Why not in boom furling on multi hulls?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I am 6ft 2 and strain to tidy the main in its stack pack, eyeline is just above boom height and theres zero safety up there in a seaway with the boom whipping back and forth.. so your standing on a roof 10ft minimum above the water on a 45ft Lagoon and trying to crank down the sail.. unless of course you have an electric boom furler system, then you just have the boom angle and speed of sail drop to worry about so it does not jam against the mast.. if you can see it from your station.
Thats why theres 3 mast steps at the mast, so you can climb up to attach the uphaul.

You will maybe still have to attach the halyard, if I leave mine attached it bangs against the mast, solve that and there is no need to disconnect it, then you would never have to leave the cockpit, until or unless something breaks of course.
However even on my relatively small main on my boat, you need to either be a fit weight lifter or have an electric helper to raise and lower the sail, there is or has never been a need to leave the cockpit, at least so far, except to attach the halyard which is done at anchor and disconnected at anchor of course. Once set the boom angle is static, or can be adjusted if too low by a topping lift, if it does bunch up against the mast for example, which would be too high, but you get the point.

I don’t think it would be possible to raise and lower a boom furling main on a larger Cat manually, maybe as an Emergency procedure, but I’m certain there will be rest breaks before you get it fully up, or down, and you will not look forward to doing it again

[Mystic38]

I frankly see no advantages to in boom furling.

imo nothing at all beats the simplicity, reliability and performance of a battcar/slides + lazy jack setup..

[tml]

In boom furlers are capacity limited by the volume of the boom extrusion. For example our Schaffer furling boom is the largest they currently make. The fully battened main sail on our Lafitte 44 fits comfortably but would be pressed to take a couple more wraps of sail; it would be too tight to roll up.
Many Cats have masts significantly taller rigs which would need more wraps than could fit in the boom extrusion we have. Until someone makes the economic / marketing decision to manufacture a bigger extrusion with more volume the big sails on Cats will be limited to in mast furling.
As a 70+ single hander this furler is key to still being able to enjoy sailing. If properly installed ( not a given!) this system is robust and reliable. The ability to raise, lower, and reduce sail without drama makes short handed sailing much safer. A serious sail tweaker might be frustrated but the full battens move the sail shape up the performance curve far enough for me.
Tom

[Cpt Mark]

My 1994 Island Packet Cat 35 came with in boom furling as standard. All owners except 1 that I have spoken with have replaced with standard booms. The previous owner of my boat destroyed the boom using the electric winch. Took months to track down the Manufacturer who said they had lost the drawings for my boom and couldn't help me to fabricate replacement parts. 8K plus shipping from Europe was not going to work for me. I went back to slab and a stack pack. Am building a Bimini cover I can get on to reach the main when I eventually will need to.

I love the idea of in boom furling, in mast just seems stupid. I researched in booms quite a bit, read user reviews etc and decided that the technology just isn't quite there yet for reliability. I sail solo so my needs may be different than yours.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Factor

The question is not “why not” but rather WHY. Last time I checked. Gravity still works

I should have been more clear.

A full batten sail with good mast cars is so easy to drop into lazy jacks, roller furling inside a boom can only add problems. You don't even need to tie up the bunt when reefed. It is really easy, and it always works. You can't screw it up. And that matters when it's blowing hard.

BTW, my F-24 has round-the-boom furling, which works quite well with full battens, but this is ONLY used because the sail feeds into a slot. If the sail were on slugs, I would replace it with slab reefing, because that is even easier.


IMO, with full battens, in-boom furling gives the illusion of ease, but is NOT actually easier. It is more particular. You have to live with full battens to understand just how easy reefing is.

[Sand crab]

The flybridge design started with the Lagoon 440 15 years ago so prior to that the booms were at a more manageable height for the most part. Many of the newer cats still have a lower boom then "overhead". The Lagoon 450 sportop is advertised as having a lower boom which should be more manageable. I wonder how much lower it is?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

You will maybe still have to attach the halyard, if I leave mine attached it bangs against the mast, solve that and there is no need to disconnect it, then you would never have to leave the cockpit, until or unless something breaks of course.
However even on my relatively small main on my boat, you need to either be a fit weight lifter or have an electric helper to raise and lower the sail, there is or has never been a need to leave the cockpit, at least so far, except to attach the halyard which is done at anchor and disconnected at anchor of course. Once set the boom angle is static, or can be adjusted if too low by a topping lift, if it does bunch up against the mast for example, which would be too high, but you get the point.

I don’t think it would be possible to raise and lower a boom furling main on a larger Cat manually, maybe as an Emergency procedure, but I’m certain there will be rest breaks before you get it fully up, or down, and you will not look forward to doing it again

Bet you dont need three mast steps to do it..
On certain designs of cats its feasable.. Maybe..
But on your production condomarran it only has bragging rights a few practical ones if any..
But hey.. Its your money, go for it.

[Starblossom]

The only reason I believe for not having boom furling on a cat is the expense.
I converted my Leopard 48 to Leisure Furl Boom Furling shortly after I purchased the boat in 2013. It has worked flawlessly these past 6 years.
The sail that came with the boat was not suitable(economical) to be recut and altered to work properly with the boom furling. I was able to sell the boom and sail that came with the boat.
It is very important to use an experienced rigger to install and angle the boom. Boom angle is extremely important for easy operation of raising and lowering. Once boom is properly angled, mark it to be able to reset if necessary.
I use an electric winch at the helm to raise and lower the sail. Manually it can be exhausting, or it can serve as your physical exercise for the day.
Big advantages are:ease of operation, easy to single hand; never have to go forward in bad weather; multiple reef points.
Disadvantages: must raise and lower directly into the wind; can't use larger square top sail, and cost $30,000+.
I am purchasing a 50' Leopard and have listed my 2013 48 Leopard for sale with Leopard Catamarans for $639,000.
I intend to install boom furling on my new 50'.
If you can spare the money, buy boom furling.

[jmh2002]

As other posts have mentioned, for simplicity a fully battened main with a batt car system and lazy jacks covers most of the bases and is a good setup is a dream to use.

If it is difficult or unsafe to go up to the mast or boom, or for short handed sailing, then also use downhauls or continuous reefing lines.

For ease of use, I would spend money on electric winches instead of in-mast or in-boom furling.

Then you get almost all of the advantages of easy sail handling and reefing with none of the disadvantages of an in-mast or in-boom setup.

Plus with some forethought and organisation the electric winches can also be used for multiple other tasks too.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Plus I have never, not even once seen a single Cat remove their Main for a Hurricane, so I assume it must be a real bear to do so, with it being so high up in the air and all.

I take mine off every fall, takes about an hour to take down, remove battens, inspect, and stow inside. Of course I have a Mahe 36 so while the sail seems big to me compared to a big flybridge it's probably a lot easier for me.

[MIRELOS]

Discovery Yachts 50 has in mast and I just saw a giant cat 90-100' with in boom.......very expensive options

[jmh2002]

Yeah, I mean they make in-boom furling rigs for superyachts, but that's a whole different league.

[trimarannaga]

“And on the eighth day God created roller furling, and He saw that it was good." So begins the Book of Jib, a little known book in the Bible, in which God cast His gaze down from the heavens and beheld the labors of the many sailors as they raised and lowered and, with great difficulty, flaked their headsails, always in a grassy area which was supposed to be free of the droppings left by the dogs of Hell but never was found to be so."God then took pity on the humble workers of the foredeck and inspired His prophets Harken, Schaefer, Hood, and Profurl." To these He gave insight so that they might develop a device that would lessen the burden. For many years did the men of the sea rejoice at their newfound innovation. But soon they forgot that the miracle of roller furling was a gift from God and instead began to believe it of their own making. They added automatic motors, and applied it to the mainsail as well, which constituted a breech of ancient law, the manual hoisting and lowering of the mainsail being a sacrament. They furled sails hither and yon, inside the mast or the boom, trying to hide the shameful practice from the eyes of God.God, being then displeased with the arrogance of man, jammed the furling units, leaving the sails exposed to the gales, which tore at them and made the sailors cry and gnash their teeth. The sailors brought down their tattered rags from aloft, and with heads hung low did take them to the sail maker, whose prices soared higher than the stars in the firmament. And with a mighty shout their checking accounts were laid to waste. The sailors did then beseech redemption. "From this day forward we shall flake our mainsails and mizzens about the boom like men!" And God saw that it was good".

[jmh2002]

Brilliant Put a great big smile on my face, thank you

[David1033]

And much joy was had by the readers of your words, LOL