In Boom furling - not very popular - why?

[prv]

Enough so that I can now reef the mainsail with halyard and reefing lines led back to the cockpit while still sailing on the headsail. Before, with the mainsail in a mast luff slot, I had to start the engine and engage the autopilot to keep head to wind before going up to the mast to begin reefing.

Yep - I can and do keep sailing on headsails and mizzen, put the tillerpilot on, then let the boom out till it spills and pull in the reef. To begin with, not knowing any better, I used to go head to wind like a modern boat but it was difficult to stay there.

I think I'd miss this ability if I went back to metal masts.

Pete

 

[BrianH]

Yep - I can and do keep sailing on headsails and mizzen, put the tillerpilot on, then let the boom out till it spills and pull in the reef. To begin with, not knowing any better, I used to go head to wind like a modern boat but it was difficult to stay there.
I think I'd miss this ability if I went back to metal masts.

Other than the sheer beauty of traditional materials the chore (and cost) of maintaining a wooden mast would deter me. Especially the wear that hoops must make to the varnish. No good where I am where UV breaks down most protective finishes very quickly.

I neglected to add that with my original 2-point slab reefing system, before I could single-handedly reef, I would have to furl the headsail before using the engine and autopilot to keep the ship head to wind, otherwise it would back and take the bows off too much for the autopilot to correct. Which is why I emphasised your quoted comment "it was difficult to stay there".

Going back to the original theme, my choice was a retro-fit of either in-mast or in-boom and I probably made the right choice - for me. I certainly didn't pay the silly price that another poster was quoted; probably nearer half that, with new mainsail and fitting. Here's how they fitted the luff track to the existing mast slot.

 

[Lucky Duck]

Today I passed a large Oyster which had in boom furling and it seemed to take an age for them to drop the main, perhaps 10 minutes or so. This is probably an extreme example but the effort it took would put me off such a system.