Harken. Who sells it? Alternatives?

[Ru88ell]

I'm after a furler for my 90 sq ft wire luffed jib. I quite like the Harken 436, but it's over £500 and I can't really find anyone selling it besides Harken themselves. Is it a closed shop?

Can anyone suggest alternatives? At the other end of the scale I suppose I could use a Barton, but there must be something else worthy of consideration. I'd be grateful to hear what the panel thinks.

 

[prv]

On a Cornish Yawl in particular, why not use the genuine article - a Wykeham Martin gear?

Classic Marine would be my first stop, though I've no real idea how their prices compare.

Pete

 

[Ru88ell]

I've heard lots of people complain about them, which was why I was going to avoid them.

Did you have any issues with yours on KS?

 

[prv]

Well, all I can say is that it worked fine on Kindred Spirit - and looked the part too . The bearing in the top swivel was getting a bit crunchy by the time you came to Cherbourg with me; you may remember me going to pull down on the leach to get it to unroll fully. But new bearings are ten quid a set (including top and bottom) so I don't see that as a major problem.

What does the boat have now?

Pete

 

[Ru88ell]

She's currently rigged with single headsail on a nice Harken reefing spar fitted in 2009. It's barely been used, but I'm looking for a buyer for that as it won't have a place in my new arrangement.

I'll think some more about WM.

 

[Seajet]

Russell,

if you're looking for a furler rather than reefer, have a look at some of the big racing dinghies like Ospreys; my one of those had a furler to get the jib out of the way for spinnaker work, sorry I don't remember the make but I didn't have any problems with it.

With actual reefing kit I think Barton do reasonable stuff at very good value, but otherwise I'm sure you get what you pay for; my Dads' Plastimo kit gave a lot of trouble - naturally jamming full out in a gale - so he had to make his own modifications; that was a few years ago now though so hopefully it has improved.

I have been on other boats with old and / or cheap reefing foils and had trouble, I'm sure Harken stuff would be wonderful and very sexy indeed, as long as

A, you're OK with the price

B, it would suit your boat - I think this may be a sticking point.

There must be some good looking retro style kit to suit gaffers etc, maybe Davey & Co or a similar outfit do something ?

Edit; just looked up Davey & I see they offer the Wykeham Martin, I thought there might be an alternative...

 

[prv]

Russell's looking to convert a Cornish Yawl with a single reefing genoa to have a cutter foretriangle instead. This is what I had on Kindred Spirit, and I think it's the better arrangement. Each sail only needs to furl, not reef - on this boat the first "reef" is to drop the mizzen, then reef the main, then furl the jib leaving the full staysail. When getting ready in shelter to head into very strong winds, I've gone one step further and brought the bowsprit in, lowered the furled jib, and lashed them both down on deck to reduce windage - reefing the gear as well as the sails.

My staysail was on a roller so could in theory be reefed if you wanted even less canvas forward, but this is a nonsense really as the full staysail was fine in 35 knots of wind and this is not the boat for tackling more! I believe Russell is planning to have a conventional hanked-on staysail, possibly with a downhaul from the cockpit, and this seems like a good seamanlike arrangement to me.

Pete