Furling boom

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by derfy

I have not sailed with an in-boom furler,

Tell me, can you reef your in-boom furling main while sailing hard off the wind in rough seas, or must you come head to wind? This is my criteria. If that works and works reliably, then ... no problem. I would love to see

Can you slab reef while sailing hard off the wind in rough seas?

Our Leisurefurl can be furled on all points of sail (alledgedly). We never tested the limits of this. Being able to do this from the safety of the cockpit is of benefit in rough seas. Advantage of boom vice mast furling, is you can still slab reef if it jams.

[Rohan]

I have in-mast furling but sure seems like in-boom furling would be superior. When the sail is furled it keeps the weight low which is better than the weight up the mast. Also you can pull it down if it gets stuck, right?

On the other hand in mast furling is a freaking nightmare if you are single handed and it jams while furling in a heavy wind.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Can you slab reef while sailing hard off the wind in rough seas?

Our Leisurefurl can be furled on all points of sail (alledgedly). We never tested the limits of this. Being able to do this from the safety of the cockpit is of benefit in rough seas. Advantage of boom vice mast furling, is you can still slab reef if it jams.

Yes, I can reef off the wind in a hard blow, in rough seas, single-handed. I have done it often enough and so far it has never gone wrong.

But - not from the cockpit. And that may be a deal breaker from many. We all have our fears, but for me, going to the mast is less scary than other more dreaded demons.

I have a dedicated mast-mounted winch under the goose neck for the aft reefing lines (I have three reef points). The luff can be lowered pretty easily, as it is on ball bearing track cars and drops even when loaded hard. It is best if the sail is not against shrouds and spreaders (using the sheet), and of course a preventer is mandatory, along with enough vang to control the boom.

Reefing from the cockpit can probably be set up to work well off the wind. I have not seen it done well enough - usually too much resistance. I suppose big cats do it all the time - they almost never have furlers, I notice. For a reason - overpowering is fatal for them.

For the penalty of leaving the cockpit, I avoid having to furl the jib, start the motor, turn the boat broadside thru scary waves, powering up to near full throttle, and setting the auto pilot into the eye of the wind while I get a reef in on a bouncing boom, and then getting back off the wind and on course. My fears are (a) a fouled fuel filter, (a) an overloaded autohelm which give way at the wrong moment, (c) my bow plunging into green water and breaking off something, and (d) jammed running rigging or furlers. These scare me much more that an trip to the mast while sailing downwind.

If I have to unload the main for any reason, I heave to, with the jib partially or mostly furled and then backed, with helm locked down after a fast tack thru the eye of the wind. The main is then unloaded and can dealt with.

[dcondit]

I try not to take the tragic examples and generalize them to the common. Can in-boom furlers jam? Yes. Can in-mast furlers jam? Sure. Can slab-reef sails jam? Absolutely. In fact, here's me being hoisted up the sail in 25+ knots of wind because a batten busted through the sail on a slab-reef system and jammed on the spreader.





I've sailed with in-boom, in-mast, and slab reef systems extensively. There are lots of variables, and for me it depends on the boat and system.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by dcondit

I try not to take the tragic examples and generalize them to the common. Can in-boom furlers jam? Yes. Can in-mast furlers jam? Sure. Can slab-reef sails jam? Absolutely. In fact, here's me being hoisted up the sail in 25+ knots of wind because a batten busted through the sail on a slab-reef system and jammed on the spreader.


Attachment 269035


I've sailed with in-boom, in-mast, and slab reef systems extensively. There are lots of variables, and for me it depends on the boat and system.

I agree. They all work, and all can fail. A boat the size of a CNB 66 with a 100 ft mast - well, a powered furler system is the only realistic option - and in-boom is definitely preferable. Nothing else would sell. Nobody wants to reef a full batten main on a 100 ft mast.

However, the OP was considering single-handing a new 44 ft monohull and how to equip it. Which would you recommend?

Although I have sailed other boats, larger and smaller, I own and single-hand a 44' sloop. I suggested the criteria of being able to reef while sailing off wind. It's why I like what I have, and I didn't hear anyone else mention it.

[Jammer]

Well, if were me ordering a 44' sloop to my specification, I think I would get a Dutchman system and a really good luff track like one of the Antal ones.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Can you slab reef while sailing hard off the wind in rough seas?

Our Leisurefurl can be furled on all points of sail (alledgedly). We never tested the limits of this. Being able to do this from the safety of the cockpit is of benefit in rough seas. Advantage of boom vice mast furling, is you can still slab reef if it jams.

Ditto, once I mastered the intricacies of the Leisurefurl no problems, beam reach and a bit beyond, however I haven't had to do so off the wind. If in doubt I usually reef early.

[windcastle1]

We have had a Leisure Furl Boom with a full batten main on our monohull for over 21 years and learned a few things about its use.
Rule 1
You “must” have the boom at 87 degrees or it won’t furl properly. They don’t mean 86 or 87 degrees. We solved this by marking our topping lift halyard. Problem solved.
Rule 2
The main sail “must” be unloaded, essentially luffing when furling or you will tear the batten pockets as you try to furl..
Unlike in-mast furling if you do get a jam (we personally never had one) you can fix it. An in/mast jam means a trip up in the bosuns chair to clear. Probably not an option if out sailing when it jams.
We feel we had great sail shape with a fully battened main, ease of reefing and ability to service/unjam while sailing. My $.02. 🤗

[tml]

I have been sailing a 44' cutter for 30+ years. For the last 8 years single handing with Schaffer in boom reefing from New England to the Bahamas and Caribbean each year. Not without a learning curve but without it there is no way I would still be single handing offshore at 75.

• The Schaffer rig articulates the hoist so you can be 15 to 20 degrees off the wind and still raise or lower the sail. This can be an enormous advantage.
• Our boom strut is fixed. Sail tweekers would of course prefer to constantly adjust the angle and boom tension. For me keeping the boom angle constant with smooth reefing is a tradeoff I am happy to make.
• If a halyard fails or something else goes pear shaped the sail is down on the deck. You are not up the mast trying to un jam or cut something away.
• Because its easy to do I reef often and early; all without leaving the cockpit.

Its not unusual for someone with in mast furling to visit about switching from in mast to to in boom furling. No one has ever suggested going the other way round.
Tom

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by psk125

We have friends with in-boom r/f mains. They have managed to have battens poke holes in the sail and jam inside the boom. This is not cheap or fun to have happen.

In mast or in boom must have flat material. Any bag will roll in to tangle. Plan to invest in high end sails. We switched to North 3DI. Flat and they stay that way.

[Cynara]

Moving parts can fail. The less the better

[Centreboard2017]

Well congrats on ordering an Alubat - we have an Ovni 395 2009 and she's really well built for cruising. I have absoloutely no experience whatsoever of in mast or in boom furling. We sail 2 handed, we're both getting on a bit and fairly inexperienced however some good advice we have had from cruisers who have sailed extensively is keep it simple. The more complexity I guess the more chances you have of something going wrong?
We can reef from the cockpit, it can be done by one of us so why not go for a traditional sail set up?

[merrydolphin]

Originally Posted by derfy

They jam - and you end up not getting the sail down when you really need to.

Get a boat you can reef when sailing off the wind. Furlers (in-mast and in-boom) simply cannot do this - they have to be pointed dead to wind. Turning the boat into the wind and waves may seem simple enough in moderate conditions. In a honking gale in the Gulf Steam at night, it can be fatal. And learn to reef in your sleep, with one hand (you'll be hanging on tight with the other one, even if clipped in).

If you want to know what can happen with in-boom furlers, read this...

https://www.bwsailing.com/anatomy-of-a-tragedy-at-sea/

With in-boom furlers the boom must be perfectly square with the tensioned sail, and you have to be able to see it and judge the boom angle. Very hard thing at night on a pitching deck with a wildly flogging sail.

Get a full battened main with lazy jacks and Harken sail track.

Jib furlers are fine. Better and safer than hank-on jibs. But not the main.

And I find the Tides Marine UHMP slide system excellent, much lower cost and much less maintenance/failure prone. But either make things Much easier.

Wow, what a tragic story. This story also shows that bigger is not necessarily better. Loads and complexity go up exponentially with size. How many people have handled the identical conditions in simple 28 - 32 foot boats. My 46’ boat was plenty big and as it was a ketch, the loads were spread and really pretty easy to handle with just my wife ad I as crew. A vessel like this example needs almost a -professional crew when things get tough.

As an instructor I teach on modern boats. Many have in mast furling these days. Great for local cruising but for me, for real off shore work I prefer slab reefing and yes, full batten and a quality after market slide system. I have owned and cruised sloops, cutters, and ketches. As boats get over 45 feet, call me old fashioned, but I do like a ketch.

[Liberta T48]

I have single handed a Freedom 35 Pedrick sloop (15 yrs) and a Tayana T48 cutter rig (4 yrs) - both with a Leisurefurl boom…no jamming, tearing or issues with furling at most points of sail - if its blustery and you want to “reef”, pointing up a bit is a smart play…

In the end its as much about personal preference and comfort and skill level as anything else.

[wolfring]

I just sold my Tayana 48 which I owned and sailed for 13 years, including many offshore passages including heavy weather. I had a boom-furling mainsail and loved it. As others have said, you need to have the correct angle in order to furl the sail. Once that is set it is easy to operate.

The huge advantage over other furling options in my opinion is that a) you have battens like a standard sail and therefore a good sail shape, and b) if anything goes wrong with the furling mechanism you can just drop the sail like a regular mainsail. The same problem with a mast-furling system is a disaster.


Just FYI