Is 170 too Large to Furl?

[pogo]

I recently exchanged my "hank on" jib to a furling system for a better life, since I sail a littlle short handed most of the time.

I have a 110 percent jib made over to fit the furling system. The trouble is, I miss my 170 percenter. That large gennie was my normal power. The rumor is, a 170 is too large for a furler.

What really is the governing factor in terms of a furling headsail i.e. size?
Anyone know?

[redcobra]

I have a 160 that works fine on a Schaeffer Furler.

[FrankZ]

I don't know if there is a rule of thumb or not but the drum has to be able to hold all the line when the sail comes out.

If it can't you may be able to decore some of the line to get more on the drum (and a bigger sail)

[Christian Van H]

My take is this; slap a 170 on a furler, and by the time you have reefed in a decent wind the sail shape will be shot to hell. That, I believe, is why it's not recommended. IMHO, C

[svHyLyte]

It is difficult to make a comment not knowing the size of your boat or what furling system you have but, generally speaking, you should be able to furl a 170. Assuming you have a "typical" yacht in the mid 30' range, your J is likely in the range of 15' or so. Going from a 110 to a 170 adds only 60% of the J or about 9' to the furl which is likely only about 3.5-4 turns of the drum by the time you have the first 110% furled. Unless you have a small drum (i.e. a small furler for the size of your yacht) or unnecessarily thick furling line (which is commonly sized for ease of handling rather than strength) that should be doable. In ether case, one can, as previously suggested, strip the cover from at least the length of the furling line between the drum and the retreaving point which will allow quite a bit more line on the drum.

In connection with the foregoing, note that there is a distinction between furling and reefing. Some systems such as the Harken furlers allow the foil to rotate before the tack and head of the sail begin to be taken in, which, to some extent, allows one to "reef", with some of the belly of the sail's draft to be gathered in before the foot and the leach begin to furl. With this, the trim of the sail can be maintained somewhat while the sail is partially furled-i.e. reefed--but the "set" isn't particularly good unless one adds some padding of some type--foam pads, rope-- along the length of the luff. Note, however, that a 170 is typically made of relatively lighter weight cloth, for the light airs for which one typically needs such a large sail. Accordingly, reefing the sail and using it it heavy air bodes ill for the sail as it will be (realtively) heavily loaded and can be stretched beyond its elastic limit, ruining its ability to set properly for the light air it was designed to handle. Frankly, I would not attemp to reef such a large and presumably light weight sail unless the foot, leach and tack areas remaining exposed in the reefed mode were reinforced.

FWIW...

s/v HyLyte

[Joli]

You can put it on and try it out. Around here we have heavier winds in the spring and fall and lighter winds in the summer. Some folks trade back and forth during the season from a #3 to a #1.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

It is difficult to make a comment not knowing the size of your boat or what furling system you have but, generally speaking ...

Nonetheless, HyLyte did a commendable job!

I tried the "Thanks" icon, but got this message:
"You must spread some Thanks around before giving it to svHyLyte again."

[redcobra]

Ah yes, on the Chessy I use a 130 until about July and them strap on the 160, then back to the 130 in September.