sails

1= One Genoa or the largest sail size depends on the type or rig, Masthead of Fractional rig
2= second largest genoa, believe it or not
3= sometimes called a Working jib will come with a high cut foot and finish at about the mast along the foot.

To fit a roller reefing system, the 1 genoa would be used ut would have to be recut with a new luff made up to fit the size of your new roller reefing forestay.

Yes to the third question but you will need a strong point of fixing on the desk for the new extra stay, to form a cutter rig if thats what you have in mind somewhere over any forecabin area again depending on the boat.

Remember the roller reefing will do all the jobs of the old sails 1,2,3. If they are old then it would be worth the extra to buy a propose made genoa for the new roller system. Check out the mags. You can get good combination offers.
 
If you are going to fit roller furling

go for a new sail. The mods to your old No 1 - removing hanks, adding luff tape, adding UV protection strips are probably not worth it unless the sail is in very good nick.

Option would be to buy the boat and use the hanked on sails for a season. You don't need a furler on a 28ft boat unless you are trying to save sail storage space down below. Bear in mind that the hanked on No 3 will probably set a lot better than a semi-furled No 1.
 
You could go to Seateach (seateach.com) who will supply both the roller reefing gear and a genoa to match. They will even give you an allowance on your old sails. I found this to be the best solution.
 
Converting a No1 Genoa to roller reefing is rarely a good idea. A roller reefing Genoa will tend to have a flatter cut, and be made of stronger fabric than a conventional hanked-on sail.

You are likely to have more success with the No2 and No3, which tend to be flatter cut anyway, so when converted will still work reasonably well on a roller furler.

If you do decide to fit furling gear I would recommend getting a new No1 cut, otherwise you are likely to be disappointed, and you can get good deals on combined furler and genoa. At the same time consider getting the old 2 & 3 converted. There are people who sail the entire season with only the one genoa, but I find the 3 very useful, especially when sailing in winds F6+. A partly furled sail cannot perform as well as one specially designed for the wind range, and having the no3 converts conditions that would otherwise be unpleasantly strong into glorious sailing weather.
 
Had the same sort of rig with the main forestay on a bowspit so hanking on was a bit of a pain and perhaps will be for you in just 28ft., we were 27ft.

Changed to a new genoa and Plastimo furling system and life became much pleasnter and able to trim from the cockpit and no going forward to drop em!!


Glen
 
If you're going to fit roller furling, have a look at Sailspar's kit (Tower Street, Brightlingsea). It is well made, has one continuous line and above all it's British made. When I got mine (nine years ago), it was cheaper than the Plastimo kit and I think better made.
 
We had our original genoa modified to go on a roller reefing system. We were pleased with the result although the boat was (we felt) ever so slightly less close-winded than before. On balance, we didn't regret fitting it and headsail changes became a thing of the past - a real boon for short-handed sailing. BUT (and its a big BUT), we didn't get a UV strip sewn on so we still took the sail down each time we left the boat. Eventually, we got lazy and decided to leave it up all the time. Consequently, we had a strip sewn on. This was where it all went pear-shaped. I think the extra thickness of the strip combined with the inherent bagginess of a hank-on genoa (and an old, stretched one at that) made it pretty horrible when partly reefed. It now sets like an old bin bag! Our advice would be to get the old sail recut as a spare, by all means but don't put a UV strip on it and get a new sail made if you want to leave it on all the time.
 
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