Alado Furler for extensive Blue Water Cruising?

[Onemoreproject]

My NC 42 Profurl is toast and am looking for a replacement. My boat is a 36' one off cutter with 9/16th head stay. I sail out of San
Francisco in challenging Nor Cal conditions and I am leaving on an endless cruise to New Zealand and points beyond this year. Alado furlers got a great review from Practical Sailor and I havent found a word of negative commentary but haven't found any comments from Alado owners that have done the kind of trip I am planning.

I am interested in hearing from anyone that has owned an Alado furler.

Cheers!

[Onemoreproject]

My head stay is 9/32", NOT 9/16!
Cheers!

[Meandercp]

I have one on my 36' Dean catamaran. No complaints in two Atlantic crossings and a few trips to the Bahamas from northern Florida.

The Alado is pretty simple and there is not much that can go wrong with it. It was easy to install. The company delivered mine from Brazil amazingly fast. They were also very responsive in supplying additional bearing / spacers when I dropped a couple in the water during assembly. They sent a whole bag of them for free.

[colemj]

We put one on our previous 40' mono and loved it- very simple, bullet proof and inexpensive. Never had a single issue with it for ten years (then we sold the boat).

Mark

[Steve1944]

Originally Posted by Onemoreproject

My NC 42 Profurl is toast and am looking for a replacement. My boat is a 36' one off cutter with 9/16th head stay. I sail out of San
Francisco in challenging Nor Cal conditions and I am leaving on an endless cruise to New Zealand and points beyond this year. Alado furlers got a great review from Practical Sailor and I havent found a word of negative commentary but haven't found any comments from Alado owners that have done the kind of trip I am planning.

I am interested in hearing from anyone that has owned an Alado furler.

Cheers!

I may have posted on this thread before, so this is in addition


I am against furlers and lost both my furler and forestay on the North Sea. I didn't replace it. I'm happy b

[Ribbit]

Thanks for bringing these Alado furlers up, I hadn't heard of them.

I like the look of them, and the Lifetime Warranty (if they honour it) looks great.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Meandercp

I have one on my 36' Dean catamaran. No complaints in two Atlantic crossings and a few trips to the Bahamas from northern Florida.

The Alado is pretty simple and there is not much that can go wrong with it. It was easy to install. The company delivered mine from Brazil amazingly fast. They were also very responsive in supplying additional bearing / spacers when I dropped a couple in the water during assembly. They sent a whole bag of them for free.

What he/she said ... Alado are good people to deal with and very responsive to any problem that might arise. Great bullet proof product ...

[Onemoreproject]

I bought the Alado and am about to install it. Job halyards are normally tensioned with a winch to get the correct amount of luff tension. How does one do that with a integral halyard? The install say to just tie a knot? l dont think thats going to create a the correct sail shape. Please let me hear how you are able to get enough halyard tension?

Thanks,

Larry

















/

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by Onemoreproject

I bought the Alado and am about to install it. Job halyards are normally tensioned with a winch to get the correct amount of luff tension. How does one do that with a integral halyard? The install say to just tie a knot? l dont think thats going to create a the correct sail shape. Please let me hear how you are able to get enough halyard tension?

Thanks,

Larry
/

You can create quite a bit of tension with a lashing, not easy to adjust, but this furler is not for racing.



Cheers,
JM.

[Sailorbob8599]

Hi Larry,
Just follow the manufacturers instructions ... they don't ask for extreme tension because you don't need it. If you think about it, you need high tension only when you do not have a foil to keep a straight lead edge to the jib. Seems to me, the halyard on mine is only 3/16" or maybe 1/4" ... all I did was to pull it tight by hand, no tools, no spanish windlass or any other form of additional tension. You pull the halyard tight, tie it off to the top of the drum and cut off excess line.
That is exactly how i installed mine; The luff is taught and has stayed that way after use. Don't try to improve on these instructions. ie: If tight is good, then tighter is better ... not! Just follow the instructions the way they are written. Good luck and good sailing. . . . Bob.

[Neptune's Gear]

Yep, great furler. My one has done over 20,000 miles now without any issues. I get halyard tension with an old laser kicker block and a 6mm spectra halyard. Works great.

[Onemoreproject]

Thanks for your response. I am trying to install mine but its not going very well. I asked the Alado salesman for help but he referred me to someone else and they havent gotten back to me so I am looking for solutions to some of the problems I am running into.

After putting the foild on the headstay, one side is longer then the other. I went to the top of the mast to make sure they are inserted all the way into the sheaves at the top of the foil and they are.I cant figure out why they are different lengths. Does anyone know how tha could be?

The directions say to have the "foil terminal tensioned against the top stay terminal". I have Norseman fittings and the Alado foil terminal rides up ov er the Norsman fitting, get stuck and prevents the foil from swiveling around the headstay. Another words I can't furl the sail if the foil and drum cant swivel on the headstay. In order to make it work I would need a spacer between the foil terminal and the Norseman fitting.

It also looks like the 2 luff feed pieces do not go opposite each other. Is that correct?
foils are different lengths did anyone experience that? The salesman David, says he nhasnt heard these questios in 15 years. I guess he cant be bothered with questions. If anypne could help me i would appreciate it.
Thanks!

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Onemoreproject

Thanks for your response. I am trying to install mine but its not going very well. I asked the Alado salesman for help but he referred me to someone else and they havent gotten back to me so I am looking for solutions to some of the problems I am running into.

After putting the foild on the headstay, one side is longer then the other. I went to the top of the mast to make sure they are inserted all the way into the sheaves at the top of the foil and they are.I cant figure out why they are different lengths. Does anyone know how tha could be?

The directions say to have the "foil terminal tensioned against the top stay terminal". I have Norseman fittings and the Alado foil terminal rides up ov er the Norsman fitting, get stuck and prevents the foil from swiveling around the headstay. Another words I can't furl the sail if the foil and drum cant swivel on the headstay. In order to make it work I would need a spacer between the foil terminal and the Norseman fitting.

It also looks like the 2 luff feed pieces do not go opposite each other. Is that correct?
foils are different lengths did anyone experience that? The salesman David, says he nhasnt heard these questios in 15 years. I guess he cant be bothered with questions. If anypne could help me i would appreciate it.
Thanks!

I found the installation quite easy to perform.
Let's deal with one thing at a time;
First, install a Foil Bushing on the head-stay.
Next, install one 2-1/2' Foil half-section together, making sure to locate the pin on the bushing in the hole at the TOP of the short Foil section. Now install a full 5' section onto the short one, also with hole at the top.
Install another Foil bushing on the head-stay and slide another 5' Foil section onto the lower end of the previously installed long section, making sure the pin of the bushing is located in the hole of the section you are now installing.

This process continues until you have sufficient pieces to fill your head-stay. You will now see that each and every section overlaps the previous section by half a section length. This assures a bushing is located and joins are staggered every every 2-1/2' ... providing maximum strength for the Foil and a bearing every 2-1/2' on the stay.
After I had two sections installed, I installed the top Terminal and tightened the two bolts, negating the need to tie the original halyard around the Foil sections. The new halyards were installed at this time too.
I was lucky enough to have a helper who was sliding the foil up the head-stay as I installed each new section, although someone in good health (which I am not) should be able to do the installation alone.
We pushed the Foil up until it contacted the top of the stay. A vice-grip was then attached to the stay as suggested to hold the Foil section UP in position while the last long section was cut to required length and installed.
All of this assembling was done with the head-stay in place and attached to the deck fitting. Only then did we disconnect the stay at the lower end to install the Drum assembly, remembering to install the big bushing as we progressed. ... The stay was then re-attached to the deck fitting.
The Drum assembly was pushed up onto the completed Foil and the bolts were installed and tightened. The whole Furler assembly was then lowered to where I wanted the Drum assembly to be; The Nylon Clamp was installed to support the Drum Assembly, and the two bolts were tightened.
Lowering the complete Furler assembly a few inches provided adequate clearance from the top Head-stay fitting and the whole lot turns easily on the head-stay.
The sail was then slid into the luff groove of the Foil and hoisted with the new halyard to full height. The Halyard was pulled tight, and tied off to one of the èyes`on top of the drum. The excess line was cut off as recommended.
The jib-sail is now permanently installed however, should I need to lower it at some time in the future, I can easily attach a temporary extension to the end of the now shortened halyard.
All installation was done at deck level and nobody had to go aloft for any reason.
Hope this is of some help. If not, are you in a marina where another sailor might have an Alado who can help you ... This really is an easy installation if you follow the manual.

[lmantuano]

ONEMOREPROJECT, have you tried to google "Alado furler youtube"..? heaps on install instructions there..

I have one soon to be installed. I have reviewed the install instructions several times and found them very clear. Also watched the videos and I feel very confident I can do it by myself..

One thought, you may need to keep the length of the foil a tad shorter than you think possible, enough to clear the bottom of the Norseman fitting. This may involve cutting both bottom halves of the foil.

good luck

lm

[captainstubbie]

I purchased mine 8 years ago and have no complaints whatsoever. I installed it by myself, it's easy to follow and unfollow, and has been totally trouble free. I would definitely buy another one.

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