Roller furling and Kevlar sails?

[SteveofGRACEII]

Can/should a kevlar headsail be used on a Furler? I have researched and found only two reports. One positive and one negative!
Does anyone run or know of someone who flies a Kelar headsail on a furler?

Steve

[senormechanico]

We have a jib furler with a Kevlar/carbon fiber laminated sail.
We haven't had any problems.

[Dockhead]

We have carbon/dyneema laminate sails. They work better on furlers (especially the in-mast furling main) than the previous Dacron sails because the laminate is thinner and more flexible and rolls up tighter.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Kevlar sails are fine on furlers, with a couple of caveats. And actually, the best way to stow them, is to roll them up, just like one does on a furler. Only it's usually done at the Yacht Club, on a patch of grass, or clean section of the parking lot. And then they're slipped into their (soft) storage tubes.

The catches to storing them on furlers are:
- Their vulnerability to UV. So they need Good UV strips affixed to them, & or, full covers.
- They can be more prone to damage from chafe, if not built with their outer layers designed to resist such. As if they're just Kevlar material or yarns, laminated in between 2 layers of Mylar, then they tend to be kind of fragile. Mylar not being high on the abrasion resistance scale.
So that anything which rubs on them can be problematic.

And even with good UV covers, if they don't have that built in abrasion resistance, then when stowed on a furler long term, the different layers in the wrap on the headstay (furler) can chafe against one another.

[senormechanico]

Uncivilized brought up good points.
We have a full length cover we hoist with a halyard and zip up over the sail whenever we're done sailing.
If it's at the end of the day and we're leaving in the morning, we don't bother.
We remove the sail at the end of the season and store it indoors.

[Snowpetrel]

Mould can be an issue with laminate sails left rolled up wet. Probably less likely to cope well with being reefed unless it's designed for this.

Also if you are going from a racing luff groove or hanks to a furler check the new available luff length, as the drum and swivel will reduce the maximum luff length for the sail, and cause it to set higher off the deck, also changing sheet leads.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[SteveofGRACEII]

Kevlar and furlers ?
Many thanks for all the great responses!
My conclusion is:- It is fine ... if care is given to protecting against friction between layers and of course UV protection.
Steve