Headsail furling units…………….

[w32honu]

Refit is almost complete and the rig modifications are done. Its time for a roller furler………

Curious if the forum can share their experiences and or recommendations for a particular brand of headsail roller furler?

Basic offshore cruising boat is the idea. Furler design, ruggedness, maintainability………..etc.

As an example I have read that Profurl might have some corrosion issues and jamming at the drum. Not sure if this is true because I have no personal experience with Profurl………….just what I have read.

Thanks in advance.

S

[chouliha]

We have a Profurl unit installed as a headsail furler. It's now going on 18 years and 20,000 cruising miles with no maintenance or problems. We are planning on replacing bearing in the next few years as a maintenance item only.

There are many units in the market to choose from. But with the outstanding success of our Profurl unit we would buy again if the need arises.

You may want to check out the SSCA equipment survey which is online at Seven Sea Cruising Association.

Good luck

Chuck


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[w32honu]

Chuck,

Thanks..... Good info. I will check out the SSCA.

Cheers,

S


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[roverhi]

ProFurl uses steel bearings that are sealed to prevent corrosion. They use the steel bearings because they can take extreme loads without deforming. Because of this they are capable of reefing under load, not just furling. With normal maintenance and even without, they can and do last virtually forever. Occasionally their have been seal failures which will eventually jam them up if not corrected. It's not an instant problem but gives plenty of warning and removing the machine screws on the fuller makes inspection easy. So they are not fail proof but nearly so and will withstand loads that they claim the plastic bearing furlers won't. Have a ProFurl that's more than a decade old and has worked well with limited maintenance. Not to say that other mfg like Schaeffer, Harken, etc aren't also good fullers, though.

Essentially though, most all of them work.

W32honu, where did you get your handle. Interesting since my old Westssail 32 is named Honu but your boat is an Able 32.

[w32honu]

Originally Posted by roverhi

W32honu, where did you get your handle. Interesting since my old Westssail 32 is named Honu but your boat is an Able 32.

Pete,

Thanks for the info. Pro-furl might be the way to go after all.

Our boat, also named Honu, began life as a "Whistler 32." She is an older Chuck Payne design. Its a long story, but we have modified the boat to suit our needs/desires. So much so that we refer to her as an Able 32 in deference to her builder…..Able Marine. So the handle W32honu. Confusing I know………...

How is Hawaii these days? Julie and I spent a good portion of our youth in Hawaii (high school/college/early working life….etc.) At times we miss those days. Especially after a historic New England winter. :face palm:

Steve n Jules
s/v Honu

[Bruce Beard]

What hull number is your Able? I owned hull number 3 for 13 years before we traded it in for our Sabre 386! The Able's sure are pretty boats... On the subject of furlers, we have owned Furlex, Reckmann and now Harken. Harken has been the best in terms of ease of use and reliability.
Just my 2 cents...

[w32honu]

Originally Posted by Bruce Beard

What hull number is your Able? I owned hull number 3 for 13 years before we traded it in for our Sabre 386! The Able's sure are pretty boats... On the subject of furlers, we have owned Furlex, Reckmann and now Harken. Harken has been the best in terms of ease of use and reliability.
Just my 2 cents...

Bruce,

Thanks for the post. Our Able was built in 81. In fact we corresponded with you guys for a brief time tapping your expertise with regard to the CB "hanger." Bit of code there as I do not want to open a long discussion regarding the nuances of the Whistler……

Its been a long alteration/refit. Almost complete. She is now sloop rigged with a newly arranged interior.

SnJ

[Bruce Beard]

Pictures (maybe a new thread?) Good to see one of Cro's boats getting some love..
Bruce

[w32honu]

An older pic……..

[Bruce Beard]

Wow! Those ports threw me... Amazing how things like ports, color and trim details impact the boat. My wife would likely pick it out as an Able, I would struggle...she has a good eye.
Are those ports original or were they part of your interior upgrades?
Any pictures of the modified interior?

[Bruce Beard]

Do you know what number your Whistler was? I have been on Whistler 1, ours was number 3 and something tells me that I was once aware of number 4 but for the life of me I can't remember the details...
Someone should be tracking this stuff!

[w32honu]

I am having trouble finding some more recent pics. I will have to dig deeper.

Hull # is NEH320050681 so I believe we are hull #5.

Original owner (engineer from Marblehead) had her built by Cro with some differences. The ports for example. I pulled the original plastic ports and installed the bronze. She was originally cutter rigged and gel coated a sort of Navy grey color. We bought her from the second owner. Her name at that stage was Peregrine.

We modified the interior to Chucks original design for the Morris Justine. There are two pilot berths and two settee's arranged as mirror image, port and starboard. So the dinette was removed. Lots of new tankage and storage…..etc. And a couple of seagoing berths to boot.

I will try to figure out how to get a few more pics up.

[Bruce Beard]

Very cool! My understanding was that our hull was actually delivered in 82. I remember seeing pictures of Peregrine in Chuck Paine's office. He had a photo album of Whistler pictures and I am sure she was in there. Was she originally delivered with the Cat Ketch rig? Esmeralde was...I changed her to a sloop after I purchased her.

You might want to contact Chuck and see if he still has that album. He lent it to me once.

I kind of liked the dinette in our Whistler. I loved that pilot berth! Used to crawl up there for a nap on a cold grey day when cruising in ME...the problem with the interior for me was my size. I am 6'3" tall and let's just say Chuck designed boats for people his own height. I could not sit in the main cabin without slouching, it was perfect for my 5' tall wife though. I had the same issue in a Morris 36/38 too...

Have fun!

[w32honu]

Bruce,

Had to dig deep for these and download from another source. I am frustratingly inept when it comes to posting pics on the forum.

Cro delivered Honu as a cutter. I think Chuck and Cro had a bit more success reaching more of the market with the cutter option. But I think that the boat is a bit small for the cutter rig. We have had much more success with the sloop rig. Esmeralde inspired much of that decision. Corresponded with Chuck about the rig and other changes. He and Mark Fitzgerald were helpful in sharing some of the other converted sail plan designs. Inner forestay is removable now. Seems to work well. Nice heavy and robust cast bronze fittings…..etc.

Cheers to you guys. Thanks again for the Able advice in the past.

Steve n Jules

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by w32honu

Refit is almost complete and the rig modifications are done. Its time for a roller furler………

Curious if the forum can share their experiences and or recommendations for a particular brand of headsail roller furler?

Basic offshore cruising boat is the idea. Furler design, ruggedness, maintainability………..etc.

As an example I have read that Profurl might have some corrosion issues and jamming at the drum. Not sure if this is true because I have no personal experience with Profurl………….just what I have read.

Thanks in advance.

S

Profurl my 2 cents, thats actually the best furler out there in the market right now with a afordable Price, the bearings last many years and are simple to inspect or repair, the 2 presure grease niples at the top swivel and bottom drum are a must for maintenance,,,, ss tang at the top swivel etc..

Facnors are actually a piece of **** in terms of quality, they work as expected but they fail soon due bad materials and design, thats probably the number one Brand in our shop in terms of warranty and claims problems.

Harken. not a bad furler , the clip who join the foils sections over time is a problem if you need to take apart , the lower ss nut in the screw togle under the drum is prone to crack over time , overall not a bad furler but not my choice , personal opinión...

Furlex.. why you want to complicate your life? just kidding, but like Selden mast, there is things in those furlers i dont understand, if a profurl is made by lets say 50 pieces , a Furlex is build using 150 pieces doing exactly the same job as the profurl, thats it, Furlex work really nice and the quality is really good, but they have some basic flaws , the bearings are open to the elements and made by ss balls, top and bottom, taking apart a furlex brings to you some challenges in order to keep record of where the frokk is coming this part or i dont remember this or that, pictures before help,,
overall you dont want to have a furlex problem in a remote location,,,,

Just few hints...