boom furling

[tdsail]

hi, on my boom i have a piece of line tied to a 2 eyed piece of steel at the end of the boom and was wondering what that's for....i remember something about it maybe being a boom furling system? i would appreciate any help with this...

 

[graham]

The top hole is for the topping lift ,the bottom hole for the mainsheet.Then as the boom revolves during roller reefing it turns on a pivot bolt through the center of the plate.

 

[tdsail]

Hi Graham, thanks for the info...could you tell me how do you roll the boom? sorry i've got everything in pieces and trying to put it together and never used/seen rolling booms /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[graham]

Dont know if this picture is any help.The boom is connected to the mast with a roller reefing gooseneck fitting which allows it to pivot normally but also has a crank handle you revolve the boom with. The handle fits into the hole on the side of the fitting.

There are different types ,yours may not be identical to this but probably similar.

 

[neil_s]

Or there might be a handle on the front of the mast. Principle is the same, tho, wind handle, boom rotates, sail winds onto boom, sail gets smaller.

Good luck!

Neil

 

[charles_reed]

I\'d avoid roller boom reefing

if you can.

It had a vogue in the 60's, but the drawbacks soon pushed it out of usage except by the masochistic.

Problems?
1. the end of the boom droops lower and lower as you wind it down, unless you stick towels and things in the leech.
2. You can't attach a boom vang (except by using a claw which is pretty ineffective and wears holes in the sail.
3. it's slow and cumbersome and you have to get out of the cockpit to reef.
4. the shape of the reefed sail makes any sailmaker weep, being baggy, full of creases and generally horrible.

On a main of less than 300ft2 you'd be far better off using single line jiffy reefing.

I once had a boat with roller-boom reefing - it was soon changed to jiffy reefing.

 

[damo]

Re: I\'d avoid roller boom reefing

I tend to agree - slab reefing is much better. But some with roller reefing do like it...IF the sail is cut properly, and IF there is nothing on the boom to prevent smooth rolling, and IF there are wooden or foam tapered sections to take up the bagginess as it rolls.

I changed mine - first of all by adding blocks and jammers for reefing lines, then by changing the boom /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Black Sheep]

Re: I\'d avoid roller boom reefing

I tend to agree with charles_reed, but slightly different reasons.

Roller reefing can be lovely when it works well, for small amounts of sail reduction. But I've found it's very difficult to pull down significant amounts of canvas. And when it gets in a mess and jams, you really are stuck. Even with roller reefing, you'll want to put in reefing points for slab reefing. Might as well get used to slab reefing anyway - simpler, less to go wrong, better sail shape, more sail reduction.

Depends on your sailing area and how fully crewed you are. If, for example, you just happened to be planning a significant singlehanded ocean passage, I'd go for the simplicity & robustness of slab reefing/jiffy reefing every time.

 

[MoodySabre]

Before you spend time and money changing the setup to slab reefing you should give the roller reefing a go. My mate centaurpipedream of this parish went to the Azores and back and in good time with roller reefing on his Centaur. If the sails are cut for it then it will get you started with this boat. You can then make an objective decision about changes for your 2010 trip.

You will need to have a handle for winding it round and a reefing claw to use with a kicker. One of these

available from Westerly yachts

 

[tdsail]

thanks all thats all good info...i never used boom reefing (always slab) so i'll give it a go for experience...i need to see how the sail is cut to determine if it works ok...if not then slab reefing is the way to go...though not sure if my sails are cutout for this...would need to install some reefing points me thinks...

 

[graham]

I agree that slab reefing has the great advantage of being able to reef from the safety of the cockpit but disagree with those tyhat say you wont get the sail to set.

As the pics show you can get a reasonably setting sail with a deep reef in .One methopd is to roll a towel or as I do a piece of foam pipe lagging into the roll at the after half of the boom.This flattens the sail a bit and lifts the boom as you roll up due to the increasaed diameter.

Advantages are that you can reef exactly how much you want .And theres no need for lots of lines.

Try it before you right it off.

 

[Refueler]

Simple solution to boom droop when sail is rolled .....

Have reef lines fitted to the sail in rows - I have 2, so that I get a 25% and a 50% reef ... You roll sail till fwd reeflines meet boom ... tie of then proceed along boom tieing of reeflines. This then means boom is lifted to correct and sail is not baggy.

The roller boom is a good system if a little thought given. IMHO people are too quick to dismiss it ....