Roller Furler Jib System Recommendation

[rkrafter]

I have a Newport 41 with a 58' mast. I wish to add a roller furler jib system and am looking for recommendations for brand and type.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Rich

[boatman61]

H325 Seafurl 5 System

[S/V Alchemy]

I have been happy with my Profurl on my 41 foot cutter, but I also like the Schaefer and Facnor brands, both "open wheel" types, which you may prefer for service and inspection.

[roverhi]

I've got a Profurl on my boat and it's worked fine. Don't know how old it is but probably more than 10 years old. I've reefed in 40 knots winds and it's supposedly better for reefing vice just furling because of the bearings. In normal every day use, the Profurl seems to have more resistance to furling than a Harken i've used. Not excessive but takes more force to furl. A friend has a 50' boat with Profurl on both the staysail and jib that he's cruised extensively for many years. The negative is the bearings are steel so have to be sealed in grease. I've had no problems and they were still coated in grease when I inspected them. Supposedly it's the steel bearings that make the Profurl work as a reefing system under serious load. Believe Profurl is the most affordable system of the major manufacturers

Schaeffer won the Practical Sailor endorsement but believe their system is a bit pricey. Harken seems to be the most popular furler in my marina. Both use plastic bearings.

[osirissail]

I'd echo that choice of ProFurl. Likewise I have reefed the headsail in extreme conditions - 50 kts - and the ProFurl did the job. I had to use a winch to do it, but it was successful. My ProFurls are 15 years old and still function perfectly.

[S/V Alchemy]

Apparently, I have a standard Profurl, because it takes some "beef to reef", but it is quite good at tightly furling at any wind speed I've yet to throw at it.

Your comments make me wonder if the couple of Garhauer stanchion fairleads I've yet to install will in fact make furling easier, because if it's designed to take that winch work, I'm cool with the extra effort if it gives us a more durable and rugged furler.

[allanpeda]

I would think that must syems are decent. Would it make more sense to turn the question around and ask what brands people should *avoid*? My Catalina 30 has a continuous loop Hood, that I am swapping out this weekend for a singe line.

[osirissail]

I use the Technora high modulus line as the reefing line to the ProFurl. It is led back through stanchion roller fairleads to turning block that reverses the direction of the reefing line so that it can enter the winch at the proper orientation. The original block that acted as the turning block was attached to a slanted aft railing stanchion.
- - Well, when reefing the headsail in a very strong blow it was necessary to use the winch with considerable muscle power. After everything settled down the next day I noticed that I had ripped the turning block stanchion right out of the deck. So now the turning block is attached to the hull toe rail with a strong plate and backing plate.
- - All this only demonstrates that the ProFurl units are extremely strong and will function in extreme circumstances. That is enough to convince me that I really like my ProFurl.
- - As far as "avoiding" certain models/manufacturers, I would advise against any furler that does not also state it is a "reefer." Also some models/manufacturers make furlers that replace the headstay. Those I would suggest staying away from. Units that retain the headstay and slide over or fit around the headstay such that the headstay is still the wire that is holding up your mast are, IMHO, safer and better.

[S/V Alchemy]

That last bit I agree with: keep the original forestay. You may have reason one day to remove the furling unit, for service or swap out and you want that support to remain in place.

[rkrafter]

Thanks everyone for your input as it is extremely valuable to me. I'm in process of researching based on your responses.

Thanks again.

Rich

[rkrafter]

I'm looking seriously at a Harken MKIV, Unit 2 for the boat.How much can I expect to pay for sail modification to work with a furler? I have a large inventory of sails and prefer to modify as opposed to buying new.

[osirissail]

Cost depends as if you have your own sail repair sewing machine all you have to buy is the luff tape of the proper size for the groove in your roller furler foil. See: Luff Tape
- - Of course you need to remove and hank on clips and patch any holes the sail had for them. All in all not a difficult job. But cost would be depending upon the physical size of the headsails, obviously the bigger the headsail to bigger the price.
- - One advantage of having a sail repair/making loft do the job is that you can specify that they install a roller furling aero-luft pad to the Luff. This is a variable size "pad" that when you roll up the sail helps take in the extra sail material caused by the draft of the headsail. See: http://www.sailrite.com/Foam-Luff-Tape-12

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by rkrafter

I'm looking seriously at a Harken MKIV, Unit 2 for the boat.How much can I expect to pay for sail modification to work with a furler? I have a large inventory of sails and prefer to modify as opposed to buying new.

Most lofts love to do furling conversions as there is a lot more profit in service than in new sails. But let's dive into a quick reality check. Furling sails are built quite a bit differently than a hank on sail. Yes you can put luff tape on the sail and it will go on the furler but the luff curve and camber of the sail will not be right. Then there's the matter of adding a UV cover. That usually runs about $7-8 per foot. The luff tape is only a few dollars per foot. And it gets even better (for us sailmakers). If your current headsail is full hoist or nearly so, chances are it will have to be recut to fit as the luff will be too long. Ka-ching, ka-ching. The clew of your recut sail will be higher and thus sheeting angles may be improper.

Reality check part 2. Once you add furling you probably won't be changing sails that often. So it makes no sense to convert your entire inventory unless you're a racer. And if you're a racer, you should probably leave things as they as the end result of all this will be likely to disappoint you.

More on costs:
When you start adding up the costs, converting a hank on sail to roller furling is a substantial percentage of a new sail. If the sail you convert is well used, your cost per season of use is astronomical. We don't recommend converting any sail that has less than 80% of life remaining.

Furler selection:
We like Facnor quite a bit. With Harken, you get a good unit but it doesn't come at a reasonable cost. Most people have to hire a rigger to install their Harken. With Facnor, you get a well engineered unit that is designed for ease of installation. Facnor is very well known and highly regarded in Europe. They are well priced. Install time averages about half a day and as little as a few hours for those who are experienced.

Alternatives: Rather than spending a bunch of cash on adding suncovers, consider an ATN genoa sleeve.

Food for thought:
I'd almost be willing to wager that a new headsail and a Facnor furler would sell for less money than having a Harken professionally installed and having an existing sail recut. At the end of the day you have an arguably comparable or superior furler and a sail that is properly designed and built for your furler.

Disclaimer:
We are not opposed to doing furling conversions. We're in business to make money. However we also believe that our clients deserve to know the relevant facts before parting with money they worked hard to earn (unless of course they're in Congress ;-) Sorry about the cheap shot if you're one of those 535.