[alberg30] Roller Furling Considerations

John Birch sunstone at idirect.com
Sat Jul 22 08:11:13 PDT 2000


Bill raises some interesting points. There are some answers, or at least
comments, to the "disadvantages" which I have put in brackets in his
comments below - hope you're not offended Bill.

Bill Newman wrote:

> Kevin
>
> I don't have roller furling on my Alberg but did have it on a Endurance
> 40 footer I owned previously. These are the advantages and disadvantages
> as I see them.
>
> Advantages
>
> If you do a lot of day sailing, the boat can be readied and put to bed
> with less time and effort.
>
> The space occupied by stored large Genny becomes available for other
> uses.
>
> The head sail can be reduced or completely furled quickly in case of a
> sudden change of weather.
>
> You can sail more and motor less in a confined waterway such as the
> inter coastal when the wind is fair for a short while and then foul for
> a short while.  With a hanked sail you probably won't bother.
>
> Disadvantages
>
> Initial cost of the hardware and luff conversion of all head sails, i.e.
> $2000 - 3000 plus $300-400 per sail conversion. [Get the work done in
> Canada at the Triton loft 2 of  my sails  where converted to #6 Lufftape
> for $300 CDN for a Schaeffer 2000 for our A-37 - highly recommend this
> company - a 1001 model is required for an A-30.  The $2K figure is likely
> the more accurate.]
>
> It is much harder to change up or down under way, than with hanked
> sails.  You can furl a bit instead but you don't get a good sail shape
> and a furled No. 1 is usually too light a cloth to be used partially
> furled in strong winds.  The sail will be stretched or possibly torn.

> [Buy a new Tri radial cut Dacron #1 with the heavier cloth in the leach
> area you can optimize it as a #1 - forget the foam luff - our jib performs
> well as a large #2 without luff padding, and still points well - but the
> performance drops dramatically with any more rolling - when the winds get
> near 30  you must change down or ruin the sail - you can't roll that small
> and will likely distort the sail. One solution is a removable inner
> forstay so you roll the genoa and sail on a hanked on # 3 - this is for
> extreme wind conditions only and if you leave the upper attachment point
> near the mast head you won't need running backstays.]
>
> Furling is something else that can to wrong when things hit the fan.  I
> haven't had the problem but have heard lots of stories about jamming
> with the sail out in windy conditions.

> [Bill's right though our Schaeffer has been problem free so far and most
> failures are attributable to slack halyards and poor maintenance.  If you
> find yourself in the condition Bill described - undo the jib sheets and
> motor in circles continuously in one direction until the Jib has wrapped
> around the furler - then tie down the clew or reattach the sheets and deal
> with it when things have calmed down.]
>
> In boats 30 ft. and less , the head sails are not so large that they are
> so difficult to handle.  A well rigged downhaul at a cost of about $50
> line and hardware, will bring the head sail down between the life lines
> without having to go forward to wrestle with it. In rough conditions you
> can then usually wait until you are in calm water to go forward and
> reduce the possibility of going over the side.

> [All things are relative and the technology has improved. In the choice
> between ProFurl, Harken, Hood and Schaeffer we chose Schaeffer - double
> grooves inside the round extrusion (less risk of pole strikes damaging the
> grooves unlike others proud luff grooves) double down wind headsail
> option, built like a tank, nicest looking of the bunch, US made - NAFTA
> duty free to Canada, employee owned company and have never had a failure
> with their products.]

[It's a personal call but we haven't regretted it and the new Tri Radial is
nice.]

[Cheers,

John]

> Bill Newman
> Marion Rose III, #233
>
>
>


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