Furling boom

[donradcliffe]

I have used slab reefing, in-mast furling, and in-boom furling off shore. My preference depends on the size of the boat. I prefer in-boom for 60 ft and over, slab reefing for 30-50 ft, and never for in-mast furling.

In my opinion, the tragedy on the 66 ft boat had nothing to do with the furling system. The boat needed a minimum of 6 crew. You can get away with fewer crew as long as the systems are working, but there is no substitute for manpower when things go south.

[Bobby Lex]

Originally Posted by derfy

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

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

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

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.

Thank you for the link to the sad story about this German sailing couple. The deep dive into what happened and the probably reasons why tell a cautionary tale about water sailing">blue water sailing.

But I have to say, that if the main point you gleaned from this story is that one should avoid in-boom roller furling systems, I think you've missed much of the true "teaching moment" lessons of this story.

Bob

[mark.tuccillo]

Three seasons with a LeisureFurl on my Catalina 387, it's a very safe approach to main sail control. Reefing is very simple and safe, you don't leave the cockpit. I find myself reefing much more often and the boat is always well balanced as a result, and my passengers (and wife) are happy. You need a very good sail, mine is a Quantum Hydranet radial cut and if furls beautifully. Boom angle is critical at 87 degrees but easy to achieve if your topping lift is Dynema, just mark the line. I like the fact that I can always just drop the sail if it jams. The boom is heavy so you'll want to use a preventer downwind.

[Sevi]

Hello. I’ve been sailing an IP 38 with in-boom furling for years, and have been lucky enough to be able to furl it directly into the wind. But I’ve wondered what would happen in weather where I didn’t feel comfortable turning upwind. Can you offer me any pointers for off wind furling in heavy weather conditions?

[windcastle1]

We have had a inboom Leisure Furl on our mono for 21 years. We had a full battened main which gave a great sail shape but is cut “flat” so it can roll up easily into the boom. Only two hard and fast rules. Rule 1. Boom “ must” be at 87 degrees ( not 86 or 88) degrees. If not more sail will bunch up at one end or the other end of the boom. With a full battened main it is easy to spot as the batten is parallel to the boom channel as it’s furled.. If not parallel you must pull the sail back up and adjust the boom angle. We just marked our topping lift once we got the right angle. When we lowered the sail we needed the main halyard taught and winched down the sail so that the sail was tight around the boom spindle. Rule 2. With a full battened main you must have the sail luffing when furling or you will rip the batten pocket if you try. No furling while going to weather!!! Sail must be unloaded. Other than those two rules that’s it. Never jammed and should it you are at ground level to fix. We loved ours once we learned the rules..🤗

[CarlF]

I have had both in-mast and in-boom systems. They offer significant safety advantages for the single-hander (which the the OP plans to do) since reefing is so easy that you never delay putting a reef in. (I never reef with the wind aft of the beam regardless of system). Reefing also never requires leaving the cockpit. I've never been on a slab reefed boat that didn't require a trip to the mast 1 out of 3 times because something hangs up.

I did have one jam with my in-mast system early on. The previous owner had the tuned the mast rig with too much prebend which can cause these systems to jam. Once the mast was straight I never had another problem. But in-mast furled sails are slow up wind since they lack horizontal battens. Mine had vertical battens which were better than nothing but far short of a proper batten.

The in-boom systems can have horizontal full length battens so sail shape and power is much improved - except that you can't really control leach tension as the angle of the boom is fixed. It's not bad but not great. If something goes badly wrong with an in-boom system the sail can always be dropped to the deck - so it can't jam like in-mast. But I had to use care to have my sail roll properly on the boom mandrel keeping tension on both the furling line and the halyard at all times. Easy enough once you get used to it.

With both in-boom and in-mast it's critical to have a sailmaker with lots of experience witht these systems build your mainsail from scratch.

On a 43' boat the in-boom absolutely requires an electric halyard winch.

For the OP's plans - especiallly the single handing - I would go with an in-boom system.

[malbert73]

The inability to reef or douse main off the wind is really a bigger issue than most think. Heading up into a building breeze offshore is one of the most hectic and possibly dangerous times.
I believe strongly in a well set up standard mainsail system. On mine with conventional slab reefing and a stack pack and slippery tides mainsail track, I can raise, lower, and reef my mainsail at any point of sail.
Heading off when the wind builds calms everything down a ton and makes all of this much easier.

[Searles]

New boat or old boat,for short handed offshore work,the golden rule is K,I,S,S ,your life may depend on it .⛵️⚓️

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by malbert73

The inability to reef or douse main off the wind is really a bigger issue than most think. Heading up into a building breeze offshore is one of the most hectic and possibly dangerous times.
I believe strongly in a well set up standard mainsail system. On mine with conventional slab reefing and a stack pack and slippery tides mainsail track, I can raise, lower, and reef my mainsail at any point of sail.
Heading off when the wind builds calms everything down a ton and makes all of this much easier.

Heading up to reef is wet, but not particularly dangerous. Just furl the jib a bit more , then oversheet it. Even with slab reefing, putting in a reef while the sail is full can be nearly impossible, as battens get hung up on spreaders, stack pack lines, and everything else.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Heading up to reef is wet, but not particularly dangerous. Just furl the jib a bit more , then oversheet it. Even with slab reefing, putting in a reef while the sail is full can be nearly impossible, as battens get hung up on spreaders, stack pack lines, and everything else.

Fair points but not completely true. To the first point, when it’s blowing 25-30 and I head off it’s now blowing 20 or less apparent. Head up and there’s a maelstrom of flogging sails, AWS much higher than TWS, and water. To the second point, Lowering sails the lazy jacks and stack pack just guide the full battens into the pocket as I reel in clew and tack. Nice and smooth on a deep reach, dry and no swinging boom
I also will do what you suggest above. But it’s nice when deep reaching in a building breeze to be able to reef without heading up.
John Harries at AAC strongly endorses this as well FWIW.

My main point is to debunk furling booms and masts as safety benefits. I’m not saying “never” to either for me but I think the positives are about convenience in fair weather sailing. In heavy weather if they go bad, it’s REALLY bad and unsafe

[GILow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Have used both on boats I have delivered and personally I prefer the inmast to the boom furler..

Easier to operate in all weather's and can be furled with the wind aft of the beam if you do it in stages, give it some belly, lock and furl.. Repeat..

Noted with interest. Thank you.

[S/V Illusion]

Having had boats with each, a slab reefing sail in-mast and in -boom, I would put them into the following order based on ease of use, shape of sail and ability to reef under any condition:
Best - in-boom
Acceptable - slab reef
Pain in the ass - in-mast.

Too many bad experiences and anecdotal stories with mast furlers. And yes, I know how to handle mast furler sails.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I have had both in-mast and in-boom systems. They offer significant safety advantages for the single-hander (which the the OP plans to do) since reefing is so easy that you never delay putting a reef in. (I never reef with the wind aft of the beam regardless of system). Reefing also never requires leaving the cockpit. I've never been on a slab reefed boat that didn't require a trip to the mast 1 out of 3 times because something hangs up.

Been on the wrong boats then, I have done thousands of miles on a particular brand of boat that has slab reefing and never ever had an issue slab reefing, As always its more about the quality of the system than the name describing it.

I did have one jam with my in-mast system early on. The previous owner had the tuned the mast rig with too much prebend which can cause these systems to jam. Once the mast was straight I never had another problem.

There in lies another issue for in mast. Cant have prebend, no prebend equals **** sail shape.

But in-mast furled sails are slow up wind since they lack horizontal battens. Mine had vertical battens which were better than nothing but far short of a proper batten.

Another in mast draw back

On a 43' boat the in-boom absolutely requires an electric halyard winch.

Where as a good slab reef requires gravity

Originally Posted by Lodesman

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

Yep, yes I can

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Factor

Where as a good slab reef requires gravity

Gravity doesn't raise the sail

Yep, yes I can

You reef with the sails fully-loaded?

[sharkdiver84]

I had one on my Cascade 29. Ironically never used it while single handing because without someone at to pull on the sail it would creep forward on it. Maybe I wasn't using it correctly, but it was pretty difficult to let the sail down at a perfect speed while also turning the crank. Should have probably kept more consistent tension in it.