I am new to a 35' Ericson (E34 hull, it seems), and have a very newbie question re: roller furling (which I have not used much on boats in the past):
Singlehanding, rolling the jib out (in, say, 15-20 kts True) has been easy enough to do in a controlled way, but rolling it back in has been tricky for to do properly. The issue I run into is that t takes me two hands to pull the furling line, leaving me zero hands to keep tension on a jib sheet. Aside from not wanting the jib and sheets to flog, my understanding that proper furling depends on keeping the sheet under some tension as the jib is furled in.
My furling line arrives at the cockpit near the port primary winch, leaving me no well-placed second winch to put it on. I would be cautious of really grinding on the furling line in any case, but in 20kts wind it can be hard just by direct pulling to get the jib to start to roll in, so some additional purchase would be nice (and/or just some friction from a wind to help belay it). For reference, this is with 100% jib, in 20 kts True, downwind but with no main up to blanket it. The boat sails sufficiently well under jib alone that I am inclined to do so often; windspeed is typical in my area.
I am interested in how folks here are handling this. I suspect there is a trick of the sort that seems obvious once one is told. Suggestions appreciated!
Singlehanding, rolling the jib out (in, say, 15-20 kts True) has been easy enough to do in a controlled way, but rolling it back in has been tricky for to do properly. The issue I run into is that t takes me two hands to pull the furling line, leaving me zero hands to keep tension on a jib sheet. Aside from not wanting the jib and sheets to flog, my understanding that proper furling depends on keeping the sheet under some tension as the jib is furled in.
My furling line arrives at the cockpit near the port primary winch, leaving me no well-placed second winch to put it on. I would be cautious of really grinding on the furling line in any case, but in 20kts wind it can be hard just by direct pulling to get the jib to start to roll in, so some additional purchase would be nice (and/or just some friction from a wind to help belay it). For reference, this is with 100% jib, in 20 kts True, downwind but with no main up to blanket it. The boat sails sufficiently well under jib alone that I am inclined to do so often; windspeed is typical in my area.
I am interested in how folks here are handling this. I suspect there is a trick of the sort that seems obvious once one is told. Suggestions appreciated!