• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Headsail Furling

sbuck

sailor Steve
I have a "new" E-27 and will be getting a headsail furler this Winter/Spring before launching. Has anybody had good/bad experience with any particular brand? I will be keeping the existing headstay and using, at least for now, the current genoa.

THANKS for any ideas.
 

rssailor

Moderator
Furler

Well you can't go wrong with a Harken unit, thats what I put on Moonglow, my 1979 E 25+. There are other good units out there like Schaefer, profuler, and seldon. Unless your headstay is new or made in the last six months, I would replace it when you put the furler on as replacing the headstay after having the furler on is a PITA. Good luck. Ryan
 

Emerald

Moderator
Absolutely love my Hood SeaFurl 5. For your size boat, you would probably want the H253. Construction is top notch, and works like silk, even when it's blowing 20+ and you're reefing on the fly. Check www.defender.com for very good pricing on them.

No affiliation with anyone, just think Hood has a very nice product that is not widely mentioned.



.
 

MarkA

Please Contact Admin.
My boat came with a Harken Mk III which I liked very much with my original 100% jib.

Now I have a new 135 roller-reefing genoa, with luff foams. I am finding it difficult to start the first couple rolls, as the luff foams act as giant speed bumps. I have to pull VERY hard to start furling, and now I need somebody else handling the jib sheet, whereas I could do both before. Once the foams are furled, the rest comes easily.

The sail guy told me this would be an issue when the sail is new, but it should work itself out after it's been sailed and furled a few times. I've only used it twice so far, and I hope his predictions come true. If they don't, however, I'll probably search for something with a larger drum.
 

Emerald

Moderator
I have a foam luff on one of my roller furling headsails as well. I think it was done about 4 years ago by the prior owner as part of other sail work. I have not had any problems with the foam part being harder to furl.


.
 

MarkA

Please Contact Admin.
That's good to hear, Emerald.

Right now, mine is like trying to roll bricks around the foil. Each brick is difficult to start. I'm sure it will work itself out, or I will discover an easier technique for furling. I certainly don't blame the Harken for this, and I do love my new sail.
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Harken brick furler.

Mark, My boat came to me with a Harken #1 furler that gave me fits for the same reason. Harken told me to make sure that the halyard and the stay were both tight which they were. I was stumped until one day seeing the sections flexing at the joints, hmmmmm. The problem was that whoever assembled it the first time didn't use the LokTite (Red?) on them. I took the whold thing apart, cleaned it all well and reassembled with LokTite and that solved the problem. I've been reluctant to jump into the furler wars because everybody has their favorites but I can say that this one is still working perfectly after years of use. I also bought a second Harken furler, a #0 for the staysail and it too works as well as the one up front. Hope this helps, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
 
Top