Inmast Furling

[toad]

When talking to the EasyReef rep at the London boat show he expressed surprise that I removed the sail and batons (34 ft) over the winter. I suppose he is working on the theory that you could do more damage removing and refitting than leaving it in the mast, this seems a bit unnatural. Does anybody else leave their sail rolled up in the mast over winter? It would be protected from UV and if you hosed it down and let it dry, slackened the halyard and removed the outhaul it might be okay. What does the forum think?

 

[Guest]

We bought a boat about two years ago with inmast furling. We believe that the main sail had been in the mast for ten years. The leech was a bit dirty, but nothing else was wrong. (We changed the tapes at top and bottom when we had the sail valetted just to be on the safe side.) There will probably be less damage to the sail left in the mast compared to pulling it down, sliding it around, getting it off the boat, folding it up and then reversing the process a few months later. On the other hand if you are just buying the boat have the sail checked and valetted during the first winter. The same goes for the headsail, but the sacrificial strip will need to be replaced much sooner. The ultimate decision will depend on whether you sail in the winter.

 

[chrisc]

I shall certainly be removing my sails,although i suppose this depends on where
they are kept. if you have access to dry -rodent free storage for your mast it would
certainly be an easy option,biggest job is removing (and storing) those vertical battens.

 

[robp]

I'm interested in replies to this too. Easy Reef also told me that I shouldn't have the sails laundered, (by machine). Although he did say that one could remove them and very carefully fold or even gently roll them to kep somewhere dry. Others would have it that it's wrong to leave the sails up when not used for a period of time.

Leave them up if in the water and unfurl them every couple of weeks?