Reefing a furling genoa

Surely it depends on the size of the boat? I managed to unwrap the forestay on a 24 footer by hand, so winching was an absolute no no on Jissel. On a mate's 39 footer, the furler could need a hand to get started in strong winds - that point when "Wow, this is fun" suddenly becomes "Ooh-err, I think we'd better lose some sail", but once started, if I couldn't keep it moving by hand there was something wrong. On a 60+ footer, well, my ignorance of such boats is near total, but I'd expect a hydraulic or electric furler.

If the furling line's route makes it hard to pull in, I'd want to do whatever I could to reduce friction - decent ball bearing blocks for a start, rather than relying on a winch.
 
Like others, I have a rule never to winch the furling line. Furling the jib when sailing to windward is not very common with my 110% jib and 19/20 rig but when I have done it I have been prepared to turn away from the wind and furl quickly. I reckon that the time saved means that I have lost less ground than in struggling against a flogging sail. I almost invariably ease the halyard tension first, as when furling at the end of the sail.
 
With decent furling line lead blocks and careful thought to their position it should never be necessary to use a winch which risks the possibilty of missing halyard wrap untwisting forestay swages. with a tall rig and 130% roller genoa it was never necessary but we always let the sheets off first and furled by hand through a spinlock clutch.
 
Stemar said:
Surely it depends on the size of the boat? I managed to unwrap the forestay on a 24 footer by hand, so winching was an absolute no no on Jissel. On a mate's 39 footer, the furler could need a hand to get started in strong winds - that point when "Wow, this is fun" suddenly becomes "Ooh-err, I think we'd better lose some sail", but once started, if I couldn't keep it moving by hand there was something wrong. On a 60+ footer, well, my ignorance of such boats is near total, but I'd expect a hydraulic or electric furler.

If the furling line's route makes it hard to pull in, I'd want to do whatever I could to reduce friction - decent ball bearing blocks for a start, rather than relying on a winch.
Click to expand...
I've found that leaving a half-turn of sail on the foil makes it really easy to start it rolling in. If it is completely unrolled it's quite difficult to get that first bit of sail rolled.
Re size of boat; my boat is a 30 footer, but when sailing on boats between 37' and 50' I have found that doing it without mechanical aid works very well. On some of them taking a bight round a spinnaker winch helped, or wearing gloves if the thin line was uncomfortable to the hands.
 
Y
johnalison said:
Like others, I have a rule never to winch the furling line. Furling the jib when sailing to windward is not very common with my 110% jib and 19/20 rig but when I have done it I have been prepared to turn away from the wind and furl quickly. I reckon that the time saved means that I have lost less ground than in struggling against a flogging sail. I almost invariably ease the halyard tension first, as when furling at the end of the sail.
Click to expand...
yes, taking the tension off the halliard is also very much kinder to the sail and will help it retain its original shape for longer.
Sometimes luffing up momentarily head to wind will allow the first few rolls to be achieved easily, after which the rest of the sail will roll up with little effort.
 
Our boat has ALL sail trim/reefing/furling from one Lewmar 40 powered winch. It has a small self tacking jib with a Hoyt boom. Had it for six seasons now, averaged 1500NM's for five of those.

I service and wash the Harken furler frequently and often check the ease of rotation. Once the sail is refitted and halyard tension deemed OK, I have never needed to adjust during the sailing season. Although the sails are dirty - the first owner never removed them from the vessel during winter, or in fact, used them - they are in really good condition.

The small jib is always furled with the powered winch, so is the in mast main.

It is what the maker intended, a boat easily handled by a mature crew of 2.

Just had a second furler fitted, a used Facnor. That will be furled with the powered winch too. It is for a reacher/code zero sail for light winds.
 
Last edited:
rotrax said:
Once the sail is refitted and halyard tension deemed OK, I have never needed to adjust during the sailing season.
Click to expand...
With all due respect. Leaving a halyard permanently tensioned must be the easiest way to ruin a sail over the season.
Plus, altering halyard tension for different wind strength is normal practice- is it not?
Or do owners not bother with such technicalities?
 
Daydream believer said:
With all due respect. Leaving a halyard permanently tensioned must be the easiest way to ruin a sail over the season.
Plus, altering halyard tension for different wind strength is normal practice- is it not?alther the halyard
Or do owners not bother with such technicalities?
Click to expand...
I think you find most don't .
we don't and to do so means every time you want to furl you have to climb out of the CC and go to the mast .
I May just as well have a Hank on jib .
But hey every one to their own .
I not seen in any sail Manuel to do that with a furler ,
 
We have an Oyster 406 (centre cockpit) - furling line goes behind cockpit and then forward, so about a 150 degree turn. Putting a better (bigger) block on the furling line made things easier. jib is around 150% and with the previous Rotostay IV furler (20 years old), we could - just - furl by hand, if the conditions were benign; however with any strong wind we needed to use a winch. After one particularly windy day sail, and difficult furl, I examined the furler and found the foil had snapped above the furler. Due to a combination of circumstances I decided that it would be better to replace the furling gear with a Selden Furlex, rather than mending the existing gear, and what a difference! Obviously pulling in a 150% genoa can still be a struggle in a wind, but the modern gear is so, so much better! We have not needed to use a winch since fitting the new furling gear.
 
sailaboutvic said:
I think you find most don't .
we don't and to do so means every time you want to furl you have to climb out of the CC and go to the mast .
I May just as well have a Hank on jib .
But hey every one to their own .
I not seen in any sail Manuel to do that with a furler ,
Click to expand...
AAHH - I tend to forget that people are still living in the past ;) ;)
All my lines lead aft to the cockpit. Seems a trend on modern AWB's (y)
Taking a turn of the halyard around the winch, then slipping the clutch a fraction just takes seconds..
The point being, that easing the load on the bearings does make it far easier to furl the sail.
Many on the "MyHanse Forum" have reported it as well.
I suspect that easing the halyard prior to furling means that the tension is evenly eased, all the way down the sail. If one does it after furling it tends not to ease it all the way, only on part of the sail, as a tight furl grips the luff in the groove.
 
Daydream believer said:
AAHH - I tend to forget that people are still living in the past ;) ;)
All my lines lead aft to the cockpit. Seems a trend on modern AWB's (y)
Taking a turn of the halyard around the winch, then slipping the clutch a fraction just takes seconds..
The point being, that easing the load on the bearings does make it far easier to furl the sail.
Many on the "MyHanse Forum" have reported it as well.
I suspect that easing the halyard prior to furling means that the tension is evenly eased, all the way down the sail. If one does it after furling it tends not to ease it all the way, only on part of the sail, as a tight furl grips the luff in the groove.
Click to expand...
Yea still in the pass ,
glad it works for you .
 
Interesting question as DD brought it up .
how many here with boats over 12 mts go forward and take tension off the halyard, ?no let's make it more interesting 11mts ,
And how many when they need to reef also take tension off their Genny halyard ?
 
sailaboutvic said:
Interesting question as DD brought it up .
how many here with boats over 12 mts go forward and take tension off the halyard, ?no let's make it more interesting 11mts ,
And how many when they need to reef also take tension off their Genny halyard ?
Click to expand...
Vic,

Like you we have to go to the mast to adjust halyard tension. I confess that we never ease halyard to furl though often adjust halyard tension to suit sailing conditions. But I can learn new tricks, I’ll have a go at easing tension before furling and see if it makes a difference. 13.4m LOA. 14t sloop rigged.
 
No instructor, mentor, club member or fellow sailor has mentioned halyard tension to me as an aid to easier furling or reefing and no mention is made of this in my comprehensive owners boat manual.

I am careful not to overtension and overload the furler drum and top swivel bearings.
 
rotrax said:
No instructor, mentor, club member or fellow sailor has mentioned halyard tension to me as an aid to easier furling or reefing and no mention is made of this in my comprehensive owners boat manual.
I am careful not to overtension and overload the furler drum and top swivel bearings.
Click to expand...
Well you have just learned something new ;)
Another plus for the forum then(y)
When the wind gets up you can now feel more confident in increasing tension on the halyard to draw the flow forward a bit rather than let it move aft. :D
 
rotrax said:
No instructor, mentor, club member or fellow sailor has mentioned halyard tension to me as an aid to easier furling or reefing and no mention is made of this in my comprehensive owners boat manual.

I am careful not to overtension and overload the furler drum and top swivel bearings.
Click to expand...
This is most like the problem some are finding , they over tension the sail .
In our case it's the way the furling line runs , as I said if I stand on the stern it manageable ,
If there was another way I could feed it back to the cockpit I would and the problem would be solved ,
The other problem is if people pull the sail out without control the furling line ,
Then it can get twisted in the drum.

On some boats there are some things that can be done to help ,
on others the only way is a winch or have a weight lifter as a crew .

Every thing suggest here isn't new , we tryed them all in the pass .

As for the halyard twisting around the foil , this happen when you don't have s guide eye on the top of the mast to thread the halyard through .
Our boat is 14.5 ton it's not a light races , losing the halyard in light wind or thighten mod winds and getting a extra .3 of a knot not worth the trouble.
Well that's my option .
But if it works for others that's great .
 
Last edited:
Daydream believer said:
Well you have just learned something new ;)
Another plus for the forum then(y)
When the wind gets up you can now feel more confident in increasing tension on the halyard to draw the flow forward a bit rather than let it move aft. :D
Click to expand...


Look, mark and inwardly digest - I clearly said " halyard tension as an aid to easier furling or reefing"

Your comment is clearly about sail trim, surely a completely different matter and not the subject of this thread.

IMHO, of course.
 
rotrax said:
Look, mark and inwardly digest - I clearly said " halyard tension as an aid to easier furling or reefing"
Your comment is clearly about sail trim, surely a completely different matter and not the subject of this thread.
IMHO, of course.
Click to expand...
But you said that you did not put much tension on the halyard to avoid over tension in the drum. I pointed out that you could, provided you eased it prior to reefing. It is obvious that you are not doing this & not being told other things ( I wonder why? :unsure:) I just thought it might help in passing
Sorry if I have rattled your cage :oops:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top