Furling foresail technique

[[2574]]

When you come to furl the foresail what technique do you employ to get the sailed furled with ease whilst minimising sail wear from flogging? Turn downwind and get the genoa in the lee of the main? Maybe just ease the sheets whilst furling? The question is particularly aimed at furling in breezy/windy conditions and avoiding a wild flogging sail.

 

[Rappey]

Furl whilst there is wind in the sail so it does not flog and that rolls it tighter.

 

[BabaYaga]

If tacking, in my experience it is often possible to furl in process of going about (when some flogging is inevitable anyway).

 

[JumbleDuck]

Slacken the sheet if necessary to reduce tension in the sail, bear away a little if necessary to fill it (ie if I'm close hauled at the start), pull on the furling line while easing out the sheet. If necessary furl a bit, ease a bit, furl a bit. ease a bit.

 

[Skylark]

In my experience, the more quickly the headsail is furled, the better the result. Mine will furl on all points of sail, easing the working sheet as much as possible but not so much that the sail flogs. As the wind freshens, it’s easier to do this by bearing away. It can also help to sweat the furling line from the foredeck but this then requires another person to take-up the slack. If well coordinated, a few quick vertical pulls on the furling line and the sail is away in seconds.

As an aside, it’s worth checking that the furling mechanism is is rotating freely. There has been a couple of threads recently referring to the top swivel being seized, mine included. I’m currently waiting for a replacement.

 

[TernVI]

Depending on the size of boat and the furling gear in question, it may be acceptable to use a winch on the furling line.

With the small boat, I just luff up a bit, ease the sheet a few inches so the luff of the jib is not drawing and pull in a few inches of furling line.
Repeat as needed.
If there is a second person to ease the sheet as you pull in the furling line, so much the better.

If initially going downwind, head up and instead of sheeting the jib as you go, pull some furler in.

The main thing is to get the first few rolls in nice and early and done right. It gets progressively easier to get later rolls neat.

There's usually no gain in trying to roll the jib as one action if there's a reasonable breeze to sail in.
The jib should never need to be flapping, just depowered as if you're pointing too high.

 

[RJJ]

I prefer to go deep downwind. On our 45 footer it comes in by hand once unweighted. I have a clutch on the toe rail and pull directly from there.

 

[DJE]

What's so bad about a few seconds with the sail flogging? As BabaYaga says it flogs every time you tack.
I have a big masthead genoa on a 39 footer and in any breeze I can't get the first few rolls in unless the sail is flapping or I use a winch. But in those conditions the drag from the flapping sail is enough to ensure that the rolls are nice and tight. (In lighter winds just easing the sheet to depower the sail is enough.)
A turn round the winch on each sheet ensures that there is enough drag to keep the last few rolls tight.
I don't see any need to change course. And as we are often furling in busy or confined waters I prefer to leave the helmswoman free to steer as required.

 

[dunedin]

I prefer to go deep downwind. On our 45 footer it comes in by hand once unweighted. I have a clutch on the toe rail and pull directly from there.

That I believe is the best way with a biggish sail in a biggish wind. Unnecessary I light winds.
We have an electric halyard winch, so sometimes use that to assist if necessary. But VERY strict rule, only 2 turns on winch and hand tailed. Then if something jamming the rope slips so know to sort problem, not break rig.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I prefer to go deep downwind. On our 45 footer it comes in by hand once unweighted. I have a clutch on the toe rail and pull directly from there.

Very same set up, clutch on the toe rail, straight, in line pull. If I am single handing I use a small snatch block to turn the line to me. The increase in force from this snatch block is noticeable.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Tip for greasing furling systems where grease is injected through a hole in the bearing housing. I use a large syringe where the nozzle fits around the grease hole. I just packed the syringe from the top with the grease by cutting the bottom of the grease tube and scooping it in with wooden epoxy mixing stick. Very easy and clean and the seal allows a bit of pressure to smear in the grease, just a little bit before rotating the swivel to spread it about. The syringe is about 2cm OD.

Also Teflon or similar lube on the clutch pivots and any fair lead blocks works wonders, they dry out in a season.

 

[johnalison]

Pardon me if I have missed a reference but easing the halyard tension is a big step towards easier furling. I virtually always furl downwind. preferably at an angle that allows just enough wind in the sail to tension it slightly. In anything of a blow I han do it in a fraction of the time it often takes people that I watch struggling with a flogging sail. The trouble is that we are mostly taught to turn head to wind for almost anything technical, but this is an exception.

 

[[3889]]

I furl with the sheet and furling line side by side in my hands so as the furler comes in the sheet goes out. As the furler is relatively thin line this also makes it easier to grip. Works best if furler clutch is on the coach roof rather than on the quarter.

 

[TernVI]

Pardon me if I have missed a reference but easing the halyard tension is a big step towards easier furling. I virtually always furl downwind. preferably at an angle that allows just enough wind in the sail to tension it slightly. In anything of a blow I han do it in a fraction of the time it often takes people that I watch struggling with a flogging sail. The trouble is that we are mostly taught to turn head to wind for almost anything technical, but this is an exception.

Agree with that in theory, but nearly always seem to end up wanting to keep upwind.
In 'anything of a blow', we've normally been sailing with a few rolls in anyway (if upwind), so the job is already half done.

If you can't fairly easily furl the sail on a broad reach, maybe either there's too much sail out, or the gear/system needs a long hard look?

 

[johnalison]

Agree with that in theory, but nearly always seem to end up wanting to keep upwind.
In 'anything of a blow', we've normally been sailing with a few rolls in anyway (if upwind), so the job is already half done.

If you can't fairly easily furl the sail on a broad reach, maybe either there's too much sail out, or the gear/system needs a long hard look?

I think that with so many variables it is not possible to generalise about all boats. I can only say what works on my boat - 34ft with a 110% foresail. I would do anything to avoid having to use a winch, though I have heard of others who do this routinely. With any amount of wind in the sail, such as on a reach, furling would be very hard on my boat, even with an eased halyard and the swivels greased as they always are. There may be some boats where this is possible, but the friction of the foil on the forestay alone would be enough to defeat me. I see no reason not to continue with my usual practice, which is always to take the easiest possible option, with the least chance of inducing a mechanical problem. Anyway, the whole raison d'etre for furling is because you've got too much sail out, just as with reefing the main.

 

[TernVI]

There's a lot of gear out there that doesn't work as well as Harken.
What is this 'grease' of which you speak?

Good point about the friction of the foil rotating around the forestay, that gets worse if the forestay is slack downwind.

Personally when I furl the sail, I generally had the right amount out for sailing, now I'm stopping and want to pack the sail away.
Or we've put the kite up.

I think it's definitely good to be able to wind up the jib on any point of sail, there's always going to be some other muppet who won't give you space to bear away.

 

[dunedin]

Pardon me if I have missed a reference but easing the halyard tension is a big step towards easier furling.

We don't have to fiddle with the halyard tension, but good reminder that if have cranked on huge backstay tension, worth easing the backstay before furling as that makes a huge impact for us.

 

[TernVI]

We don't have to fiddle with the halyard tension, but good reminder that if have cranked on huge backstay tension, worth easing the backstay before furling as that makes a huge impact for us.

That should not be the case?
Tight forestay is nice and straight?
Forestay tension does not add to halyard tension.
How does it add friction to the system?

We find the opposite if we've dumped the backstay downwind and the forestay is slack as.
That's extreme though!

 

[westerlylad]

I have an older furling system where there was no top cap provided for the top end of the foil. As a result, although the top swivel spins perfectly freely, I think that the oval shaped foil does tend to get stuck on the forestay to begin with in one of the 'corners' of the foil. Has anyone tried to obtain or construct and retrofit a top cap on this type of furling system?

 

[laika]

Depending on the size of boat and the furling gear in question, it may be acceptable to use a winch on the furling line.

I'm sure there was some good reason why not to use a winch *other* than the one I'm about to mention, but perhaps it's not long enough after breakfast for me to remember what it is.

The *practical* reason why I didn't use a winch was this: My furler only has so much space on the drum. The tighter the furl, the more line required. Using appropriately spec-ed braid on braid, unless my genoa was pretty loosely furled (big furls = fewer turns = less line) which precluded use of the winch, I'd run out of furling line before the genoa was wrapped away. This caused me issues several times when trying to get the genoa away in a blow. My life was made much better after Allspars in Plymouth suggested using (thinner) dyneema with the sheath stripped except at the cockpit end. Still don't use the winch but it's now an option in case furling needs to be done by someone with limited physical strength in difficult conditions.

Normal furling technique upwind would be similar to what TernVI suggests: one person eases the genoa just enough to luff a little while second person furls. Repeat until suitably reefed or genoa away depending on intention.