Custom Made Roller Furler....is it viable

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thesaintlyone

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Found this old post regards Custom made furlers how viable is this or is the used route better to save money on a new system I've seen used for £200

"Plenty of people about discussing custom made options.

"One type uses a simple system with no expensive parts.

The sail luff is inserted into a split aluminium pipe, powder coated would be good.

The pipe encircles the forestay and between the stay and the pipe is a full lenght plastic pipe of the required diameter.

No top bearing, no bottom bearing, no wraps or problems with the bearings.

At the ft, a drum is used, size dependent on the rurling line dia and boat length.

Split pipe is available for awnings, the awnins is commonly inserted into the split. Alternatly visit New Zealand where3 many small boat have these furleras and I believe the pipe is commonly available."

Any thoughts ???
What drum size would I need for a 31 footer if I looked at this option.....???
 
What happens to the halliard as you furl the sail?
Is this supposed to be a furler or a reefing system?
 
What you have described is unlikely to work as a reefing sail. If it was that easy there would be no market for properly designed commercial products. Just look at the engineering required for ones that work and you will quickly see why a DIY product as you described would not work.
 
For Example seen a Harken Mk3 Size 1 complete was removed because owner went back to hanks luff size of sail when fitted 10.89m
 
thesaintlyone said:
For Example seen a Harken Mk3 Size 1 complete was removed because owner went back to hanks luff size of sail when fitted 10.89m
Click to expand...

If you can get a Harken system for £200, I think you should seriously consider it.
The best thing I ever bought for my boat and mine was rather more than £200.
 
thesaintlyone said:
The luff on the original sail that the Harken was fitted to is 10.89m does anyone know if this will fit the longbow
Click to expand...

IF it's too long, you can shorten it.
If it's too short, those nice Harken people may well sell you another length of the luff extrusion? (don't take my word for it, ask them!)

The questions are,
Is your bolt rope the right size?
Is the sail area OK for the size of furler?
When you add the furler drum, will this raise the tack too much making the sail too long in the luff or cause big problems with sheeting angle?
If so, can you get around this?
 
The Brazilian made Alado ?

seems to be robust enough for the Southern Ocean !

It is as described in the original post.

I moving part!

The bearing is a UHMW bearing top to bottom or are ther insert UHMW bearing?

Intend to purchase 2 of these in spring of 2017

http://www.aladous.com/
 
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lw395 said:
IF it's too long, you can shorten it.
If it's too short, those nice Harken people may well sell you another length of the luff extrusion? (don't take my word for it, ask them!)

The questions are,
Is your bolt rope the right size?
Is the sail area OK for the size of furler?
When you add the furler drum, will this raise the tack too much making the sail too long in the luff or cause big problems with sheeting angle?
If so, can you get around this?
Click to expand...

Will probably get a new sail anyway ??? I'm newish to sailing so if that doesn't answer your points please enlighten
 
thesaintlyone said:
Mast is up at the moment the harken is probably gonna cost me £150
Click to expand...

You can easily measure the length of the forestay by using the jib halyard. Just attach a line to the halyard, haul it up, take the other end to the forestay fitting, mark it, lower the line and measure it.
 
Tranona said:
You can easily measure the length of the forestay by using the jib halyard. Just attach a line to the halyard, haul it up, take the other end to the forestay fitting, mark it, lower the line and measure it.
Click to expand...

Cool I'll do that on Sunday. Gonna get the harken anyway 150 it has the extrusions so will go from there.

Regards
 
thesaintlyone said:
Will probably get a new sail anyway ??? I'm newish to sailing so if that doesn't answer your points please enlighten
Click to expand...

Those are all points you need to take into account when fitting roller furling. Once you have your forestay measurement as described above you will know if the furling gear on offer will basically fit the space you have. Then it is a question of using the right fittings to attach it, although you might have to shorten or lengthen the foil and stay to get the exact fit. Your sail luff length is different from the foil length so you will have to measure the distance between the tack fitting and the swivel when it is at the top of the foil. foils have slots for the luff to run up and the size of this determines the size of the bolt rope or tape. Furlers are rated according to the size of sail they can handle, although if it is big enough to fit your boat that should not be an issue. However the sail has to be cut to fit the furler you have. You also need to run the furling line back to the cockpit.

You ought to look at similar boats which have furlers fitted so that you can see what is involved. Most use the same principles but the details differ depending on the make of furler.
 
thesaintlyone said:
Found this old post regards Custom made furlers how viable is this or is the used route better to save money on a new system I've seen used for £200

"Plenty of people about discussing custom made options.

"One type uses a simple system with no expensive parts.

The sail luff is inserted into a split aluminium pipe, powder coated would be good.

The pipe encircles the forestay and between the stay and the pipe is a full lenght plastic pipe of the required diameter.

No top bearing, no bottom bearing, no wraps or problems with the bearings.

At the ft, a drum is used, size dependent on the rurling line dia and boat length.

Split pipe is available for awnings, the awnins is commonly inserted into the split. Alternatly visit New Zealand where3 many small boat have these furleras and I believe the pipe is commonly available."

Any thoughts ???
What drum size would I need for a 31 footer if I looked at this option.....???
Click to expand...

I have been using this system since 1982, including several Pacific crossings . Zero maintenance, zero problems! Cost me $80 for materials for the first one. Probably $150 now.

First saw then in common use in New Zealand in 1973. Some boats had done 15 trips to Fiji and back with them. No problems! There, the extrusion cost $1 a foot, back then. I use split pipe . My current one is over 30 years old ,no maintenance, no problems.
A friend, working in a riggers shop, said some were giving up on the swivels, and going for a halyard block on the side of the extrusion at the top. You hoist the sail with a wire halyard, tie the halyard end to the drum, and take the rope tail away.The you tighten the luff to the drum ,with a line passed thru the tack , and a shackle on the drum, for a many part purchase. Then halyard and all, rotates on the stay .Only one moving part .
Expect some riggers and sail makers to ridicule this, so they can sell you a far more expensive one. I put my luff rope in the slot. No need for tape luffs.
On a used sail, I sew the top of the luff rope to the head ,then cut the rope above the sewing, with a heat source to give me a heat sealed end, to feed into the slot.On one, which came with a luff tape, I had to wrap soft webbing around the tape to give me a big enough diameter to not pull out of the slot.
 
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Brent Swain said:
I have been using this system since 1982, including several Pacific crossings . Zero maintenance, zero problems! Cost me $80 for materials for the first one. Probably $150 now.

First saw then in common use in New Zealand in 1973. Some boats had done 15 trips to Fiji and back with them. No problems! There, the extrusion cost $1 a foot, back then. I use split pipe . My current one is over 30 years old ,no maintenance, no problems.
A friend, working in a riggers shop, said some were giving up on the swivels, and going for a halyard block on the side of the extrusion at the top. You hoist the sail with a wire halyard, tie the halyard end to the drum, and take the rope tail away.The you tighten the luff to the drum ,with a line passed thru the tack , and a shackle on the drum, for a many part purchase. Then halyard and all, rotates on the stay .Only one moving part .
Expect some riggers and sail makers to ridicule this, so they can sell you a far more expensive one. I put my luff rope in the slot. No need for tape luffs.
On a used sail, I sew the top of the luff rope to the head ,then cut the rope above the sewing, with a heat source to give me a heat sealed end, to feed into the slot.On one, which came with a luff tape, I had to wrap soft webbing around the tape to give me a big enough diameter to not pull out of the slot.
Click to expand...

are you bored/

Why do you come on here peddling your half baked ideas from 1973?

The world has moved on and reliable well made, well proven furling gears are readily available. People who know what they are doing appreciate well engineered gear and are willing to pay for it, so don't need your out of date "advice"
 
A good furler is worth the pennies. If you can get your hands on a Harken second hand then that is fantastic.

I've seen home built ones, and yes they can work, but it depends if making and engineering and all that is your thing and you have the time. With a reputable furler if it goes wrong you have plenty of riggers for advice and a strong source of parts.

Only one thing. Maintain them! Don't just leave it up year after year. Get it down and apart every few (or in best world every) winter and give it a good once over, clean and service.
 
Brent Swain said:
going for a halyard block on the side of the extrusion at the top
Click to expand...

So now the luff tension on your sail is translated into compression on your split pipe (twice as much compression, too, since the tension is split between the luff and the halyard). So either you need some heavy, sturdy pipe to avoid buckling even though it has a slot cut into it, or the front of the sail can't be tensioned properly for going upwind.

I had a furling system without a top bearing on our previous boat. The head of the sail was lashed to the foil rather than using a halyard (so halving the compression it needed to carry) and it all worked quite acceptably on the staysail - but since we had a jib and a mizzen as well and the boat was only 24', the staysail was the size of a dinghy jib with correspondingly low loads.

Pete
 
I saw quite an elegant furling system based on a carbon fibre foil. I suspect it was DIY or at least heavily modified.
 
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