Can furling sails be converted to hank on?

[Rockinar]

I bought a boat from the 80's and the furler is probably as old as the boat and its complete trash and needs to be replaced. I was thinking of just removing it and trying hank on.

Can a furling sail be converted to hank on?

[Gary Mc]

Yes no problem, you can take it to a Sailmaker or do it your self. I believe you will have to put a series of brass grommets along the luff then attached the hanks, either by sewing or use the clamp on type. I suspect that if you go to Sailrite's web site they will have everything to need.



Have fun.

[slug]

Originally Posted by Rockinar

I bought a boat from the 80's and the furler is probably as old as the boat and its complete trash and needs to be replaced. I was thinking of just removing it and trying hank on.

Can a furling sail be converted to hank on?

Sure...but it’s not cheap..

Normally they slice the luff off.....reinforce the luff...then add hanks

be certain that your sails have life left in them

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by slug

be certain that your sails have life left in them

Yup...if your sails aren’t “crinkley” don’t waste your money. Better to buy good used or new

[barnakiel]

Yes.


Sometimes good furling sails are extremely flat cut and so may become somewhat less desireable than a sail designed for hanks from the beginning.


b.

[Don C L]

That's exactly what I did to mine. I too had an old and untrustworthy furler. As was mentioned be sure the sail is still in very good shape to make it worth your while.

[Fore and Aft]

Hanked on sails are a bit out of fashion now and I have found some good used hanked on sails fairly cheap on Gumtree (Craigslist).

Cheers

[TrentePieds]

Headsails are easy to do. Sailrite has an excellent youtube demo on how to do it. Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtgLI5l2cJ0

For MOST operating conditions hank-ons are IMO superior to roller furls precisely due to the simplicity and consequent reliability they confer. IMO you'd have to have a VERY compelling case for roller furls in order to suffer their congenital annoyances.

TrentePieds

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

For MOST operating conditions hank-ons are IMO superior to roller furls precisely due to the simplicity and consequent reliability they confer. IMO you'd have to have a VERY compelling case for roller furls in order to suffer their congenital annoyances.
TrentePieds

I disagree. The ability to set or douse half of your sails quickly without going forward and the time saved bending on and bagging sails make roller furling very desirable.

The OP did not say the size of the boat or how he would use it. With anything larger than a daysailor the time required to set up and take down would be enough to affect the decision to sail or stay in the marina. On a cruising boat this is even more important. Cruisers often sail short handed and reducing sail area in half in a few seconds is a safety issue.

[TrentePieds]

Stormalong:

Disagreement is the mother of knowledge. So let's hope that your disagreement with me will expand the OP's knowledge :-)!

As you say, we do not know what the OP sails, or where he does it. Thus my use of 'MOST'

Having a good half century behind me in boats up to 65 feet with a variety of rigs, I have become fairly fixed in my opinions. One that I hold with some conviction is that for ME, doing MY kind of sailing, in MY kind of waters (Salish Sea) in MY kind of boat, hank on jib and jiffy reefing main is both vastly superior in operation and vastly cheaper in acquisition and maintenance than is roller FURLING. Let's acknowledge that FURLING and REEFING are not the same thing!

TrentePieds has roller FURLING, and the worst kind at that - MAST furling main. Ugh! Well, MyBeloved has a "thing" for that boat, and we got 'er dirt cheap. She is a great motor sailer, but a little short of SA/D. No matter. I'll sail anything I'm given, and at my advanced age, I'm just not gonna blow the bux to convert her back to what she was in her youth before a former owner, who was apparently a little short on the fundamental concepts and may have ODed on glossy mags, spent a packet on a new rig and sails :-)

À chacun son gout :-)

TP

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Rocknr,

If you decide you want to convert to hanks, just know they are subject to freezing up, do require fussing with and lubricating to keep operating smoothly. They do not stay shiny long. The guys upstream are correct, if the fabric's not crinkly, buy a better sail.
The reason is that soft cloth does not retain its shape--the sail will look baggy, and you won't be able to get the draft forward enough.

I'd say that for most day sailing, hanks are good. They're fast, up and down. You'll want to consider how you're going to corral the sail when it's on deck, and where it will live when/if you're overnighting on the boat. We've used various kinds of foils, and eventually gone to roller furling. One gives up a lot of versatility when one limits oneself to a smaller headsail that can be rolled up. On the other hand, you'll carry around more sails, that take up living space. And, Trente Pieds is right, there are some hassles with them: mostly getting the wire tension adequate, in our case; and certain challenges getting them hooked back up (we do our own rigging), to say nothing of the eternal question of which one to choose and why.

Ann

[slug]

Originally Posted by stormalong

I disagree. The ability to set or douse half of your sails quickly without going forward and the time saved bending on and bagging sails make roller furling very desirable.

The OP did not say the size of the boat or how he would use it. With anything larger than a daysailor the time required to set up and take down would be enough to affect the decision to sail or stay in the marina. On a cruising boat this is even more important. Cruisers often sail short handed and reducing sail area in half in a few seconds is a safety issue.

Also consider sail storage

With hank on sails you might need three different headsails..Genoa, working jib and storm jib

With a roller you only need two ...Genoa and heavy weather jib

Everything is a compromise ..piston hanks Work..roller fullers work

[Manateeman]

Hi. Well you can save yourself a lot of time and effort if you simply follow the recommendations of moderator trentepieds who is an expert in all matters about boats.
The lack of specifics in his public profile...his real name, boatbuilding experience, current vessel..well, one appreciates the need for privacy given the avalance of inquiries which would follow areal resume. Trust me. Just follow his instructions.
Trentepieds is a French expression loosely translated to : getting all dolled up, putting on your best ,stepping out in your finest attire.
I’m surprised no one has suggested punching holes in the sail and using thick zip ties round stainless welded rings used like mini mast hoops. I’ve actually seen this done. The rings fit over the lower turnbuckle and just flew up the forestay. The owner was a purse seine fisherman and feared roller fullers. He rigged a down haul as well. Rather than a deck sail bag, there was a net attached to the toe rail. It captured the sail with more strings and rings. There are many systems older than lazy jacks.
Sorry. I forgot to get prior approval so ignore my ramblings.
Silly manatee.

[kenbo]

Originally Posted by slug

Also consider sail storage

With hank on sails you might need three different headsails..Genoa, working jib and storm jib

With a roller you only need two ...Genoa and heavy weather jib

Everything is a compromise ..piston hanks Work..roller fullers work

I don't disagree with what you've written but since his boat is from the 80's there's a better than fair chance that his main will be the first sail reefed. If his current headsail is in the 120 to 130 range he could be fine. A jib bag is a great way to solve the storage issue.

There's a lot we don't know about the OP's headsail, it's condition, size, foam luff (?), heavy acrylic UV sun cover that hurts light air sail shape, but yes they can be converted with a few simple tools.

[slug]

Also consider hybrid systems ..hank on,roller furling headsails

These new systems are very well regarded.

https://youtu.be/QLoQcrERZyU

If I were to build a new boat it would have one of these furlers