In-mast roller furling mainsail system

[sean19ie]

i am very interested in purchasing a beneteau 50, only problem is the boat is fitted with an in-mast roller furling mainsail system i have heard this is a good system for sheltered areas but i plan on doing a lot of deep water sailing it also is susposed to make the mast 2 or 3 times heavier because of the roller furling system which is not good during heavy weather .....i have never sailed a boat with a roller furling mainsail and would like to know more about it before i re-mortgage the house /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[sailingcatlady]

I had one put on, in an extrusion on the back of the mast, on a 30ft sloop, and I used it for nearly 10 years, 5 of which were ocean sailing (UK to W. Africa, to Cape Verdes, to Venezuela). I loved it. I was solo sailing and having that system made it so easy for me to reef my main to exactly the amount I wanted. People told me it would stick and jam; I found that on the very very few occasions this happened, I would climb onto the boom and that I could "unstick" it by pushing my fingers into the slot on the mast and jiggling it about a bit. Never a problem at all. It only ever happened (and rarely) when I had been a bit hasty in winding it in. I would recommend it whole heartedly and wish I had it on this boat now. Another thing: I had a cap stay go and I was afraid my mast would fall, but a rigger subsequently told me that with the inmast reefing stiffening the mast, it would have been almost impossible for that to happen.
Go for it. Mortgage the house. You will not regret it. One thing I did notice when "in foreign parts" that more and more deep-sea long-distance cruising yachts were using that system.
OK, maybe your sail doesn't set in the 100% approved fashion but I never had a problem with that. The convenience far outweighed half a knot of speed or whatever.

 

[capnsensible]

Hi.
My personal experience with in mast furling has included 2 transatlantics. Didn,t have a problem. For perspective (not bragging!!) I've done it a number of other times with slab reefing. Also not a problem. Probably because I was brought up with slab, I don't find it a difficult task, but roller furling does make life easier, generally for the bit you really need it, shortening sail as the wind gets up. I certainly have great confidence in modern systems and am always happy on a boat thus fitted.
Hope this helps!

 

[billcowan]

Yeh its the dogs balls for single handed.

Only jams if you hurry winding in when not close enough to the wind and you havnt let the sheet off enough.

Only other prob is riding turns which jam, on the rolling up 'drum' if you are careless.

You MUST have the proper sail though, mine is MaxiRoach with full verticle battens. Also you need to dry lube the pulleys and boom track fairly often.

 

[boatmike]

The mast will in fact be heavier, but IMHO the masts on Bennies are a bit on the light side as standard anyhow ( I expect that will get a tirade of protest) and the extra stiffness for blue water sailing should be an advantage. The extra weight is never 2 or 3 times heavier though and having built my own boat I can tell you that the extra weight aloft for in mast reefing was less than 30% of the weight of a standard mast. One advantage when single handed or not is the ability to reef quickly and easily which means often that you can avoid reefing until necessary where on a conventional rig you need to reef early to avoid being caught out overcanvassed. While the performance of an in mast main is therefore not equal to a conventional sail in light airs this often compensates in normal sailing conditions.

 

[wingdiver]

Rather than worry about the sailing rig, have you considered other options to the Benny 50.
I have heard pretty poor reports from someone who bought one brand new last year (and at around £350k it was certainly not the cheap option) and took it from the UK to the Ionian.
Perhaps your first question should be which boats others have used for your intended passage.
Also, on the subject of in mast furling, my rigger buddy says they should generally be avoided. Then again, a lot of big Oysters have them fitted but I guess the kit you get with them is different to the ones fitted to the Benny.
Decisions, compromises etc.