Remove old line drive furler?

[thomcat]

On my new-to-me 1987 Catalina 27 there is a very old Hood Seafurl 705 line drive (ie continuous line) roller furling system for the headsail. The furling line was badly frayed, so I removed it and haven't replaced it yet. Also, the stay under the furler is original to the boat so I assume it needs replacing sooner than later. It seems like my choices are to 1) keep using the old system until I save up for a new roller furler/reefer, which would mean I need to get someone to come out and splice a new furling line for me or 2) take off the old system, convert my furling genoa to hank-on (how hard is that? seems like my local chandlery wouldn't have much trouble with it but would probably run me a few hundred bucks) and use that until I save up for a new forestay and furling system.

If my goal is to start daysailing the boat ASAP, what would you recommend?

[TrentePieds]

All depends on how hard-core you are :-)!

I sailed Cat27s with hank-ons for years. Nothing wrong with that, and I actually prefer hank-ons to roller-furling head sails for garden variety coastal cruising. No fuss, no muss, no bother! Roller furls are a never-ending PITA, but there can be situations where you are willing to accept that for the sake of not having to go on the foredeck. I doubt that your situation is one of them :-)!

You do know, don't you, that in a Cat27 you don't — EVER — walk or stand on the foredeck? YOU CRAWL! AND YOU HANG ON!

The Seafurl 705 is its own forestay as far as I know. Seriously deficient conceptually! You can take it all off the boat and make up, yourself, a proper forestay form 1x19SS wire and "StaLok" end fittings that you can buy at most chandlers, and you'll never have a problem again. Mebbe three hunnert bux for everything to do the job.

The headsail off the furler won't be the best cut for a hank-on, but in all likelihood, it'll do anything you ask of it unless you are a serious racing type. You can buy the hanks from some outfit like SailRite, and if I were you, I'd get the cheap plastic jobs that don't require grommets in the luff tabling of the sail. Fitting them is a piecacake.

Remember that if you press a Cat27 too hard by carrying too much area in your headsail for the prevailing wind, she'll gripe in the most sudden and awful fashion. Can't be avoided in a "fat" boat. so be prepared for it. Being prepared means that in any kind of real wind, to handle sail on the foredeck of that boat, you DON' STAND, YOU DON'T WALK, - YOU CRAWL. AND YOU HANG ON!

All the best :-)

TrentePieds