Roller Furl 'Safety' ?

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by RTB

Really? Who carries different size sails if they run a furler? You might as well go with hanks - easier to raise and lower.

I do, I carry a 140 genoa an a 105 working jib. Offshore the 105 lives on the furler. In shore or light air the 140.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

The beauty of a cutter rigged vessel for cruising. Roll one up, and roll out what's needed..........i2f

+1

Indeed.

It's not a panacea, because there is a gap between when the yankee has to be furled way down (about 25 knots) and when the staysail is enough to drive the boat nicely on its own (about 30 knots).

But yes, it's lovely knowing you can just put the big sail away and still sail.

[perchance]

My little boat came with too many hank on sails to even consider a roller furler. A jib down haul works for me and i have a wire luff yankee that tacks to a padeye on the foredeck and uses the spinaker halyard to hoist it although I have yet to use in earnest but it is nice to have if the need should arise.

[imagine2frolic]

Sailing the south east you have to be ready for squalls. You can have a nice 15 knot wind, and in minutes they are 60. The easiest way to keep them from sneaking up on you. Is to be aware of tempature changes, and especially at night when they are hard to see. Reading the weather report is not going to save you from squalls. Just being sensitive to tempature change can.Every area is different with different challenges.......i2f

[cfarrar]

Zeehag,

If a thunderstorm comes up suddenly, I will certainly furl my 130% jib, start my engine, etc. But what if I face a long day of beating to windward into a 20 kt seabreeze? What if I face 3 days of beating to windward into a 25 kt tradewind? That's where the "false economy" of one sail comes into play. With my blade jib I will sail closer to the wind, faster, and with less heel. It's a cheap sail, in the larger scheme, and it's built of very heavy cloth. I save money by not stressing my (more expensive) 130% jib, which sails "ok" when furled but distributes the load unevenly across the sail when roller furled.

Two winters ago, in the Bahamas, the 90% jib never left the forestay. Reaching back up the East Coast, however, the 130% was the way to go. Anyway, you don't have to agree with Bash and me, but for some of us it makes sense.

[zeehag]

i had a ball sailing gulf--was beautiful and water was cobalt blue. fishies were yummy and my new friends are cool ....sailing was awesome..... cant wait to get back.
those daily squalls were fun to watch from the mid gulf , but were another story when inside em....wooohoooo fast sailing!!

[boatman61]

Bash... Cfarr.... while I respect your choices and understand the reasons for them I'm afraid I must stick with my adapted hank on sails and furler....
Doing foresail changes in 6 metre plus swell/waves in the Biscay/Atlantic coast of Portugal/Spain with winds rising to 30, 40+ kts on a 21ftr is not great fun.... you should try it some time.... I have..
If I was on a boat the size of yours maybe I'd do as you... but untill then can we skip the lectures on sailsmanship.... many of us... you may be surprised to know actually know these things... we just choose... for our own differing reasons... not to do it and go for the furling option..
Ok... so you get there faster...who [cares]...

[RTB]

Originally Posted by Jon D

I do, I carry a 140 genoa an a 105 working jib. Offshore the 105 lives on the furler. In shore or light air the 140.

Ok, that's fair - and makes sense. Have you ever had to reef the 105?

My sailmaker (repair person for me so far) told me he sews in strips, so you know how much sail is out. By that, I assume most with furling headsails use them in this way. Is that fair to say?

[daddle]

Originally Posted by RTB

Really? Who carries different size sails if they run a furler? You might as well go with hanks - easier to raise and lower.

I do too. Four sails. Changed frequently. Otherwise the furler has the wrong sail 75% of the time.

Taking down the 770 sqft 135% is a bit of a chore.

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

And that's what sailing is all about, 'an assumption of risk'........... Some like sky diving, others bungee jumping, I like sailing. ......................._/)

I spent a summer skydiving once. No more than 60 seconds of freefall for every two hours sitting on an airfield (and not even in the bar!) Trapezing on a beachcat is way more fun, and way cheaper!

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Also one of the advantages of twin slots is one can put up both sails to do a wing & wing effect and you can still furl them together if you need to dowse quickly.

Back to the yacht.... this is a brilliant idea. But what do you do with the smaller sail when your not on a run? Have a second sheet to a second winch? Could get messy.

Anyway... We're thinking of putting a small second forestay in between the forestay and the baby stay (Apparently we're set up for it) so that in heavy weather we can just furl in completely and raise the storm jib...

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Saucy Sailoress

Back to the yacht.... this is a brilliant idea. But what do you do with the smaller sail when your not on a run? Have a second sheet to a second winch? Could get messy.

In the case of my boat I can tack to pull the one sail next to the other and run both sheets thru the Twin Sheet Lead Block on the deck traveller, thru the second half of the foot block, or second block, and to the second winch.
But if I were not to continue with more of the run, then I'd just drop the second sail, which is of a lighter weight cloth.


The first picture is before some upgrades but you can get the idea.

.

[donradcliffe]

The bigger the boat and the smaller the crew, the less likely you are going to change jibs. I carry a 125% genoa with a foam luff, and it stays on the furler for months at a time. The current one has less than 10k miles on it, but the previous one lasted for a circumnavigation.

When the wind picks up, the genoa gets partially furled, reducing the loads on it and the boat. I lose a few degrees of pointing ability, but still am able to go to weather at over 6 knots at about 35 degrees apparent. There's no way I am going to wrestle 120 pounds of sail off the bow by myself to get back to 30 degrees.

[stillbuilding]

I think I can match the OP's anecdote. A friend on a 51' sloop beating south into Coff's Harbour from Brisbane finally had enough of the headwind which was heavy and pressing more heavily so furled the genoa to motorsail the last 20 miles or so. Fired up the diesel and was shocked to find the headsail ripped out to full 130+!! Only recourse was to run with the weather. Well by the time he and his small wife had the sheet unwrapped from the prop he reckons he might just as well head back to Brisbane. Not sure that a locking device would have solved the issue, but sure as heck has made me check that the sheets were on board every time I reach for the ignition.

[imagine2frolic]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

The beauty of a cutter rigged vessel for cruising. Roll one up, and roll out what's needed..........i2f

RTB,

You can clearly see the first reef here on the headsail marked, and the second one hiding behind the stysl........i2f

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The bigger the boat and the smaller the crew, the less likely you are going to change jibs. I carry a 125% genoa with a foam luff, and it stays on the furler for months at a time. The current one has less than 10k miles on it, but the previous one lasted for a circumnavigation.

When the wind picks up, the genoa gets partially furled, reducing the loads on it and the boat. I lose a few degrees of pointing ability, but still am able to go to weather at over 6 knots at about 35 degrees apparent. There's no way I am going to wrestle 120 pounds of sail off the bow by myself to get back to 30 degrees.

General answers are always tough. One size does not fit all.

I had a light cat with 4 hank-on head sails. Used them all, worked well. Because the boat was very light (Stiletto 27) I used small jibs frequently and would not have wanted a roller furler.

I now have a larger cat with a self-tacking blade jib. It's no good below a beam reach and can't furl an inch without losing all shape. I have a 150% genoa with a foam luff that can furl WAY down with good shape, and with lead adjustments, set on any course. The sail maker was a genius (Quantum). I keep the self-tacker up only in the winter, because it's easier to deal with and in the winter I'm in less of a hurry. Saves wear and UV on the other sail.

So, I don't think there is one answer for all boats, and not all sails are equal.