong. Found it to be a very simple device and it works well, halyard wrap is impossible, easy to clean just lift the drum up, hose it out with fresh water and maybe give it a light spray of lube under the drum. We have no luff tape but once the forestay/backstay was tensioned properly we found we can point well to about 50% reefed on our 130% genoa.

Talked to our sail maker about putting a luff tape on, he advised against it, said he felt the cost outweighed anything we might gain from it since it was already working about as well as could be expected. Go figure, an honest guy.

[Joli]

Sail shape issues aside. One of the problems that can develop with a partially rolled jib is that the joints of the foil suffer. When partially furled the torque between the foil sections can cause them to shift and then you end up with mis alignment of the track or worse the foils coming apart.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Joli

Sail shape issues aside. One of the problems that can develop with a partially rolled jib is that the joints of the foil suffer. When partially furled the torque between the foil sections can cause them to shift and then you end up with mis alignment of the track or worse the foils coming apart.

And that's why it pays to have a good furler.

My Furlex inserts overlaps 5" into each extrusion and is also lined with a plastic insert to prevernt chafe on the forestay.



Furlex Features

[Joli]

I understand what you are saying Delmarrey, if the manufacturer says it is OK then I would agree. They've done the design work and testing. Harken says we can also roller reef but our sheet load upwind is 8 ton. I hate to stress the joints to that much torque, we change sails instead.

Originally Posted by delmarrey

And that's why it pays to have a good furler.

My Furlex inserts overlaps 5" into each extrusion and is also lined with a plastic insert to prevernt chafe on the forestay.



Furlex Features

[jdoe71]

Originally Posted by Joli

Sail shape issues aside. One of the problems that can develop with a partially rolled jib is that the joints of the foil suffer. When partially furled the torque between the foil sections can cause them to shift and then you end up with mis alignment of the track or worse the foils coming apart.

Our CDI foil is one piece. They ship them rolled up. The whole thing is a lot different than most other furlers.

[Geoff S.]

I'm now starting to research furlers and sails for Diva. I have several friends who rave about Furlex; though a rigger I respect in Trinidad says that the "newer" series Harken are as good as Furlex for less money (couldn't have anything to do with the fact that he sells Harken, noooooo). I would love to hear a straw poll of good and bad experiences with furler makes, particular in salt water environments.

Also, a chicken-and-egg question: which to buy first, sails or furlers? Is it possible to spec out sails accurately enough to buy them mail-order (thinking about Lee sails in Hong Kong)? If the concensus is I'm asking for trouble, I can pay a bit more and have my sails made (or at least repped) locally in Chaguaramas.

Slightly off-topic: batt-car systems for mainsails...preferred brands? Is it necessary to have a full-batten main for the system to work right?

Geoff