Tell tails on a furling main sail

[cmedsailor]

Hello,
I would like to place tell tails on my in mast furling main sail. At least in the middle of it. Do they work the same way like on a classic mainsail?
Thanks

 

[PeteCooper]

You only need telltales on the leech - usually somewhere near the batten pockets but I guess that you don't have any pockets so just space a few telltales evenly along the leech.

 

[michael_w]

As furling mains usually have a very hooked leach; I wouldn't expect telltales to be much use. They'd always be stalled.

 

[lw395]

I would put one 2/3 up the leach. I'd be a bit worried about it tangling in the mast, so make sure its nice and weak, and not long enough to clove hitch itself around the whole rolled sail or something!
A few across a chord line 1/3 way up might be interesting, you just have to experiment and be prepared to remove those that lead the helm astray, eg if a top one encourages pinching because the twist is never quite right.
Its good to see someone making an effort with a roller, just because its a cruising sail doesn't mean its not worth a bit of tweaking.

 

[cmedsailor]

"Its good to see someone making an effort with a roller, just because it's a cruising sail doesn't mean its not worth a bit of tweaking".
Exactly. I have furling main sail because I sail usually with my wife and kids so it had to be easy for me to control almost everything. However, why not go faster and most of all why not keep learning. And I have also learned that a bad trimming on a classic main sail will drive a boat much slower than a good trimming on a furling one.

 

[misterg]

I fitted some to our furling main. Yes, they work the same as on a conventional main. Would thoroughly recommend it - I found I was over-sheeting a lot in light winds. No problems with tangling (4-5" long tails at ~1/2 and 2/3 way up leech).

Andy