Boreades
Well-Known Member
With abject apologies for the ambiguity of my first attempt at a poll.
Be gentle with me, it was my first time!
Be gentle with me, it was my first time!
Do YOU use roller reefing?
- Thread starter Boreades
- Start date
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Yup - the bigger (26') boat came with a Sailspar continuous line system which I have come to like, although it really could do with a bigger drum. The wee Hunter has a nameless conventional system which I also like because the foredeck of a 16' boat is no place for a grown man to be messing about with hanks.
yachtorion
Well-Known Member
Why wouldn't you? The RRG on my old Hurley was simply amazing. Crusader did a beautiful job... it had the foam luff and it would set brilliantly partially-rolled or unrolled. It didn't seem to matter.
And it makes sail handling so much safer and easier, reducing foredeck trips with big flappy things...
And it makes sail handling so much safer and easier, reducing foredeck trips with big flappy things...
William_H
Well-Known Member
Well to me performance on the wind is what sailing is all about. ie racing. So no never roller reefing of the jib. I have 4 jibs stowed below and usually I can predict the weather well enough to get size right. Or I have a brave crew who can change a jib (usually in a spin run) even on a lightweight 21fter.
Individual jibs set much better. I have not met a boat of any size with roller reeing that I can't leave behind on the wind. (at our club) althopugh to be honest of 50 odd boats only about 5 have roller reefing. olewill
Individual jibs set much better. I have not met a boat of any size with roller reeing that I can't leave behind on the wind. (at our club) althopugh to be honest of 50 odd boats only about 5 have roller reefing. olewill
nigelmercier
RIP
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Still ambiguous. What sail do you mean?
[2574]
...
We do use RR but have gone slutter rigged with two RR, one on each stay, so that in stronger breeze we can roll out a jib. In light breeze furl away the jib and roll out the genoa. Great system, the compromise being that we can't tack the genoa without furling the sail.
Slutter thus:
Slutter thus:
mike h
Well-Known Member
What if I use roller reefing on a friends boat but not on mine? The chap above should get 2 votes. I think there should be more options for this poll...
[70521]
Well-Known Member
Is this a reef in a main or another sail.
Avocet
Well-Known Member
Yes. Used to be hank-on but after a pretty scary experience involving a very wet Mrs. Avocet in the scuppers (but luckily not overboard) we decided to invest in some RR. We had two of our (then 30+ year old!) headsails re-cut for RR and it's true, the boat doesn't point quite as well, but on balance, we think it's a sacrifice worth making.
prv
Well-Known Member
Probably fair to say that a new sail designed for roller-reefing in the first place would show less of a difference.
Pete
spottydog
Well-Known Member
I changed from RR to hanked on about 4 years ago. Poor pointing ability due to one sail fits all, difficulty in dropping the sail when problems occurred with the RR and aesthetically an eyesore were some of the reasons.
The boat is a 27' Albin Vega, I sail it singlehanded so sail changes have to be planned and executed in a timely fashion.
The benefits in sailing performance outweigh the sometimes wet foredeck trips. I sail off the West coast of Scotland where
the weather can be unpredictable !! but I wouldn't want to revert back to RR.
The boat is a 27' Albin Vega, I sail it singlehanded so sail changes have to be planned and executed in a timely fashion.
The benefits in sailing performance outweigh the sometimes wet foredeck trips. I sail off the West coast of Scotland where
the weather can be unpredictable !! but I wouldn't want to revert back to RR.
PhillM
Well-Known Member
Paean cam with hanked on and stays that way. Except for removing the Genoa, it's pretty easy to change a sail singlehanded. But we don't often need to because it's not too hard to predict and slightly in canvas for expected conditions.
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
Roller Reefing NO. Roller Furling YES.
FWB
N/A
Pedant, apologies.
Roller Reefing refers to the mainsail. I guess a number of MABs still have this.
Sounds as if you are referring to furling head sails.
For the record I have slab reefing main and furlers on jib and staysail.
Roller Reefing refers to the mainsail. I guess a number of MABs still have this.
Sounds as if you are referring to furling head sails.
For the record I have slab reefing main and furlers on jib and staysail.
lw395
Well-Known Member
Most yachts roller reef the genoa.
Furling means just either fully rolling it, or fully unrolling it.
Birdseye
Well-Known Member
We do use RR but have gone slutter rigged with two RR, one on each stay, so that in stronger breeze we can roll out a jib. In light breeze furl away the jib and roll out the genoa. Great system, the compromise being that we can't tack the genoa without furling the sail.
Slutter thus:
That main has seen better days!
underdog
Well-Known Member
Changed from hank on to roller reefing headsail this year.
Installed furlex 106s with removable drum and a purpose made Genoa from Crusader.
The new sail is 135% as opposed to the old no1 145%.
Has made single handed sailing much easier. No longer have to go forward
every time I tack to skirt the genoa.I was delighted not to have venture
onto the foredeck to change down this summer when the wind increased from a force 4
to force 7 on a lumpy passage from Tobermory to Canna this summer.
The new genoa sets well when reefed as well as when fully unfurled.
I had intended to convert my old hanked on sails to fit the luff groove for racing.
However with a 10 point reduction in my IRC rating and minimal noticeable reduction in performance
I dont think I will use them. I think that the fact the boat is 3/4 rigged and main power comes from the large
mainsail means that the change has not been as detrimental to the performance as on a masthead rig
Installed furlex 106s with removable drum and a purpose made Genoa from Crusader.
The new sail is 135% as opposed to the old no1 145%.
Has made single handed sailing much easier. No longer have to go forward
every time I tack to skirt the genoa.I was delighted not to have venture
onto the foredeck to change down this summer when the wind increased from a force 4
to force 7 on a lumpy passage from Tobermory to Canna this summer.
The new genoa sets well when reefed as well as when fully unfurled.
I had intended to convert my old hanked on sails to fit the luff groove for racing.
However with a 10 point reduction in my IRC rating and minimal noticeable reduction in performance
I dont think I will use them. I think that the fact the boat is 3/4 rigged and main power comes from the large
mainsail means that the change has not been as detrimental to the performance as on a masthead rig
Avocet
Well-Known Member
Yes, I think that's fair. They're 40+ years old now and haven't improved in the last 10 years! I'm just a tightwad - and besides, you can't get that particular shade of tan that matches Mrs. Avocet's hair any more. All that aside, I see that there's another long-keel 27 footer on here who has seen a significant deterioration in windward performance. Avocet is a very similar boat and did point exceptionally well, to start with, so maybe the effect is more noticeable on long-keelers? (based on a statistically almost meaningless anecdotal sample of "2")!
pagoda
Well-Known Member
Been there, done some of that... Changing from No1 to No3 in 25Kts (do not ask!!), had near total immersion at the bow. I was put off changing headsails on the move for ever more!
You still have to apply commonsense to reefing, but only need think more about the main than the head sail. Agreed a specific foresail cut for the wind will probably sail better than anything reefed to the same size. But if that worries you too much you probably have a racing crew to send up for'ard on your behalf!
Kerenza
Well-Known Member
Furling when the the racing blade laminate is on, complete with battens, reefing when the cruising 105% with foam luff is fitted. Main slab, did look into roller but masssivelŷ expensive.
