Roller reefing - Facnor or Furlex?

I fitted a Plastimo to the previous boat and the current one came with one. No problems with either - other than the ss rivets which are a right PITA if/when you need to dismantle it, e.g. to replace the forestay. I would suggest using monel or even aluminium (they aren't really load bearing) instead. Newer versions I believe use screws instead.

I have heard it said that one of the fancier makes - I've forgotten which - is assembled using glue and can't be dismantled at all!
 
Summarising your responses:

Rotostay 2 positives
Furlex 3 positives 3 negatives
Profurl 7 positives
Harken 3 positives 1 negative
Facnor 2 positives
Plastimo 3 positives 1 less so.

Interesting? No?

Guess I'll be looking at Profurl before I go much further.
 
Wouldn't read that much into a small sample

FWIW our current boat - 1989 build - has had a Furlex from new and never had any problems. We push the boat hard on occasions, but always try to minimise load on the furling gear when reefing. We avoid flapping sails or furling with the sail powered if poss

Our previous boat did get us into a near scrape with the roller reefing jamming on a memorable occasion entering Bembridge. It was a defining moment when my wife realised that she was very much part of our little crew. The make was Rotostay

To be honest, I would trust most of the makes listed. Suspect that bad installations will have biased a few responses on here
 
I bought Profurl last year after some research here and with friends.
My short list was down to Harken and Profurl.

I went with Profurl as they seemed to be bullet proof, and many of the round world sailer have them. I cruise only but that doesn't mean I don't want to get th ebest out of my boat. A couple of friends had problems with the Harken (screws dropping out). I really liked the Harken and would have gone for it had I not heard of the niggling problems.
 
We suffered two Furlex failures, both due to wear and/or seizure in the roller bearing at the lower end. The second of these almost led to a dismasting off Calais when the forestay had fractured a large percentage of its wires. We were forced to buy a new forestay there and then, and on the advice of the local Bleu Marine rigger at Dunkerque we ordered a Facnor unit. His advice was that he saw lots of Furlex failures but had never seen one with a Facnor.

Five years later I would agree with him that the Facnor is excellent. It is far simpler than the Furlex, without the 'centre reefing first' feature but I have never noticed that the sail was more baggy with the Facnor. For cruising purposes it seems to be one of the 'BSH' designs and is hard to beat.
 
Good question. The boat in the next parking spot to mine is a flat-bottomed racy thing, v modern, fitted with facnor. The successful owner reckons it is magic. Far smoother than anything he has had before (Furlex, I think) and virtually un-jammable. My Furlex had the lead come loose under the drum, and the line ended up in a mess. Only once in 6 years and on a mild day - but this could not happen with facnor. We have a response from ONE facnor user, are they that thin on the ground?
 
It still seems no-one has a bad word to say about the Profurl.

Looking at the costs, they don't seem to be much different from the others.

Is there any point in going for a model designed for 30' plus when we're only 27'?
 
Based purely on personal experience I am surprised by the reaction to Furlex. My last two boats both had Furlex rollers which worked well and suffered no significant failure. A regular service helped keep them running smoothly. Current boat has a Harken which is not as light or smooth running but does seem more robust.
 
[ QUOTE ]
What caused your Rotostay to jam?

[/ QUOTE ]

The boat hadn't been used for a while when I bought her, and suspect that the bearings had become a little stiff although it felt free to the hand. The sail would run out to about 2/3rd then stop until a gust freed it off or I went forward and freed it manually. I tried servicing the bearings and tensioning the backstay and the problem disappeared

I think when it jammed it was the furling line which had made a riding turn within the drum (from memory). Never had the problem since and as far as I know the current owner hasn't either

Even with the Furlex, we now always take up the slack in the furling line and lock it off after we've released the sail
 
Cheers. Our Rotostay has jammed twice - once it picked up the spinnaker halyard which I'd parked in a silly place, once when I let the line run too loose when unfurling. Neither seem to be faults with the rig, more operator error, and neither has recurred since I became aware of the issue.
 
Have had 2 Furlex and 1 facnor, none have ever let me down. The 1st Furlex did over 20k miles, the Facnor, 2 transats and loads more. Both good IMHO. Had huge problems with a Harken once on a delivery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top