Dutchman Mainsail Furling - workable?

[waterman46]

I am thinking of adding Dutchman style gear for the mainsail furling. I've seen it in action on the big charter cats and it seems to work fine. My boat is a Morgan 462 ketch with a rather small main but it's a big hassle to get it neatly folded on the boom since I have no easy access along most of the length of the boom. I can stand at the mast to get the folds started right, but 2 feet aft of the mast the cockpit cover runs the full length of the boom and boom is high above my 5' 11" height when I'm standing on side deck.

Specifically, I assume I need a full batten main and associated track and slides/cars. Then, is it hard to get the Dutchman lines adjusted so the sail falls cleanly into the bag? Does it normally require a bit of sail handling along the leach or in middle of sail to make it settle all the way into the boom bag and ready to close the bag? I would want it to drop all the way into the bag without any handling except from the mast. I'm assuming I'll always head into the wind and hope there is enough of it to pull the sail out well and help it fall along the lines.

I used the present classic old-style system for 23 years on this boat (and others in ancient past). I'm getting older, less patient and less of a deck-ape now. If Dutchman is not the answer, then I'll opt for in-boom furling $$ . . .

[SV Liberty]

I've posted previously (I think) on my very positive experience with the Dutchman system (which includes about 25k nm of cruising and pretty big winds on occasion, although less as I learned to reef early). So search for those.

But I will say, sometimes the sail must be worked a little at the middle and even the end of the boom. I swing my boom out to the side decks for some of this (Morgan 416 OI), and I also stand on the cockpit coaming (you probably can too) to do minor adjustments.

With the Dutchman, I can also drop sails off the wind, offshore, by using the roll of the boat (downwind) and patience. I've dropped the main and mizzen, offshore, in pretty stiff winds (20 kts +) in this way.

I love my Dutchman. I'm about to buy a full suite of new sails, and the Dutchman system will be integrated into the main and mizzen.

Regards,
SV Liberty

[donradcliffe]

I used the Dutchman system on my Beneteau 45 with a standard mainsail. The faster you drop the mainsail, the better the result. When beating or reaching, I usually loosen the mainsheet until the sail luffs, then let go the halyard. Works better if you wait to furl the genoa until after the main is down.

It is possible to reef the main downwind in stronger winds, but it takes several iterations of dropping the halyard, then pulling the clew reefing line tight--otherwise you might break one of the Dutchman lines. No big deal, weed wacker line makes good replacements.