Headsail reefing gear

[isandell]

The time has come to replace the reefing gear on our Seamaster 29 and I wonder if there is any point in considering anything other than the Plastimo. I know that this has been discussed here before but I just have this feeling that there must be some advantage in paying twice as much for the nest cheapest option.

Thanks

Ian

 

[Gin]

I may be shot down in flames for this, but PM me if you want a more detailed review.

I was induced to replace a lost rig and thereby a wrecked Plastimo furler with a Furlex (Plastimo £370, Furlex £900!!) as better kit and making for a quicker sale on my Sadler when the time comes to sell-on.

For club racing and cruising I reckoned the Plastimo to be perfectly adequate but having more money than sense, at that time- a condition now resolved- I went along with the recommendation.

If I had employed a professional rigger, I like to think that I would have had no trouble but in my opinion this kit is engineered to far too close tolerances, evidenced at the outset by three or four pages of measurements tables and calculation- this was not a (novice)user friendly installation and I am still having difficulty in getting the rake and tension right.

It is not helped by the fact that unlike the Plastimo, wire shortening cannot be done with the foil extrusion in place nor without removing the stay from the foil.

In conclusion if I had known then what I know now, I would have replaced like for like with Plastimo

 

[gandy]

Check out the prices for Profurl. For our rig it worked out about half-way between Plastimo and Rotostay, maybe 60% of the price of Furlex.

I got ours from Seateach who sell both Plastimo and Profurl.

 

[isandell]

Price now seems to be about same for Profurl and Rotostay, both about twice the Plastimo price.

I have still to hear what the advantage of either is over the Plastimo: longevity, reliability, ease of use, ease of installation etc.

Ian

 

[pappaecho]

My Plastimo had the habit of the mast head traveller splitting into two. One half at the top of the foil and the rest coming down with the headsail. Have to say it was fixed with superglue before flogging the boat, but I have never had that problem with Colnbrook or Rotostay

 

[guydickinson]

Try Sailspar - v good I think.

 

[wooslehunter]

You don't say what you're replacing. I'm just replacing a very old Colnbrook. This has quite a chunky foil so the bolt rope on my genny is large. If I replaced with a Plastimo, I'd have to get a smaller bolt rope put in which would add to the cost. Rotastay will be compatible in my case so need to go for that. Down side to Rotastay is that they are hard to work on so I'm told.

Although this may result in lots of posts saying the opposite, it seems that shops selling Plastimo say there are no probs (they would wouldn't they). Riggers on the other hand don't seem to like them.

If you do go for a Plastimo, when you set it up, make sure it's set up so you don't have to align the 2 stainless plates & the forestay eye all at the same time while trying to pull the whole lot down by hand. I'm sure it would be better to use a short wire strop or shackle arrangement. Otherwise it's a real pain to fit every time the mast is put back up.

 

[Stemar]

All I can say is that Jissel had a Plastimerde setup of indeterminate age when I got her. She still has and, apart from jamming once 'cos the halyard wasn't tight enough, hasn't given me any problems in 5 seasons.