How long should my furling gear line be?

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Jcorstorphine

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I am trying to work out the length of a new Jib furling line on a secondhand system I am fitting. The distance from the drum to the cleat in the cockpit is 18 feet and the sail foot is 10 feet.

The furling gear is a Rotostay FS40/50 and the drum can accommodate about 20 feet of line.

I have seen an article on the Barton website for small boats which states length of line =
length of the foot of the jib + distance from bow to cockpit cleat + tail to be left in cockpit. In my case this would end up being 28 feet plus.say a further 3 ft for the tail

Has anyone any other rule of thumb as I think the Barton calc is a bit low on length.
 
Get plenty of rope, wind it on, haul the sail in and out a couple of times to settle things down, leave it out making sure there's still a few turns on the drum (so you can still haul it in all the way when the drum packs tighter in a bit of wind), then cut off the excess.

There's always a use for spare rope :)

Pete
 
prv said:
Get plenty of rope, wind it on, haul the sail in and out a couple of times to settle things down, leave it out making sure there's still a few turns on the drum (so you can still haul it in all the way when the drum packs tighter in a bit of wind), then cut off the excess.

There's always a use for spare rope :)

Pete
Click to expand...

Here here, I'd much rather have a couple of metres of spare rope in my locker than have to buy the whole lot again because it was a metre short :confused:
 
Jcorstorphine said:
I am trying to work out the length of a new Jib furling line on a secondhand system I am fitting. The distance from the drum to the cleat in the cockpit is 18 feet and the sail foot is 10 feet.

The furling gear is a Rotostay FS40/50 and the drum can accommodate about 20 feet of line.

I have seen an article on the Barton website for small boats which states length of line =
length of the foot of the jib + distance from bow to cockpit cleat + tail to be left in cockpit. In my case this would end up being 28 feet plus.say a further 3 ft for the tail

Has anyone any other rule of thumb as I think the Barton calc is a bit low on length.
Click to expand...

strip out the inner core for 2m that will reduce the volume of line on the drum
 
+1 for PRVs method. Bear in mind though that when the sail is furled, you may still need a few turns left on the drum. If you furl in wind, the sail will wrap tighter on the foil & so more turns will be required. If you furl when there's no wind & have no turns left on the drum, you won't be able to furl properly in wind.
 
My rigger told me I should have 3 turns on the roller when the sail's fully furled, and a couple of turns of rope round it. This allows for sod's law ensuring the sail furls loosely when you're setting things up and tightly when you're putting it away in a blow. I suppose that adds another 1.5m or so to the minimum.

I only have a small boat, so I can get away with only about 0.5m of tail in the cockpit.

BTW, [egg sucking lesson] don't forget the stopper knot on the tail! It will escape at the most inopportune moment if you don't [/egg sucking lesson]

Darn it - beaten to it by Mr WHunter :)
 
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Jcorstorphine said:
I am trying to work out the length of a new Jib furling line on a secondhand system I am fitting. The distance from the drum to the cleat in the cockpit is 18 feet and the sail foot is 10 feet.

The furling gear is a Rotostay FS40/50 and the drum can accommodate about 20 feet of line.

I have seen an article on the Barton website for small boats which states length of line =
length of the foot of the jib + distance from bow to cockpit cleat + tail to be left in cockpit. In my case this would end up being 28 feet plus.say a further 3 ft for the tail

Has anyone any other rule of thumb as I think the Barton calc is a bit low on length.
Click to expand...


Very low on length I would say. It does not accurately take into account that a turn of rope on the drum is much longer than a turn of sail around the foil.
It would be better to count the number of turns that the foil has to make to fully furl the sail. Add at least a couple more and multiply by the circumference around a half full drum (or take the mean of the centre diameter and the outer diameter of the drum multiplied by Pi, 3.142)


I would put on the full amount that the drum can accommodate, plus the distance back to the cleat , plus a bit (½ to 1 metre) for a tail.

If you end up with too much you can shorten it .. and you will always find a use for another short bit of rope ... If you make it too short you are stuffed and the only way out is to buy a whole new piece that is long enough!
 
I have just managed to get a manual for my system (hood sea furl 5). It mentions the line should be partly de cored and the line should be twice the length of your boat.
Hope this helps.
Most systems are pretty similar so if you want a copy of the manual I have with how to set up the furling line just PM me with your e mail and I will forward it.
 
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