Roller Furlers and recutting jibs
The extracts below were drawn from our old site and reflect the views of the members participating. There are minor edits and tidy up
From Compass29
Hi everyone
I'm new to the group as I'm very close to buying my first Compass 29.
I will be fitting a headsail furler soon after purchase and would appreciate some advice.
The rigging screw fitting at the base of the forestay is approx 25mm in diameter, thus making DIY fitting of the furler a bit beyond my level of expertise as this will have to be cut off and replaced.
I'd like to get an idea of the cost of a professional rigger fitting the furler and the costs of modifications to the genoa to fit a luff tape/bolt rope.
Also, if I use a professional rigger do I have to buy the furler through them or can I choose my own and supply it to them for fitting.
Any advice on the brand of furler would be helpful too. I was thinking of the Australian brand Reefurl because it appears to be robust and simple to maintain.
Any advice on the brand of furler would be helpful too. I was thinking of the Australian brand Reefurl because it appears to be robust and simple to maintain. Sure the Reefurl is rugged and simple, but it has a few design flaws that can drive you insane:
1) It has no "cage" under the drum, so the rope tends to fall off it and wrap around the forestay underneath, so you can't furl it when you need to. Commonly occurs going downwind, when the headie can be flapping around a bit (and you can't keep tension on the furling line on the drum)
2) It doesn't have a good feeding system, so it really is a 2 person job to change headsails. You have to hold it in exactly the right spot or it will jam in the groove. Not fun if you are trying to change sails in a bit of breeze with a bit of swell.
We tried all sorts of workaround for these issues, and never really resolved them satisfactorily. On the other hand, it is very solid, relatively inexpensive and low-maintenance.
Mark
From Bruce
I agree with the others that a Furlex is a good furler - I have one on my current boat. However, I think a Pro-furl, that I had on my old boat, is just as good, and does not require greasing every year. If you can get a Pro-furl for less than a Furlex, it is worth considering. On the old boat, I had all 3 headsails converted for furling. This involved cutting away the foot of the sail toward the leech so that it rolls up nicely, removing the hanks, adding a bolt rope and extending the No 2 and No 3 bolt rope to the same length as the No 1, and adding the ultra-violet protection strips to the luff and the foot. About $200-$250 per sail, from memory. None of the sails had a good shape when semi-furled, but the Furlex attempts to overcome the bagginess problem by delaying the foot from furling for about a turn, while the rest of the sail is winding up and removing some of the bagginess.
Bruce
From Jim Captcompass
I don't think cutting an old sail is worthwhile to make it fit.
If it is only a couple of seasons old then it would be ok.
I would just use the old one as is (like I am doing at present) until I can afford to get a top line sail made that will perform at all points and hold it's shape.
The bigger the better and only mid-weight. (But that is the boy racer coming out in me).
Mine is pretty big and when it is all out I really have power.
But if it was cut better, it would power away easier
From Captcompass
You got it in one Brad.
The Furlex comes close to being able to actually reef the jib because of the delay in the winding mechanism.
I am very happy with the Furlex but I would like a jib that has the magic padding in it to get a slightly better jib shape.
From: Bes5464
We have an old Hood Seafurl and a jib with the padding in the luff.
The padding really does allow you to reef as opposed to just furl.
The sail holds it's shape really well when reefed.
Brett
From: C28 Djarraluda
Brett,
When I had a new headsail made, I asked for an opinion and the sailmaker was absolutely shocked at the thought of padding. It ruins airflow patterns by creating a bulb.
Recommendation was to have an older baggy sail re-cut rather than have foam added. He said it was about the same cost either way and they will do whatever the customer wants, but....
Not much help if you already have the foam! I have seen and used it on many boats and for cruising, it used to look good to me. Now I would ask for quotes for both options.
RogerB
From: brett
Roger,
This sail came with the boat and I was a bit concerned about the airflow thing as well.
The sail is purpose built by McDairmid.
To my surprise the tell tails on it generally flow well.
The padding sits in reasonably well behind the headstay foil and is only about a centimetre high each side.
It projects about 10cm back into the sail, mainly in the middle and tapers to nothing at head and tack.
Shorthanded we find this sail a very good compromise.
We can have 120% down to less than 100% and carry it reefed in up to 30knots and it's still setting properly.
After that we get rid of the whole thing and put a blade 4 up, but that's not very often that we would need to do that.
It's good to be able to take a few turns in when it picks up to 20knots and the boat is a bit overpowered.
Brett