Furling staysails

[stillbuilding]

Would it be reasonable to use a Code 0 type furler for the staysail? Dynex luff rope should be OK in heavy going, can pack up the whole show for light weather. Or even leave standing. Any tendency to unroll would only be concerning in strong winds when one would be deploying it anyway.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

but we found that getting the Highfield engaged and the wire all set and then hanking on the sail was often a handful in rough conditions.

I keep the staysail hanked on the stay, even when its brought back to the mast. And I have a wichard rateching gadget on the bottom which makes tensioning pretty easy.

On passage we keep the stay set and have the staysail hanked on and bagged before we leave the dock.

The weight and windage of a furled staysail were on our minds, but that really only effects upwind work and honestly most live aboard cruising boats are already so crippled upwind (arches, solar panels, wind gens, Bimini's, etc) that the furled staysail is not such a significant addition. We worked hard to keep Hawk 'clean' and able to go upwind, so a furled staysail would be a noticeable influence on her.

Island has not mentioned it but two of the keys to the high modulus luff systems are (a) to be able to get decent luff tension, and (b) a decent path to run the double (loop) furling lines back to the cockpit. On some boats its easy to accomplish both of those and on others its a bit more work/cost.

The 3 solutions (hank on, foil furling and high modulus luff furling) all work and just have various trade-offs and compromises. You can't realy go worng with any of them.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by stillbuilding

Would it be reasonable to use a Code 0 type furler for the staysail? Dynex luff rope should be OK in heavy going, can pack up the whole show for light weather. Or even leave standing. Any tendency to unroll would only be concerning in strong winds when one would be deploying it anyway.

Yes/No.

Depends on what you mean.

A Code O styled furler furls the sail that can then be dropped to the deck and removed. The furling unic can be then re-used for another sail.

The parallel concept with a staysail will be a staysail structural furler:

http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/st...tural_stay.pdf

I think you can use a Code 0 furler in this space, provided it is a strong unit and the sail is built accordingly.

b.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by islandplanet

I'd do a foil-less furler. Last thing I want cluttering up the foretriangle is a permanently installed stay and foil.

OP stated the boat is a real cutter, implying the forestay is already a permanent fixture.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

The convenience would be nice I suppose in lieu of needing to change sails. By the time you get two furling units and the sails stored aloft... that's alot of weight. 100lbs 20 ft up is like loosing a ton of ballast.... more or less....
If you are at 40 knots it seems you might know ahead of time to expect more weather and have a chance to change out early...?

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Weight aloft is another valid point against furlers (and for carbon masts!). But 100 pounds at 20 feet up costs a ton of ballast only if the CG of your ballast is one foot below the waterline. Mine is in a bulb 2 meters down. . .

But it's a good point. If your boat wasn't designed for it, adding any weight aloft can have negative consequences - something to think about.

The added weight aloft will be detriment when trying to go to weather.

In a breaking seas situation it will be an advantage due to the significant increase in roll moment of inertia it imparts to the boat.