Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 05-02-2010, 10:10   #1
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
Bamar Roller Gear

Has anybody had good or bad experience with spinaker furlling unit made by Bamar(Roll-Gen) manual unit 08 RLG series?
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2010, 08:10   #2
Registered User

Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: cruising Med/Turkey
Boat: Wauquiez 43 PS
Posts: 64
Hello eyschulman: We have a Roll-Gen 10-20 unit on our 43' Wauquiez. It works great, BUT, it takes practice to get it to work efficiently. Since there are only two of us aboard, we were looking for something to raise and lower a gennaker without much hassle.

First, take the time to set up the rig, practice and be willing to change the configuration of the roller line, etc. I found that a couple of double blocks secured via snapshackle to the toe rail helped guide the line (just like the furler line on a genoa).

When you first raise and lower the gennaker, do so in light winds until you get the hang of it. While this should be obvious, I'm talking winds of less than 5 knots, just enough to fill the gennaker.

When you get ready to furl the gennaker, make sure you are headed as near dead downwind as possible. this will allow the gennaker to float ahead of the boat and further allow the furling luff to better grab the head of the sail.

It works great and once set up and raised (in the furled position), you can leave it up for a while. This is important because you don't have to take it down immediately after furling like one does with a snuffer arrangement. We have even sailed with the furled gennaker and unfurled genoa until we got into a position to take down the gennaker.
__________________
Gary
S/Y Vingilot
lying Marmaris/Turkey

Life isn't a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!"
gegroves is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2010, 16:32   #3
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
Gary I set my unit up a few days ago and used the double block to pull furling lines out to beam so they would not rub against inboard shrouds. My first try to pull sail in was failure- then I tightened out hall on furling lines and after a bunch of loading turns the sail came in just fine. I also tried hooking my sheets up for an outside jibe but found outside sheet had tendancy and potential to wrap up-next time I will go inside and furl to jibe.( I sail single handed ) and after furling I pulled out jib and went tight to the wind-set autohelm and walked around dogger foreward with spinaker halyard in one hand and sheet in other-pulled on sheet with slight slack on halyard to bring furled sail inside (to windward of jib ) with hatch open I continued to ease halyard and haul sheet till middle of sail was in hand then down the hatch- then went to bow to retrive furler-snaped head of sail to furler and droped the whole works down hatch with furller line- whole thing was smooth and well controlled took about 90 sec. Will try in more wind so far so good looks like a great single and short hand tool has advantages over my ATN sock also about 1/4 as bulky to store sail.
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2010, 16:53   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
Hi,

I have used a Bamar unit that came with a tubular foamy wrap foil. I did not like it as I could not set it up to furl the sail in a consistent manner. I would not buy one for my boat.

I have also used a Profurl unit and a Facnor one. Both performed perfectly as advertised. For Profurl and Facnor you must have a sail shorter (luff) than the distance from mast top to sprit top - because you have to pull the sail tight along the luff before furling.

b.
barnakiel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2010, 17:39   #5
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
Barnakiel- what type of problems did you have furlling? Since I am trying to understand this system and learn about its character any specific feed back will help-then I can go out and put it to the test. I have already learned that the tension on furling line out haul has to be correct or furlling wheel will slip and stay losses its torque-also I noted that I must watch the process and make sure the spinaker is at a set position so bottom of sail does not furl too early-when I got the sail started furlling on top it all went smooth. I have not tried wind over 10k yet will wait until I feel secure .
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2010, 09:19   #6
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
The first problem we had was that the unit was not willing to take in a flogging sail. (It worked perfectly at the dock when setting up and testing on a flat day though). Unfortunately, one cannot ask the wind to abate just because a part of equipment is great in perfect conditions. Sometimes conditions are less than perfect and then it is that we may be forced to fully rely on the gear.

The second problem was the unit getting stuck when unfurling in heavy airs - we did get it un-stuck every time (getting stuck was caused by the furling line not being kept tight enough). Now here my comment is that if something is built and advertised (as being meant) to allow a single handed or short handed crew to furl the sail, then it is exactly what it should do. If I need another guy to smoothly operate the furling line then I can just ask them to take the kite down by hand and spare the 2k USD or so spent on the gadget.

Then I used a Profurl (endless line) on a screecher on a 54' cat and we just left the line unattended without any snags. And furling was effortless and clean too (however, note - a creecher was a short luff sail, rigger like a genoa sail, which made the job the furler very easy).

The Facnor I have used was almost exactly like the Profurl (endless line). Used on a light fast boat with a sprit and a pretty deep genaker. The difference was that it utilised triangle attachments with twin luff lines. This system was the neatest, fastest and easiest of the three. (I believe by now Facnor utilises a low-torsion hi tec line in place of the twin luff ropes).

So, my choices would be Facnor or Profurl for a racing or an off-shore boat. For a day-cruiser or a boat sailed by more crew any unit would do (but - as said above - if I have more crew, I do not need the furler).

BTW I have also seen more than one Bamar jib furler badly distorted at the drum - so I think proper setting up and tensioning is more critical with Bamar equipment than it is with some other brands.

b.
barnakiel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2010, 09:42   #7
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
Barnakiel thank you for the input Ed
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24-02-2010, 17:59   #8
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
bamar rollgen

I have had some more use with the rollgen and it is certainly not foolproof- the fancy clip on one of the retainer pins got ripped off and it takes care and practice to furl sail right and unfurl. The adjustment of tension on the rachet block is critical on my rig. to let sail out I have to ease tension to slack-to haul in increase tension with rachet on to firm. I am also going to try a mountain climbing devise to help hall line in for furl it slips forward and grabs on hauling in. I have not tried rig in a real breeze yet
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24-05-2010, 17:12   #9
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: San Jose, California
Boat: Catalina, 470, 47',Virago
Posts: 8
Bamar vs Facnor

I have a Catalina 470 with a Doyle APC asymmetrical and am thinking about a furler, so this thread is informative--thanks. Since the APC doesn't have a straight luff I am assuming that I need to use either the Bamar or the Facnor FX or similar. The main difference that I see so far is that Facnor recommends an added luff line and Bamar doesn't. Does that effect the observations you all have made? The second difference seems to be in the actual drive drum. I am getting the impression that the Facnor drum is more forgiving. Is that a fair characterisation?
Philosophical is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2010, 14:25   #10
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
I have a bamar unit and the construction and parts are of high quality-there is a learning curve that has to be mastered before reliable performance is obtained-one has to understand how unit works and follow directions-if not furling may be difficult and a sail improperly furled will be difficult to unfurl-for those who want a no brainer unit this may be a problem-Now that I understand the unit it works well and is reliable and my sail needed no modifications. I have also found that a simple mountain climbing device an ascender that can easily clip on and of furling line improves speed and furling torque. I think a sailor will be happy with this unit but people with motor boat mentalities will not.( I am a switch hitter motor boat and sail boat)
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2010, 17:40   #11
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: San Jose, California
Boat: Catalina, 470, 47',Virago
Posts: 8
Bamar furling line removal

Thanks for the info. I have a Selden furling main and have found the same issues of a learning curve with its endless furling line. I see that Facnor makes a big deal of the ability to remove the furling line from the unit without tools. This would be handy when I want to take the sail down and stow it leaving the furling line in place. Can this be done with the Bamar?
Philosophical is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2010, 18:32   #12
Registered User
 
eyschulman's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: seattle
Boat: Devlin 48 Moon River & Marshal Catboat
Posts: 639
Yes no tools needed
eyschulman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-11-2010, 08:38   #13
Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sailing Croatia Greece
Boat: Farr 56
Posts: 1
When I looked at the product at the Miami Boat show I was concerned that the furled chute might not bend easily for storage given the rigidity of the cable between the furling drum and the head spinner. What diameter bend do you find you can make in the furled sail.

Also do you find it convenient to leave the sail up furled when not in use. I was thinking of having a UV patch applied to the leach of the sail and leaving it up like another jib. Do you think that is reasonable?

I have a 57 ft sloop with an I of 73ft
Monterey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-12-2010, 16:54   #14
Registered User

Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: cruising Med/Turkey
Boat: Wauquiez 43 PS
Posts: 64
Size of furled sail on roller

Monterey:

The RollGen uses hi-mod line covered in a foam sleeve as the stay. For our 43' Wauquiez, the RollGen, with asym. rolls into a snake about 4 inches in diameter, and that then coils into a package about 1 meter in diameter. The whole assembly fits neatly into the sailbag, but the code zero furler unit does not detach from the "snake", so it sits loose inside the coil. Sail and RollGen are about 40 pounds and we keep in the v-berth between launches.

You could put a uv strip on the edge and leave it up, but it will be more windage and another thing to try and take down if stormy weather approaches.
__________________
Gary
S/Y Vingilot
lying Marmaris/Turkey

Life isn't a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!"
gegroves is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Roller Furling b-rad Deck hardware: Rigging, Sails & Hoisting 21 11-04-2010 06:06
Bamar Spinnaker Furling eyschulman General Sailing Forum 0 30-01-2010 19:10
Which Roller Furler? Idylles15.5 General Sailing Forum 20 21-01-2010 16:53
Roller Furling ? Sergy Monohull Sailboats 5 25-08-2009 06:59
Hood Roller Furling Gear cburger Classifieds Archive 4 24-04-2009 07:00

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:15.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.