So walk me through the in-mast furling mainsail

[Rich Gleason]

I loath in mast furling.
The roller furling boom on my dad's old Pearson 35 was better and it was a POS. At least if it didn't work you could just lower the halyard.
Been sailing whole life.
Bought a boat with in mast furling 2015. Thought I could live with it. (Poor sail shape and no roach.)Nope. Wouldn't work last Fall when it started to get a bit sporty. Thank goodness the main was out full to start. Took main down. Jib only home.
I bought new mast, boom and mainsail with 3 reefs this Spring. $�� Yup.
Expect to distance race and sail her offshore til death do us part.
Loved leisure boom but too dear.

[sail sfbay]

What boat manufacturer and model did you buy with in-mast and what in-mast system manufacturer was on that boat?

[Rich Gleason]

Originally Posted by sail sfbay

What boat manufacturer and model did you buy with in-mast and what in-mast system manufacturer was on that boat?

Lafitte 44 It had a FORESPAR mast furler.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, Thinwater has an ultralight performance cat. He'll be passing ALL of us. I doubt if he notices any difference between the full batten and in-mast monos he blows the doors off of.

OK - a bit of fun then, but at the end of the day, we prefer the comfort and facilities of a medium-displacement hull (plenty of power, plenty of refrigeration, washing machine, airconditioning, de-sal, etc).

Going fast in a sail boat is fun, but there is always a price to pay.

[mglonnro]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

If you choose a good laminate in-mast furling sail with vertical battens, and straight luff or modest roach, you give up nothing compared to an average full batten main.

But if you want ultimate light wind performance, choose a massive roach laminate full batten mainsail. No in-mast furling sail can match that.

And tip No. 1 -- furling, not furling, whatever system -- just don't ever buy a dacron sail again. That's the single best thing you can do for your sailing performance. And sailing fun.

Thank you and good tips!

(And, yes, through Kattegat and beyond, is the plan. Or one of them..)

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by David B

OK - a bit of fun then, but at the end of the day, we prefer the comfort and facilities of a medium-displacement hull (plenty of power, plenty of refrigeration, washing machine, airconditioning, de-sal, etc).

Going fast in a sail boat is fun, but there is always a price to pay.

Well, horses for courses. You can't compare a Winnebago with a Ferrari. They have different purposes entirely. A Ferrari naturally would be a terrible RV, and vice versa.

[Dockhead]

And for the ultimate in-mast furling boat, you can choose a carbon fiber Selden in-mast furling mast and carbon sails:





Optional with the HR50. Not sure whether Selden sells them separately, but I supposed if you wave a checkbook at them anything is possible.

This is actually pretty damn sweet.

Too bad you always get a "horrible" shape with in-mast furling mains!

More here: https://sailuniverse.com/2020/12/16/...furling-masts/

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

And for the ultimate in-mast furling boat, you can choose a carbon fiber Selden in-mast furling mast and carbon sails:

Attachment 238261

Attachment 238262

Optional with the HR50. Not sure whether Selden sells them separately, but I supposed if you wave a checkbook at them anything is possible.

This is actually pretty damn sweet.

Too bad you always get a "horrible" shape with in-mast furling mains! Attachment 238266

More here: https://sailuniverse.com/2020/12/16/...furling-masts/

That is kind of awesome.

[Dockhead]

Some more awesome in-mast furling:


https://www.seldenmast.com/newspost/...on-oyster-745/


108-foot (!) in-mast furling masts for the Oyster 745. Yowza!


I guess 95% of all Oyster yachts have in-mast furling. Certainly, when I was trying to buy one -- 12 years ago! I couldn't find one without in-mast furling.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I guess 95% of all Oyster yachts have in-mast furling. Certainly, when I was trying to buy one -- 12 years ago! I couldn't find one without in-mast furling.

Which may be a big reason many of us won’t own an Oyster

[David B]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

And for the ultimate in-mast furling boat, you can choose a carbon fiber Selden in-mast furling mast and carbon sails:

Attachment 238261

Attachment 238262

Optional with the HR50. Not sure whether Selden sells them separately, but I supposed if you wave a checkbook at them anything is possible.

This is actually pretty damn sweet.

Too bad you always get a "horrible" shape with in-mast furling mains! Attachment 238266

More here: https://sailuniverse.com/2020/12/16/...furling-masts/

Yes, Selden do some nice stuff. Seems a lot of the (relatively very few) reported problems are down to older, and non-Selden systems. Nothing is perfect, but I'm glad Selden was fitted to our boat.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Which may be a big reason many of us won’t own an Oyster

Or Hallberg Rassy, Contest, Discovery, Sweden Yachts, or any other high end European cruising boat.

Avoiding in-mast furling on quality cruising boats has become about the same challenge as avoiding fin keels and spade rudders. To each his own, of course, and there are still a significant number of people who think that boats with bolted-on keels are death traps, and that spade rudders are dangerously weak.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by David B

Yes, Selden do some nice stuff. Seems a lot of the (relatively very few) reported problems are down to older, and non-Selden systems. Nothing is perfect, but I'm glad Selden was fitted to our boat.

The Selden gear is real quality. I have Selden furlers on my headsails, too. Bulletproof.

The main furler has been excellent as well, as reliable as the headsail furlers, actually more so. 12 years and 10's of thousands of miles with nary a problem, and actually easier to maintain than the headsail furlers because you can easily get at the bearings (it's a complicated two-man job to get at the lower bearings of the headsail furlers). Only gripe I have is the furling drum wears out and is very hard to replace without unstepping the mast. With a worn furling drum, the furling line slips and you have to tail it really hard (or go up to the mast and use a winch handle).

If I have another boat with in-mast furling (the jury is still out on that), one change I would make is to avoid the endless-line furling. Using this is a bit of a faff, requiring two hands since you have to tail the line. Requires a bit of gymnastics to do that AND watch the sail going in or out, when the spray hood is up, on my boat. I would want an electric or hydraulic furler. For that matter, I wouldn't mind electric or hydraulic furlers on the headsails, too.

One factor which will influence my possible future with in-mast furling is in-mast furling sails with roach. When I had my carbon laminate mainsail made, I was hesitant even about vertical battens, and didn't dare think about ordering a sail with roach. But in the years since then, you see more and more in-mast furling mains with roach. ALL of the Hallberg Rassys now have roachy in-mast furling mainsails. Apparently they've figured out how to make them work well.

If that is really true -- if they are really as reliable as in-mast furling mainsails with straight luffs, like mine -- then that eliminates the single biggest disadvantage of in-mast furling. I would be more inclined to stick with in-mast furling for the next boat.

Next boat I hope will be custom built, so I can choose whatever I want. Plan A is that this should be about 65' LOD, ketch rig, with masts far apart a la Sundeer, and with a large mizzen. The height of the rig is reduced by the ketch rig, and the size of the sails. So I'm thinking that roachy full-batten main and mizzen with batt cars and lazy jacks, would be the right way to go. Electric halyard winches at the masts. Maybe jiffy reefing.

But I might reconsider that if I could really have roachy in-mast furling main and mizzen.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The Selden gear is real quality. I have Selden furlers on my headsails, too. Bulletproof. ..........
.............
But I might reconsider that if I could really have roachy in-mast furling main and mizzen.

Interesting to hear your experiences.

Regarding the continuous line furling, I single-hand our OC 50 as required, and the way I handle the reefing is to use the single electric secondary winch (of the two) we have under the dodger.

Out - I just let the furling line run through a gloved hand to keep tension on it, while the winch is dealing with the outhaul.
In - the winch deals with the furling line, while I let the outhaul and other side of the furling line, run through a gloved hand to keep tension on them.

That same gloved hand can operate the winch button, while the free hand can arrange the line feeding back, or whatever. A foot or knee switch would be more convenient.

As to electric - I had that at the back of my mind, especially as Selden now do electric - for a price .....

In the meantime, the manual system is not too bad.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by David B

Interesting to hear your experiences.

Regarding the continuous line furling, I single-hand our OC 50 as required, and the way I handle the reefing is to use the single electric secondary winch (of the two) we have under the dodger.

Out - I just let the furling line run through a gloved hand to keep tension on it, while the winch is dealing with the outhaul.
In - the winch deals with the furling line, while I let the outhaul and other side of the furling line, run through a gloved hand to keep tension on them.

That same gloved hand can operate the winch button, while the free hand can arrange the line feeding back, or whatever. A foot or knee switch would be more convenient.

As to electric - I had that at the back of my mind, especially as Selden now do electric - for a price .....

In the meantime, the manual system is not too bad.

I do the same thing. By "two handed" I meant two of my own hands, not two people -- I do single hand my boat too and quite a bit.


I'm glad it works well for you. I don't like it much. But my furling drum has been slowly wearing smooth, which makes it harder and harder as you have to tail the line harder to get it to grip. I'll be replacing mine now so maybe I'll feel different afterwards.


In general I find it attractive to get rid of all the furling lines. The deck would be a lot neater, the cockpit simplified. I use a three dimensional twing system for the sheet leads for my blade jib, which requires extra lines, and I'm often using barber haulers. It's a lot of spaghetti. Getting rid of three furling lines would be great.