Talk me out of roller furling

[Calif.Ted]

Harken and Schaeffer are both made in the US, my rigger friend tells me Harken is currently his best seller. Your boat was built in Costa Mesa, but you want a furler from halfway around the world ?

[Ryban]

It does sound ridiculous, and it is. I mean, I can buy a domestic Harken unit, that doesn't have the features I'm looking for, for about the same price as the shipping + unit cost of the furler that does have what I'm looking for (simple parts, a locking drum, a slide designed for hank on-sails, and a very good reputation).

[Ryban]

Update on this:

After a lot of back and forth with ReefRite, and mostly feeble attempts to get shipping costs down, I now own a ReefRite furler and am excited to get it on the boat.

After many more sails on our boat since posting this thread, I'm pretty certain I've made the right decision here, at least for my needs and given we'll be short handed the majority of the time.

I'll post another update once it's on the boat.

[Ryban]

After a bit of a battle with a stuck pin, an a few other head scratchers, we finally go our Reef-Rite furler installed and out on it's first sail.

Overall I think I'm pretty pleased with it and just need to make a few modifications to how I'm routing the furling line and locking-pawl cable.

[hpeer]

I ended up putting a small “bottle”, like from a shroud only tiny, in the pawl wire. That gave me some adjustment.

[Ryban]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I ended up putting a small “bottle”, like from a shroud only tiny, in the pawl wire. That gave me some adjustment.

That's a smart idea. I have a couple points of adjustment on the hayfield lever too.

[scherzoja]

Hey Ryban,

How is that Reef-Rite working out? Have you sailed with it and how well did it do. I finally got the mast stepped and now can get an exact measurement for an order.

Does the locking pawl work well and does it stay unlocked while you unfurl? Do you have to unlock, then cleat its line, then uncleat for it to relock?

Thanks

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by scherzoja

Hey Ryban,

How is that Reef-Rite working out? Have you sailed with it and how well did it do. I finally got the mast stepped and now can get an exact measurement for an order.

Does the locking pawl work well and does it stay unlocked while you unfurl? Do you have to unlock, then cleat its line, then uncleat for it to relock?

Thanks

Not to short cut Ryban’s response but I am alsk a new ReefRite owner and also look forward ti Ryban’s experience.

The pawl locks in 180° increments, every half turn. It is simply a spring-loaded pin sliding into a slot. When the pin is withdrawn the drum is free to turn. The pin connects to some some very fine wire rope (1/8”?). It needs positive tension to compress the spring sufficiently. Nylon string will not work as it will stretch.

ReefRite provides stanchion attachments, one side is a roller for the furler line, the back side is a hole for the pawl wire. They also provide a little highfield over-center clamp or toggle to actuate the pawl.

I found I had to fool with the wire tension a bit to get it right. The highfield has some adjust ment but it was simpler to install a tiny turnbuckle in the wire run and which provided simpler adjustment.

It took a wee bit of fooling around but now the pawl seems work flawlessly.

In extremis I believe you can simply remove the pawl, it looks to just unscrew. Then the furler would spring in both directions like any other.

So maybe it is best to think of the pawl as an “optional feature ”.

[hpeer]

Reef Rite parts list.