Roller Reefing on a Trailer Sailer

[RobW]

Hello,
I am currently considering purchasing a roller reefing system for our 20ft trailer sailer (Copland Harrier).

Just wondered if anyone could recommend / has experience of using a furling system on smaller boats as I would like to find out which make/model would be best suited to this type/size of craft.

We frequently sail with small children onboard, so the ability to reef quickly from the cockpit would be a big plus, however we do still race occasionally, so I would not want to loose much in performance either!

Any advise much appreciated.



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[LadyViolet]

I have a 20ft trailer sailer and I fitted a Schaefer Snapfurl roller reefing system a few years ago. I have been very pleased with it but if you are fitting it yourself, make sure you treble check the correct position of the halyard restrainer on the mast (vital to prevent halyard wrap) to ensure a wide enough angle between the upper swivel unit and the mast.

You can get all the information you need from Nauquip's web-site:

http://www.furling.com/snapfurl.html

The Snapfurl has the advantage of a very flexible extrusion, so you can lower your mast with the system still attached to your headstay.

I have no connection with either company, other than as a customer

<hr width=100% size=1>Nick Seaward

 

[geoffatstanpit]

I have a Rotostay E on my Parker 21 and it does all that I'd expect of it. It has decent ball bearings at all the critical places and with the 15 degree minimum lead angle for the halyard I've had no trouble with wraps.

Do remember however that if you propose to have a smaller jib for those occasions when it's obviously going to blow a bit, it needs to have the same luff length as your big one to keep the angle right or you might find you can't wind it up.

Geoff

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[alahol2]

Or a webbing strop at top and bottom to match the luff length of the normal genoa.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.troppo.co.uk> Follow the Tightwad Sailor</A>

 

[William_H]

I have to say something contradictory. Be aware I don't have roller reefing on my 21 ft trailer sailer and never will. I have sailed on other boats with it and we have a 20 ft keel boat with roller reefing in our racing fleet. I think the performance degradation due to inability to really sheet the jib in hard and the difficulty of getting the sheeting point right mean that you will have difficulty pointing on windward beats. (difficulty here means difficult to keep up with similar boats with correct sized jib). If you must have roller reefing get a small jib so that you are not reefed very often and add a large reaching genacker for light wind days. Standing by for the flack........ will

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[MUS]

Totally agree. We had roller reefing on our 21ft Limbo when we bought her. Had no end of problems with it so went back to hanked-on jib. Cheaper, better performance, less to go wrong, and can be dropped on deck in an instant.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://groups.msn.com/Limboyachts>http://groups.msn.com/Limboyachts</A>

 

[LadyViolet]

This debate rages on for all classes of boats, not just trailer-sailers (though I would argue that with very narrow side decks and small foredeck, the trailer-sailer owner can make a stronger case for roller-reefing than most).

At the end of the day, all you need to do is look at the boats around you. How many have roller-reefing and how many keep the traditional jib arrangements? Boat owners are not complete fools: if the convenience (and safety) of roller-reefing did not outweigh the loss of windward performance, they wouldn't hand over hard cash to buy and install them.

<hr width=100% size=1>Nick Seaward

 

[geewalker]

Another idea is to fit a downhaul on a conventionaly hanked jib to avoid going on the foredeck on small boats.
I have had several small trailer sailers (14 to 21 feet). Roller reef does give a performance penalty...but the convenience factor especially with a small family on board outweighs it (in my opinion). If it is blowing that hard, usually you take all the sails down if the family are with you.
My current t/s 21' has a roller system, but I would be equally happy with a downhaulled hanked jib.

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[karlh]

How do i fit a downhaul to a hanked jib?
Is it as obvious as it sounds?

 

[fireball]

Oh yer - it is very simple ... instead of attaching the tack to the fitting, attach via a block (or 2) and tackle - lead the line to a cleat to apply and hold the tension....

 

[karlh]

Im struggling with this.
Surely the line is attached to the head?

 

[aitchw]

Does the jib have a wire luff? Is this the reason it won't fall under gravity?

I think what AFrogley had in mind is what I would call jib cunningham for tensioning the luff and altering the draught where you want literally a downhaul to drop the luff when you release the halyard. If so run a light prestretched line up to the head. If you have enough clearance in the hanks you could thread it through them to stop it flying free of the stay. Lead it to wherever you want through fairleads at deck level to tie off.

 

[fireball]

Gah .. sorry - I read the post wrong - the boat we used to have had a 4:1 block and tackle attached to the tack to tension the luff of the jib.

I think what is being suggested above is - as aitchw says - a (lightish) line attached to the head (or just to the halyard) that can be used to pull the sail back down without the need for going on the foredeck. I assume once down far enough you apply a small load on one of the sheets to stop the whole sail dropping in the water.

If you use a 5-6mm line as your halyard you could probably use that as the dropping line too - assuming it is long enough - saving extra lines on board.

TBH I would have a furler if possible - it is much easier to pack it away and doesn't crowd the foredeck ....

 

[karlh]

Thanks all,

I shall give it a try this week end.

No i wont its christmas, drat!

 

[fireball]

And that's gonna stop you?
What time do you have christmas dinner - around 13:00 ish?
Well - that gives 4hours from 9 to get the boat on the water ... can get about an hour or so sailing in... might be a triffle chilly though