Considering a New Roller Furler

[Rakuflames]

I have contacted Hood, and they no longer market the lower unit that would convert my continuous line to a single line system.

They have what they call a "deep discount" because of this for a new one, but if I'm going to get a new one I want to shop around. Yes, I looked in the forum but found no thread like this.

I would like to hear what others do and do not like about the roller furlers they have. Thanks so much!

[robert sailor]

There are some excellent products out there. Whether its Harken,Profurl,Schaefer or Furlex they are all good gear. If your racing you may prefer some features that allow you to take the furling drum off easily but if its cruising then any of the above will do the job.

[Vasco]

I have a Harken and a Profurl. No problems with either although I think Beneteau chintzed a bit on the Profurl, the drum is a bit small. I prefer the Harken as it does not have sealed bearings.

[neilpride]

We work a lot with Facnor and Profurl, i prefer Profurl, Harken have some silly things features, like the way the sections are atached, together, Facnor use Torllon balls to mitigate friction, Profurl use ball bearings sealed in the drum and top swivel, facnor use a very similar way to atach furler alu sections , easy to dismantle and easy to install, Loctite is recomend it for the screws in the sections, i have a couple of profurls in my boat, so far are 9 years old and still working smooth and nice, corrosion at the drum is unlikely , Titanium ... Facnors have a peculiar way to install the top swivel stop at the mast head, need to got a 90 degres bend , if not, the swivel dont turn smooth, not big deal, no idea with furlex or schaefer... most furlers this days are well designed and quality materials improve a lot ... my personal vote is for profurl, thats the most selled furler here in the rigging shop....Good luck.

[dugout]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I have contacted Hood, and they no longer market the lower unit that would convert my continuous line to a single line system. They have what they call a "deep discount" because of this for a new one, but if I'm going to get a new one I want to shop around. Yes, I looked in the forum but found no thread like this. I would like to hear what others do and do not like about the roller furlers they have. Thanks so much!

I do not care for it at all. That said, what size is your head stay?

[Stu Jackson]

One other consideration is halyard wrap. ProFurl has a built in halyard wrap protector. I call ours Darth Vader. Look at their products. We've had it on for well over 10 years, works great. LCI 32 on a 34 foot boat.

Harken, Shaffer, Furlex and others are all good products, too. Reda the Harken website about halyard restrainers.

By this time, all this equipment has been through its teething pains, like 20 years ago!

Good luck, your boat, your choice.

[Sailmonkey]

We've got a schaffer furler......I am quite impressed by it. All open bearings, the bearings are easy to clean or change. The tubes are large, and there is no plastic on it with the exception of the bearings and the delrin sleeve in the halyard swivel.

[bstreep]

I'm watching this thread. We have 2 Hood 5250s, and while Hood offers a good discount with a trade, we also want to look at other options.

Lots of good reports on Alado - anyone here use one?

[neilpride]

No experience with the Alado, never see one in fact, but depend of your budget,
we have some 2 hand reconditioned furlers , furlers where is not worth for the costumer to repair, what i want in my boat is a realiable and easy to repair piece of gear, profurl bearings last a lot if properly lubricated, if the bearings start to fail , the drum get wrecked and is expensive, saying that all the profurl units we see in the shop come with the bearings toasted , replace the bearings is not a dificult task,
Facnor and harken use torlon balls, with time the balls deformed , not funy to replace, lot of patience.. i like the eliptical form of the Harken sections, Furlex use ss balls enclosed in the drum ..

This link could be helpful to choose one or another...
http://www.gotthardt-yacht.de/tl_fil...%20Furlers.pdf

Cheers.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Facnor and harken use torlon balls, with time the balls deformed , not funy to replace, lot of patience..
This link could be helpful to choose one or another...
http://www.gotthardt-yacht.de/tl_fil...%20Furlers.pdf

Cheers.

Don't know if all the Facnor models use the same design parameters, but the Facnor on my Solent jib has stainless balls running in stainless races. Lousy design IMO because one can't get them apart to replace lube or lip seals, so mine is running on borrowed time (about 7 years old). Already had to replace the upper swivel, too. They are easy to assemble and install, though.

I've had Furlex, Facnor, Schaeffer and Reef-rite. The Schaeffer had the lowest friction and has lasted since 1996, now with new owner on our old boat. But I liked the Reef-rite best... absolutely bullet proof, used standard automotive ball bearings and seals available for very little money and worldwide. Incorporates a ratchet in the drum that takes the load off of the furling line when the sail is reefed or furled... a unique safety feature. The Furlex is 21 years old, has always had a lot of friction, requires awkward lubrication maintenance and has dubious latches holding the foil into the drum (replaced in mine by throughbolting). The newer models may be better.

RAku, I hope that you can find a suitable replacement for your less than satisfactory Hood.

Cheers,

Jim

[ohdrinkboy]

I have a schaffer snap furl and have been a happy camper. works as designed for the past 8 years.

[barnakiel]

We have Plastimo and Harken. I use Profurl and Facnor often.

I like Facnor best of them all. Simple, strong and reliable.

I also like our very old Plastimo - inexpensive, simple and repairable. Gave us 10 years of hard use before I had to replace the bearings. And it was not new when we got the boat. Good economy.

b.

[keepondancin]

I have had Hood, Harken, Schaefer and Profurl. I liked the Profurl the best. It was very easy to install, very low friction, the drum is open so a fouled furling line can be corrected. I currently have Schaefer which works well, but has a bit of drag when furling, but I do have a really big headsail. The Harken had a closed basket and one time I lost control unfurling my genoa in a blow and I got a bad wrap. It was very difficult to sort it out. The Hood's connectors wore out, that's what I changed to the Profurl. The additional feature of the Profurl is the top swivel design which eliminates wrapping the halyard around the foil, which has the potential to be disaster.

[Rakuflames]

Thanks all particularly for the warnings about halyard wrap. I know about that the hard way but might not have. I am looking for ease of use, safety when partially furled, and if possible, mechanical simplicity. I sympathize with the guy who prefers hank on and would agree on a smaller boat.

[mr-canada]

Im going to probably be the contrarian here but I would recommend to get a continuous or line drive furler. I have a LD and I cant imagine why they would design them any other way. I've been on other's boats and the furling systems seem like such a pain in the neck with that weird line that has to be stowed somewhere carefully, the yarding on the sheets to unfurl and the problems with partial furling (tension on the sheets unfurls the sail... in high wind theres a lot of tension).

While many of these problems can be corrected by deck hardware you're still left with a long line all over the cockpit furled and the potential for having to run towards the bow if the furling line gets tugged foreward. Add to that the different tensions you may be furling the sail in and running out of line with a still partially unfurled sail...

With a continuous or LD system you put two clamcleats on the deck by the continuous line. Furling or unfurling you just go in one direction or the other on the loop. If you're concerned about tentsion pulling the sail when reefing it (bear in mind headsails dont reef properly so this should be an emergency measure) you pop the continuous line into the clamcleats. No end of a line and no needing to stow it somewhere where you're not going to trip over it with an unfurled sail. Mine runs along the toerail on one side through a wheel. Its impossible to trip over because there are guides leading it all down along the stanchions under the lifelines.

It blows me away seeing these gorgeous brand new boats and seeing the gong show mess of their furler systems, sails that wont furl all the way in a blow because and these lines to trip over running cookamamie down the deck at various amounts of tension.

I'm sure any problem can be solved with a good deck hardware design, but a LD or continuous furler system seems to fix all of these problems with sheer simplicity. The biggest hangup is what to do if you snap the line. My furling line is 5/8 inch nylon which has a load strength of about 3800 pounds. If my sail needs 3800 pounds of pressure to furl, I have bigger problems than a snapped furling line.