Hallo to everybody,
I had a
boat in a joint
ownership for 8 years. We split and
sold our
boat.
I will retire in about 4 months and will buy a boat for myself which will have its home port in
Spain, in Vinaròs (130 nm south of Barcelona).
I am looking for a
Beneteau Oceanis or Clipper 393 or 373 or a
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 39i or 36/37, and I have been spending about 15 hours a week during the last 5 months surfing the net for searching my I will be living on.
I think I know quite well what I want, but there is one thing I hope to find some
advice here. Since I will be
single handing a lot, also on ocean crossings, I need a boat according to my/this needs.
My question is: Would you
single hand sailors out there consider
buying a boat with a
furling main? A main that either rolls up in the
mast or the boom.
I do consider it unwise, for if I would encounter a problem with the
furling system in bad
weather so that I would not be able to get the sail rolled in, I think that could be fatal in a real storm.
Am I over cautious?
I am not a sissy, and I think I am not inexperienced. Singlehanded from the mainland
Spain to Ibiza (Balearics) twice alone with our boat.
We had a furling main on that one (in mast). We never encountered major problems with the
furler, but some minor which we could fix.
Because a lot of the boats I mentioned above, I have looked at, do have furling mains.
I need some help to make up my mind, if I should skip all the boats with a furling main.
General question to all that have a furling main:
Did you ever encounter problems with getting the main rolled in? If so, how did you cope with it?
Thanks a lot in advance for your thoughts an input.
Greetings from
Germany
Skipper Ingo