Roller Furling??

[Bajamas]

Has anyone removed their roller furling and gone back to hank on??

How does everyone do with frequent sail changes?

I have done some reading and find that not all sails work well with roller furling thereby limiting choices.

BTW - What type of sealant works best for topside hardware that may be leaking? Also, can a standard acrylic house paint work on interior bulkheads after sanding?? Does this type of paint hold up to the moisture?

Thanks all.

Bajamas

[Chetan]

hey there

my two paisa worth and being a racing sailor not all of it may be relevant

we have a twin track headfoil which permits sail changes if you have a double halyard. the entire headfoil can be fitted to a roller furler mechanism if required, but this increases weight - especially aloft and immobilises one halyard which is used to hold the upper comoponent of the mechanism at the top of the forestay. while there is no doubt about the conveniences of roller furling, it takes quite a toll on the life of the sails, IMHO - especially racing sails. Simple dacron may be quite another matter. Roller furling also means more windage when furled. On the other hand, it is easy to reduce headsail if required, and can be done from the safety of the cockpit.

Hanks?? er... don't know if i have an opinion on that one. have used them. brass pistons are better than the plastic twist on stuff you see on some ullmans IMHO. sail changes are infinitely more time consuming, complex and demanding in terms of manpower if you have a hanked on foresail.

and there's nothing quite as irritating as loading the sail into the bag the wrong way around (clew at the end of the bag with exterior marked tack) and then passing it up to the already hassled bowman.

look forward to some more experiences and views

cheers

chetan

PS - anyone going to Top of the Gulf regatta end may?

[Jack Tyler]

Bajamas:

Presuming that the context in which you ask your Q is cruising, the normal answer on a cruising boat is that it has an inner stay. If you sail with a genoa on the furler (let's say a 130-135) and the winds go light, crews will want to hoist an MPS/Genaker/light air headsail (usually in a sock if it's of a spinaker design). If the winds go heavy, one starts by reefing the genoa a bit and then falls back on using the inner sail (staysail, solent jib) perhaps initially in concert with a much reduced genoa if that makes sense. I see very few boats out cruising who intentionally choose to use hanks or a simple foil, perhaps because most of them are sailing short-handed...and perhaps also because they don't enjoy salt-water showers.

Caulking brands seem to earn distinct, loyal followings; you have multiple products to choose from. Sikaflex and Lifecaulk are two I've had good luck with.

IME vinyl housepaint just doesn't perform as well on a boat as either one-part polys or conventional oil-based enamels. Since a good paint job is 90% prep and 10% paint, it's hard to justify all that work after which one applies a less than optimum paint product.

Jack

[jenain]

If you want the best furler made, consider the Reefrite system from NZ. It is very well engineered, and uses "Kiwi slides" instead of a boltrope to attatch the sail to the foil. This makes sail changes easy, and quick. I sail a 35ft cutter equiped with this system, and have been in some very heavy weather where it was necessary to change headsails, this was no problem! I have hanks on my inner forestay for my staysail and storm jib. The furler also has a ratched system, (like a sheet winch), controlled by a small cable and a highfield lever. This means that the sail cannot unfurl accidently.

Bill Robison,

JENAIN in Argentina

[Auzzee]

I have profurl gear on my headsail which has given no trouble in many years of use. However, I have hanks on my inner forestay and a separate main forestay which can take another hanked headsail for running wing-and-wing, and as a back-up in case a problem did occur with the furling headsail or hardware. The forestays are separately terminated at the masthead and the 'spare' is attached to one side of the stemhead fitting on the foredeck. If you have an inner stay and intend to use it as part of your sail plan, you will need to make sure it has a separate halyard with a sheave box close to the tang, and it would be wise to fit running backstays.

David.