furling system

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dolphin

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good morning to all !
i am planning to change from hanks to furling and kindly ask all of you, to give an opinion for the roller reefing system which is not connected to the mast - the upper part of the system, end with halyard sheaves for hoisting the sail!
for more info of the system can check www.alado.com
thanks and brgds

www.fragrantname.com
 
This is like the early Rotostay system, which my boat has, in that the halyard goes up to a sheave at the top of the foil and back down to the drum, to which it is attached, and tensioned, with a lanyard. It is unlike most modern systems, where the halyard goes up to a sheave at the mast head and down to a cleat on the mast.

Mine is very old but it works well and has given no trouble [apart from difficulty getting the foil sections apart last winter]. It is probably a more fiddly job changing the sail because you need to attach a messenger to the halyard when the sail is removed and you are working right in the bow, so there is only room for one person.

Generally, I'm happy with it and will only replace it when it wears out and I can't get parts for it.
 
thanks twist,
sorry but i am confused - what is the problem with getting the sail down and why to change ! and why you need to take the foil apart - i believe this will be a problem with most furling systems !
as far as i understood, the reason to have a furling is to avoid sail's change !
do you observe any bending of the furling foil when tensioned the sail during the first hoist and is this affect the sailing preformance of the boat
but generaly - you are happy with the system ?

www.fragrantname.com
thanks and brgds
 
I had that type on my R32, it was ok, but because the halliard becomes the chord of the foil, when the foil inevitably forms a radius when sailing hard, the luff tension is lost with susequent sail shape deterioration.
 
thanks fia,
actually, i can expect some loss of preformance due to the sail shape deterioration from the loss of luff tension but nothing in connection of the safety of the rigging
this loss should be inavoidable but was you happy with this furling?
thanks

www.fragrantname.com
 
To hoist or lower the genoa you have to have the whole sail unfurled. This applies to any furling genoa. So you have a large area of sail flapping around, if you are doing this in a strong wind it means you are perched in the least hospitable part of the boat fiddling around with messenger lines. If you have the halyard led to the mast and an assistant, he/she can attend to the halyard while you smother the sail.

Why would you be doing this? You do it at the start and end of the season, some conscientious people do it every time they go for a sail, instead of leaving the furled sail up to deteriorate. Or, suppose the sail became damaged and you had to lower it to repair/replace it, at sea? What I am saying is that there might be times when you need to do it and the conditions might not be good, in which case the latest type might be slightly easier.

Having said this, I repeat that would not go to the expense of scrapping my old Rotostay furler unless it wore out and could not be repaired. I am generally content with it. When it finally dies I will get a Harken because I am advised it is the best.

Why dismantle the foil? I had to do it to get the forestay out so that I could renew it. The sections were corroded together and were difficult to get apart because they had not been seperated for ten years. You could have this problem with any aluminium foil that has aluminium couplers.

On my Rotostay the foil does not bend when the halyard is tensioned because the halyard sheave is mounted on the swivel, not on the foil like the one you are considering buying. The lower end of the foil is fixed to the drum but the top end is not fixed.

The foil will take up a bend according to the wind strength, like any kind of forestay, and this can be counteracted by increasing the backstay tension.
 
I could never get the forestay/foil tensioned enough to get rid of appreciable sag, and subsequent loss of sail shape, as the halliard became effectivly longer, especially beating, when you least want the sail to become fuller. Bill.
 
Agreed, the Rotostay on my Jag 21 is rubbish for halliyard tension, because its to awkard a way to tie it on and pull it tight.
Personally, next year, i am going to use the Genoa that was fuled as my No 1, and get a couple of (2nd hand) smaller jibs, i already have a storm job, and use the rotostay as a luff foil.
 
thanks to all replies !
understand that the weakness of the system will be a sag or shape deterioration especially during the beating and that, one of the best furling system, is harken !
taking in mind my sailing activity through the year and of course the cost, i will most probably go for alado as a compromise !
as for warrenty - alado give a lifetime one !!!
thanks again for all replies and good night !
regards

www.fragrantname.com
 
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