Hank On vs. Furling

[MartinF]

Boatman,
I am very interested in your 59-pound solution (even if prices have gone up!) but cannot visualise it from your brief description. Did you cut the the forestay? More details would be great.
M

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Full

Hey thomm,

This subject is just something that I've been reading about lately. I actually would like to learn the experienced opinions that apply to cruisers, despite having no reason for me to worry about the matter at that level yet.

With the dinghy sailboats that I'm currently looking for, sails are probably going to be hank on. One of the boats I look for is Sunfish - way out of scope. But then there is this photo at the bottom.

https://smallboatsmonthly.com/wp-con...PSinsetweb.jpg

Furlers are great if you're short handed. Dropping the head sail without it landing in the water can be tricky for one person with a hank on sail. Setting and raising the new sail (probably a storm jib) can usually be handled by one guy who knows what he's doing with a hank on system. It's usually easier to change sails while the boat is in irons (pointed directly into the wind) which means you'll probably need a third person on the helm while the other two are dropping the head sail (hopefully on deck) This can all be handled by one person with a roller furling system. Hank on is fine for day sailors where you set the sail and go until you're done, but for longer voyages, give me the roller furler every time.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

My personal cutoff for acceptable in mast main furling is around 45 feet loa.

Headsail furling on the other hand I’ve had my share of mood changes regarding.

Our boat is 32’ on deck, and had a furler when we bought it, but in bad shape. I pulled it and had three hanked on sails built.

Great sail shape tailored to a specific range of wind speeds.

Here’s the problem. Whenever I wanted to go for a short sail, either a day sail or just to change anchorages, never was the correct sail on deck in the deck bag.

I found myself motoring to change anchorage rather than pull the wrong sail out of the deck bag, flake it and bag it, then bend on the correct sail.

I rebuilt the furler and have never looked back.

I've found that furlers leave a lot to be desired when you need to reef them.
The cut spills to much wind under them, they then become much less effective.
In my opinion Deck Bags are for stuffing the sail in and flaking later when you change the sail, or store.
Also, if they get stuck, they are very hard to wrap back up, leaving you with little options in a bad blow.
Hank on sails don't get stuck often.
As my boat is all Hank on, and is a Ketch, there are quite a few sails to choose from and storage can be a challenge.
Unused sails usually get stored on the cabin top while under way.

Often you have to change direction when rolling furlers back in because of the angle and spill wind.
This can be tough in bad conditions.
As long as I'm physically able I'll use Hank on.
SV Cloud Duster

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MartinF

Boatman,
I am very interested in your 59-pound solution (even if prices have gone up!) but cannot visualise it from your brief description. Did you cut the the forestay? More details would be great.
M

If it's for a dinghy just fit the drum to the bottom clew and the swivel to the top clew of the Sail and haul it up with the uphaul and tie it off.. It will now furl.. no need for the forestay.
On my Corribee I moved the stay to the very front of my bow roller and fitted the drum to the rear most hole and that worked just great as the single line drum is tiny in comparison to the other types.
Oh.. I should have said 'continueous line furler'...

[Hudson Force]

For the last 32 of of my cruising years I was aboard the same boat that had a Schaeffer roller furling with a separate headstay which remained available for a hanked on working jib with a self-tending club foot. My furling genoa, leading with a heavy wire rope, was easily dropped and coiled on the foredeck when we were hiding out at anchor in tropical storms. We also enjoyed a large cruising chute that was raised forward and outside both the furler and the headstay. The club foot for the working jib with the unrelated furling headsail can be seen in my avatar.

I realize the pole was a vote for "either or"; however, it's easily possible to have both!

[zstine]

Furlers add convenience but I don't agree that they add safety. A hank on jib can be dropped by releasing the halyard and will not go "catch the sea" and cause problems. A furling Jib cannot be dropped single or even double handed in high winds if the furler fails, such as the furling line breaking. I have twice been roller reefed and had the furling line break giving me full Gennoa in 30+ knots with no way to reduce sail. With a hank on jib you can always blow the halyard.
Attached pic of a race crew failing to drop a furling sail. As you can see they are risking loosing the mast b/c of the load the sail-anchor is putting on the stay!
For a boat under 20ft, dropping a small hank on jib is so easy I see little advantage to furling.

[Hudson Force]

I should add to my earlier post that the Schaeffer furling system that I favored for it's ability to stand free of the headstay and remain capable of easily dropping to the deck works well aboard a cruising vessel. Those racing would much prefer keeping a tighter luff for the sail which is not gained with the wire rope luff separate form the headstay.

[lyl]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

....I realize the pole was a vote for "either or"; however, it's easily possible to have both!

You're right; I set the poll poorly. I think most folks here don't even consider the in-mast furlers while voting. I highly doubt all those furling voters also wish to have in-mast furlings on their sailboats.

[Rockinar]

Id much rather have hank on. But after 30'+ boat or so the sails can just be a bit too much to handle and single handing can get tough.

[parachute]

We had a furler on a 50 foot Beneteau charter boat, going into Jolly Harbour, Antigua, it jammed.

[bailsout]

Rockinar,
That’s why I love my H-28 modified ketch. With th bowsprit and mizzen boom she’s 35, but really handles and manages easily with smaller sails and a staysail. Lots of combinations.

[OS2Dude]

My O'Day 23 had a hank on jib. It was a bit of a pain to pull it up on deck and get it on the stay. Largest issue was when the winds picked up the jib would not come down on its own. Since I mostly single handed, that meant I had to try to tie off the tiller, run forward and manually pull it down, all the while the the boat starts to turn with the wind and I had to run back to the helm. The big advantage to a hank on is you can use the jib (assuming you had multiple) that fit the conditions. This is why most racers prefer hank on. I did eventually jury-rig a down-haul so I did not have to leave the cockpit.

Our current boat has a roller furler for the jib. It is easier to use, it is always on the stay and can be adjusted in size by partially furling it. It (and wheel stearing) where big selling points for my wife. A CON is a partially furled jib does not work as well as a hanked on jib due to the puffy luff. You also need a protective edge along the foot and the leach to protect the sail material from UV since it is up all the time. (Some people use a sock for that.)

[Pluga]

Another option is the furling rig they use on the Shark sold here

https://mastheadsparsandrigging.com/headsail-furling/

limit is a 10M forestay.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by Full

Hey thomm,

This subject is just something that I've been reading about lately. I actually would like to learn the experienced opinions that apply to cruisers, despite having no reason for me to worry about the matter at that level yet.

With the dinghy sailboats that I'm currently looking for, sails are probably going to be hank on. One of the boats I look for is Sunfish - way out of scope. But then there is this photo at the bottom.

https://smallboatsmonthly.com/wp-con...PSinsetweb.jpg

I had a 14’ Weta designed in NZ. It’s a trimaran with a bow sprit. The Screecher is on a furler. My friend has a 16’ monohull with a jib on a furler. The Asym is on a complex system where the halyard simultaneously deploys the sprit and hoist the asym from the bow. Pull on the other end and it douse the asym into the bow and retracts the sprit.

I owned a 24’ ultralight keel boat that had a furling jib. All the J-Boats have furlers. Hank on sales are a thing of the past. Way in the past.

[blcote]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

My personal cutoff for acceptable in mast main furling is around 45 feet loa.

Headsail furling on the other hand I’ve had my share of mood changes regarding.

Our boat is 32’ on deck, and had a furler when we bought it, but in bad shape. I pulled it and had three hanked on sails built.

Great sail shape tailored to a specific range of wind speeds.

Here’s the problem. Whenever I wanted to go for a short sail, either a day sail or just to change anchorages, never was the correct sail on deck in the deck bag.

I found myself motoring to change anchorage rather than pull the wrong sail out of the deck bag, flake it and bag it, then bend on the correct sail.

I rebuilt the furler and have never looked back.

Same experience for me. The 34 footer I bought had 3 hank on jibs. We moved the boat from Mackinaw city to Chicago. When motoring in light air I would put up a sail to see if there was enough wind to sail. Wrong sail was always hanked on in the turtle. Twenty minutes later, after five minutes of trying to sail toward our destination, the sail would come down and get flaked into the turtle.

First order of business that fall - new North Norlam tri radial cut jib and main and a roller furler.