Cruising cutes?

[Seven Spades]

Are cruising chutes that are used on top-down furlers cut differently to those used in a snuffer?

I am interested to know who the forum would recommend to trouble shoot my cruising cute and possibly make a replacement. I am looking for a sailmaker in the Hamble area that knows his stuff and would be willing to measure my boat, measure my sail and give an honest opinion as to repair or replace. I also want to know if a snuffer or furler is the best choice My boat is quite big and we sail it two up most of the time so controlling the forces when dropping it are the major consideration.

 

[Leighb]

How disappointing! I misread the thread title as "Cruising Cuties".

 

[dom]

Oops, and there was me assuming Lakesailor was back at his old tricks

 

[Arcady]

Are cruising chutes that are used on top-down furlers cut differently to those used in a snuffer?

Not sure - no doubt those with requisite knowledge will be along shortly. What I can say is that I re-rigged a cruising chute fitted with snuffer onto a top-down furler and it all worked fine - just as well as my previous boat with a cruising chute specifically made for top-down furler.

 

[TiggerToo]

Oops, and there was me assuming Lakesailor was back at his old tricks

nope, he now specialises in winding up Remainers/Rejoiners, like me, in the Lounge. Grumpy of chap suffering from Hg poisoning...

 

[Neeves]

How disappointing! I misread the thread title as "Cruising Cuties".

And my wife wondered why I had the need to read a thread titled 'Cruising Cuties'

Jonathan

 

[ashtead]

I asked Peter S about doing this( but he’s in Lymington so might be too far) with our chute and he seemed to have no issues. I m sure if you speak to Karver or suchlike they will advise as maybe some makes don’t work the same. As an aside don’t leave the furler up when leaving boat as they unfurl quickly in any breeze as happened to a boat at our marina recently.

 

[Ningaloo]

"Quite big" will mean different things to different people. I'm assuming you have 11-12m boat with a 100m2 free flying sail which is easily managed by two people (plus auto pilot) with a snuffer. I have also used this size sail single handed.
The key to using a snuffer is to ensure that the continuous line used to raise the snuffer does not get twisted. I douse and reset rather than gybing and it takes a bit of practice not to twist the lines when changing gybe.
On my current 11m boat we start to talk about dropping with 12kts apparent wind and usually do the drop if we get frequent gusts above 15kts apparent, although with more crew I have kept it up above this. Wind angle is also a factor so if forward of the beam I would drop sooner.
My issues with the snuffer have always been on the hoist. The drop has never been an issue.
I have no experience of top down furler don't like the concept so on for my next boat I have chosen to go for a furlstrom from Elvstrom (furling on a torsion cable built into the luff of the sail). This gives me a 100m2 sail rather than the 160m2 which is the area of the free flying asymmetric on the new 14m boat. This will be a flatter sail and less flexible but I will often have limited crew and need to consider my own fitness as I get older. I don't think you would need to get the sail recut to switch from snuffer to top down furler unless it is a very full (downwind) sail. The furling gear is similar to the cost of a new sail do I would try to get your snuffer working before considering alternatives.

 

[MoodySabre]

I’ve seen Paul Lees from Crusader in my marina on the east coast so I’m sure he’ll travel from Poole to the Hamble. Very helpful.

 

[dom]

Are cruising chutes that are used on top-down furlers cut differently to those used in a snuffer?

I am interested to know who the forum would recommend to trouble shoot my cruising cute and possibly make a replacement. I am looking for a sailmaker in the Hamble area that knows his stuff and would be willing to measure my boat, measure my sail and give an honest opinion as to repair or replace. I also want to know if a snuffer or furler is the best choice My boat is quite big and we sail it two up most of the time so controlling the forces when dropping it are the major consideration.

Have you got more dets on the boat, the type of A-sail you have, whether or not you/your crew are happy on the foredeck, and budget?

Also, do you like your current sail?

There are so many options, the easiest and cheapest retrofit being a snuffer. Furling systems are more complex/expensive and even here there are options. If your sail is a flat A1 affair, then a torsional rope could perhaps be inserted in the luff and attached to a continuous line furling system. If the sail is more A2 (most common cut) this wouldn't necessarily work that well and a top-down system might be better.

I'd recommend Kemp without hesitation but it might be best if you can at least sketch out what you desire in advance.

 

[TernVI]

As Dom says.
Be careful in generalising about 'cruising chutes'.
They vary a lot.
Some are almost triangular, some have a lot more 'shoulder'.
This furling malarkey seems to have started with 'screacher' tight reaching A sails, and progressed to more general purpose A -sails?
What do you want?
Fast reaching or progress to leeward?