Rotating the drum winds the sail up on the extrusion to reef it, or to completely furl it. The extrusion has a slot for a #5 or #6 continuous support tape that is sewn onto the luff of the sail, replacing the clips typically used for hanked-on jibs. Basically, a light line wound onto a drum rotates a thin metal or plastic extrusion that is part of the boat's forestay. He describes how they are designed and operate, tips on installation – and why he transitioned from critic to advocate. Ken Billing, aka the “$tingy Sailor,” wrote an excellent online tutorial about reefing furlers. While Torlon bearings will bump the FF-1 price up to $730, that’s still less than the competition, which is why CDI is probably the most common reefing furler found on trailersailers. The smallest CDI Flexible Furler (Model FF-1) is spec’d for a ⅛” headstay that is less than 21 feet in length and sells for $605 from Precision Sails. Both Harken and Schaefer furlers come with high-tech Torlon ball bearings that minimize jamming. In contrast, Schaefer’s SnapFurl CF-500, which is spec’d for trailerable boats up to 24 feet and headstays of less than 31 feet, sells for an even $1,000. To provide some idea of costs, the smallest Harken reefing furler (designated ”Unit 0 MKIV” and rated for boats up to 30 feet with headstays of less than 38 feet) lists for $2,900 at West Marine. West Marine sells mostly Harken furlers and CDI sells their furlers through a local dealer network. Defender, for example, sells furlers from Facnor, Harken, Karver, Schaefer and Profurl and Fisheries Supplies has a similar list. Many “flexible foil” furlers for both small and large boats are made by Cruising Design International (aka CDI) although there are many other manufacturers. However, once I read Chuck Pierce’s discussion of the Llungstrom downwind jib recently reposted online at Small Craft Advisor, I’m even more interested in investigating all of the options to add a furling headsail to my West Wight Potter 15. But besides the cost of the additional gear and the complications with trailering with the furler and the sail hanging over the bow, managing a jammed furler in windy conditions-a potentially disastrous situation-has always caused me to blink before converting to a furling headsail. ![]() And after I’ve stuffed the sail down into the cabin to clear the mess, it always needed to be completely rerigged.Ī much neater solution is a furling jib, which is rolled up and out of the way when not needed. But whenever I’ve tried it, my sail usually ends up tangled up on the deck and in the water. One solution is to use a downhaul led to the cockpit to depower and douse the jib without going up on the foredeck in tough conditions (see, for example, Install a Double Duty Headsail Downhaul ). But dowsing a hanked-on jib, especially from the cockpit, can be challenging, particularly when the wind pipes up. And it makes raising and lowering the mast easy-there’s no sail or furler to contend with. A hanked-on jib is straight-forward to rig and relatively low cost to replace. ![]() Most trailersailers with stayed masts are rigged with either hanked-on jibs or a roller-furling genoa.
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