Furling boom

[Hughesfamily]

We have on boom manual furling.

We have not tried to do it yet.

[Symphony]

With a boomfurler and wind abaft the beam-
can you not simply sheet in the main to the furling angle while maintaining heading?
If breeze is too strong and boat tender, then head more downwind as the mainsheet comes in, depowering the main until the boom is at preferred furling angle.

Once the sail is retracted to your reef point resume course and sheet out to power up the main.

[Linguini]

Many who seem to know a lot but only want to reef their mainsail in a storm. That is of course too late. If I'm in 4 meter waves and 40 knots of wind, then I've long since reefed or put up the storm sails. The extremely rare case that a monster storm simply catches you out of nowhere ..... What is the probability?
I've done a lot of research on the topic of furling booms, as this is definitely an issue on our upcoming boat. Current systems are not very complex and can still be reefed in 50+ knots of wind and waves, provided you've been in the wrong place. That's never comfortable but compared to......
In contrast, when I read some people here, it is of course much less dangerous to reef on the mast and often high boom in such conditions. The last sentence was ironic!
There is little to be said against a furling boom, except the cost of a system that is not too heavy. I think weight is the decisive criterion for a furling boom. You have to handle the weight accordingly. In other words, the rest of the design of the winches, ropes and ergonomics must follow suit. But Alubat really has experience here. I would involve their team in the discussion. Professionals!

[gonesail]

boom furlers can and will jam. especially in tough conditions. as the OP said: get a full battened main with lazy jacks and sail track.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by gonesail

boom furlers can and will jam. especially in tough conditions. as the OP said: get a full battened main with lazy jacks and sail track.

The OP has only made one post and didn't say that!

Obviously you have no actual experience with boom furlers

[DiverSailor]

Looking for a good source of pivoting luff track system on the mast for a boom furler. Know of any systems that can be bought?

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by gonesail

boom furlers can and will jam. especially in tough conditions. as the OP said: get a full battened main with lazy jacks and sail track.

Nonsense!
Any sail can jam. The question is why and how often. Having experience with slab reefing as well as in boom and in mast systems, the boom furler we enjoy now is more dependable, has better sail shape and far more easily managed than any other type. In any conditions!

We would never revert to mast furlers and certainly never want to deal with slab reefed sails ever again.

[slipaway2.0]

This thread confirms my opinions: slab reefs, lazy jack and a good track with little friction.

I reefed dead downwind in an atlantic crossing day and night, had to go the mast, clipped in, granny rails, no problem.

To me the above is a requirement, seems like in mast reef can be done downwind if you know what you are doing but the consequences of a jammed sail at sea that I cannot take down are too hard to swallow for me, no matter how unlikely it is, it can happen.

Boom furling: you can take it down if **** hits the fan, but reefing upwind only is not good enough for offshore imo.

I think people don't value enough the comfort of reefing downwind, the peace of mind to know you can do it.

And yes no matter how good sailor you are, you will reef on big following seas overpowered

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by slipaway2.0

This thread confirms my opinions: slab reefs, lazy jack and a good track with little friction.

I reefed dead downwind in an atlantic crossing day and night, had to go the mast, clipped in, granny rails, no problem.

To me the above is a requirement, seems like in mast reef can be done downwind if you know what you are doing but the consequences of a jammed sail at sea that I cannot take down are too hard to swallow for me, no matter how unlikely it is, it can happen.

Boom furling: you can take it down if **** hits the fan, but reefing upwind only is not good enough for offshore imo.

I think people don't value enough the comfort of reefing downwind, the peace of mind to know you can do it.

And yes no matter how good sailor you are, you will reef on big following seas overpowered

Out of curiosity, how much experience do you have with the use of a boom furling system?

[Bowdrie]

I was taught that if you think you need to reef you should have already done it.
An older sailor that I have the highest regards for, (a consummate seaman, crossing oceans since he was a teenager,) would not carry light-air sails between sunset and sunrise, and would frequently reef the main at sunset.
After dark it was working sail, no poled-out genoas/spinnakers or other such claptrap.
O-dark-thirty was no time to be fooling around up forward.
Of course, with 65>70-foot schooners or 95' ketch things can get out-of-hand before you know it.

[Linguini]

I don't know why people always present the past as the only true thing without having the slightest idea about new technologies and methods. Our "ancestors" built sailing boats this way because they knew nothing else and had no other technical possibilities. Not that new things are all good, but there are so many new technologies, especially in boat building, that perform worlds better, are much lighter with the same stability, make life easier and much more.
This is also the case with Furling Booms. Today, especially larger (>60 feet) boats are increasingly sailing with a furling boom. Everything could be installed in these boat classes, there is no shortage of money. You take what works and makes life easier. Of course, when reefing, you have to consider exactly 2 things. Position and angle. If I reef a battened mainsail, I also have to pay attention to a few things, otherwise a thimble will tear out of the sail or I will go overboard because I have to reach the mast in a 4 metre wave and the sail is flapping like crazy, I can't get the reefing lines tied or I have too much pressure on the sail to hook in the reefing hook. In this case, however, I simply reefed far too late.
Furling booms are sophisticated and can be operated manually even if the electric or hydraulic drive fails, for example.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Nonsense!
Any sail can jam. The question is why and how often. Having experience with slab reefing as well as in boom and in mast systems, the boom furler we enjoy now is more dependable, has better sail shape and far more easily managed than any other type. In any conditions!

We would never revert to mast furlers and certainly never want to deal with slab reefed sails ever again.

Better sail shape than with slab reefing? But how do you control foot tension with boom furling? And if you can't control foot tension, how can you have better shape than with slab reefing?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by gonesail

boom furlers can and will jam. especially in tough conditions. as the OP said: get a full battened main with lazy jacks and sail track.

Any reefing system, including slab reefing, can jam if handled incorrectly or if the system is badly maintained or badly engineered.

People develop skill with the one system they know, have difficulty trying out unfamiliar systems, and then condemn them without ever having learned to use them.

I have least experience of the three main types with boom furling, but know people who have sailed around the world with it, and they do not have any problem with jamming.

I have 15 years and 10's of thousands of miles of experience with a Selden in-mast furling system, and after one bad jam the very first year, have never had a serious problem with it.

A drawback of in-mast furling (among several) is that you have mechanism at the top of the mast which needs maintenance. I overhauled the gearbox on mine last year and it's a bit of a trick to do it with the mast in.

Boom furling has a big advantage in that all the mechanism is down low and accessible, and the furling foil is horizontal and easy to get at.

Jamming is not something I would ever worry about with one of these. I've had more trouble with jamming with slab reefing than with any other type.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Any reefing system, including slab reefing, can jam if handled incorrectly or if the system is badly maintained or badly engineered.

People develop skill with the one system they know, have difficulty trying out unfamiliar systems, and then condemn them without ever having learned to use them.

I have least experience of the three main types with boom furling, but know people who have sailed around the world with it, and they do not have any problem with jamming.

I have 15 years and 10's of thousands of miles of experience with a Selden in-mast furling system, and after one bad jam the very first year, have never had a serious problem with it.

A drawback of in-mast furling (among several) is that you have mechanism at the top of the mast which needs maintenance. I overhauled the gearbox on mine last year and it's a bit of a trick to do it with the mast in.

Boom furling has a big advantage in that all the mechanism is down low and accessible, and the furling foil is horizontal and easy to get at.

Jamming is not something I would ever worry about with one of these. I've had more trouble with jamming with slab reefing than with any other type.

You mention any system can jam "if handled incorrectly". Just curious what steps are necessary to furl (or additionally furl) your in-boom furler when sailing deep off wind in 25 kts TWS in 8-10 seas? What are the incorrect things you warn of?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by derfy

You mention any system can jam "if handled incorrectly". Just curious what steps are necessary to furl (or additionally furl) your in-boom furler when sailing deep off wind in 25 kts TWS in 8-10 seas? What are the incorrect things you warn of?

I have little experience with in-boom furling so I'm not the right person to ask about specific scenarios.


But "handling correctly" means, among other things, using it in the conditions it's designed for, and following correct procedure. It's my understanding that you don't want to be sailing too deep when you reef an in-boom furling system, so probably you would want to heave to in the scenario you mention.


Which is how I would do it with slab reefing also. Not only because the mechanism works better but because you would prefer to be hove-to in the conditions you are talking about, before going forward.


This presumes you have decent batt cars or other low friction system. Some slab reefing setups do really require the sail to be luffing with the boat's head to the wind, which would be difficult in the conditions you mention.



In-mast furling is good for a case like that, at least, so long as you are on the tack which favors the direction of the furling mechanism (on my boat, that's a stb tack). But in a pinch, I can do it sailing deep on the other tack as well, it's just harder as you have to get the battens to flip around the slot in the mast as they go into the mast.