Mainsail in boom furling vs. in mast furling

[bobfnbw]

Thanks Paul and those are good reasons for sure. Just wondered....

[PAlter]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Here is an example of how deeply I can reef with my Leisurefurl boom. First, the main at almost full hoist. I have taken a "flattening" half-turn on the boom furler, which reduces the fullness of the sail, appropriate for the wind we are seeing and our point of sail:Next, the main is reefed about as far as I can go when sailing downwind in heavy air. We probably were in 30kt winds when I wound it down this far, and were using the poled-out roller-reefed headsail to drive us deeply downwind. We were ultimately sailing in 47 kt solid wind, with 60kt gusts and (roughly) 15-20 ft seas. Note that we have only two battens showing, and the exposed sail area is negligible:

So no, we can't completely furl when running downwind in heavy air, but we can get close enough.

Dear Paul Elliot,

Thank you for the photos and details about your in boom furling system! This is the encouragement I was looking for and glad to hear of your positive experience. Nice looking boat - what bridge is that?

I will narrow my research of new old boats to those that have such good in boom furling gear, electric winches, etc. I am actually having a great time doing the research and learning a lot about different sailboat models, features, and rigs so this is all great stuff.

Onward!!!

Paul

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

My big issue is I love big roachy mainsails but I have another big issue and that is my wife..she's done the reef the big main in high winds offshore in the middle of the night and then she got a taste of inmast furling in the same situation and she has made it very clear she's not going back to a standard main, end of conversation. Seems like that decision has been made, lol[emoji3] its all fine, im getting easier to deal with as i get older.

My last boat was a Freedom. It had a large roachy fully batterned main. I use to look up at it and think"what a beautiful thing" great shape, looked like a big wing,....... my current main is a triangular rag... Lol. But I'm sold on the convience.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by PAlter

Thank you for the photos and details about your in boom furling system! This is the encouragement I was looking for and glad to hear of your positive experience. Nice looking boat - what bridge is that?

Thanks! We're about to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge in that upper photo, at the start of the Pacific Cup race to Hawaii.

As you probably saw in an earlier post, we definitely had teething problems with the early version of the Leisurefurl, but with the new feeder and track design it's been quite trouble-free. Compared to a "normal" boom, the Leisurefurl is heavier, and we had to upgrade the gooseneck mast hardware after about five years of use. But all systems are compromises, including traditional ones. What we have works well for me.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

My big issue is I love big roachy mainsails but I have another big issue and that is my wife..she's done the reef the big main in high winds offshore in the middle of the night and then she got a taste of inmast furling in the same situation and she has made it very clear she's not going back to a standard main, end of conversation. Seems like that decision has been made, lol[emoji3] its all fine, im getting easier to deal with as i get older.

Yeah, I also love big roachy mainsails, but I also demand being able to reef or put away the main entirely without turning upwind in big following seas, and besides that, I'll give up the outhaul control only when they pry it out of my cold, dead fingers

So what this means is the right mainsail for me simply doesn't exist

So I will reluctantly go back to a normal full batten main on the next boat. It will be hard without the great advantages of in-mast.

[bobfnbw]

Originally Posted by daletournier

My last boat was a Freedom. It had a large roachy fully batterned main. I use to look up at it and think"what a beautiful thing" great shape, looked like a big wing,....... my current main is a triangular rag... Lol. But I'm sold on the convience.

I love the look of a Cat Ketch, but from what I have read, not a good offshore boat due to the long boom. Running and heeling means the boom can contact the water... not a good thing. But for coastal should be no problem.

[robert sailor]

My wife explains it to me this way...so you see Robert..I like the furling mainsail because it's like taking a Kleenex out of the box and being able to put it back in just as easy as taking it out.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

My wife explains it to me this way...so you see Robert..I like the furling mainsail because it's like taking a Kleenex out of the box and being able to put it back in just as easy as taking it out.

Followed by..but sweet cheeks that furling main just doesn't have the power and pointing ability that a "real" mainsail has.

Followed by ..phoowee..We get every place we want to don't We? That's usually the end of the conversation

[double u]

"...I also demand being able to reef or put away the main entirely without turning upwind in big following seas..."
250% agree!
the fleet I was working on had 2 boats with sailtainers (a Bav 390 & a feeling 446) & in any sort of wind one had to hold the boat head-to-wind with the engine when reefing: Now such a "procedure" is so utterly unacceptable & ridiculous on a blue-water boat that one does not have to elaborate further!
(for those lacking the necessary phantasy:
you are deep-reaching towards the Marquesas, 10th day out, 2:30 in the morning, you on watch, the lady sleeping, when a rainshower is taking the wind from 18-35kn. You fire up, head up into the wind & the boat goes from pleasant to "berserk", noiselevel & motion alike. the comments of the lady-now wide awake - will not be for children's ears...if she doesn't outright kill you with the next winchhandle (& btw you'd have deserved it choosing such a "system" ...)

[boatman61]

I don't like either to be honest but.. if I had to choose I'd prefer the in mast to the boom furler..

[double u]

absolutely!
the only single advantage of the in-boom is, that if bad comes to worst you can always take the main down

[goat]

Here comes some blasphemy. I've seen quite a few boats with behind the mast furling units. One ketch that had been around once had four furling units.
My last boat had in-mast, with a sail that I had built specifically for this purpose. Never had a problem (except for horrible fluting when tied to a dock). I know in theory the wind shadow of the mast will hurt performance, but does
anyone have real life experience, good or bad, with behind the mast furlers?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by double u

absolutely!
the only single advantage of the in-boom is, that if bad comes to worst you can always take the main down

Hardly. Boom-furling also gives you:

• Effective full-length battens
• Roach (more sail area, better lift/drag performance)
• Lower center of gravity when furled

So make your choice and be happy with it.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by goat

(except for horrible fluting when tied to a dock)?

My dock neighbor in Panama City Fl had an inmast that would howl like a banshee in the wind, at first I thought it was his wind generator.
However I believe that is only one model that does that, and that you can install a rubber flap to stop the noise?

[goat]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

My dock neighbor in Panama City Fl had an inmast that would howl like a banshee in the wind, at first I thought it was his wind generator.
However I believe that is only one model that does that, and that you can install a rubber flap to stop the noise?

Roger that. The hood mast I had, had the option of a anti fluting device, a piece of canvas or sail cloth that fit into the mast sail track and was hoisted with a halyard purposely installed for that reason. I've never actually seen one. I would just spend more time anchored than tied up and that would fix it as well. Selling the boat also contributed to my requirement of peace and quiet. ;^)