Mike, I fully understand your reluctance to roller furling, we were that way for ten years. But my wife and I have both experienced the bow dropping out on us in rough conditions bringing down a hank on sail, it's what convinced us to go to roller furling. As far as anecdotal examples of problems, I can't answer all of them as I wasn't there. But Tyler's first example appears to be operator error. You never let the sail unfurl uncontrollably, you control it with the furling line. Roller furlers have come a long way in the last twenty five years and I suspect most if not all of the problems are poor installation or operator error. Masts come down but that doesn't make me want a power boat.
As far as single handing goes, the most extreme single hander I know is Jerry Borucki from Half Moon Bay and has been featured in Latitude 38. He's in his 70's and has single handed to the Arctic circle three times. On his last trip he was caught in a freeze in a fjord and it was so cold his mainsail melted. You can find the article on page 88 http://www.latitude38.com/eBooks/2011/L38201102.html#.UQFd_h2mGSo The conditions he sails in are unbelievable and his stories are incredible. I've talked to Jerry about his Profurls as that is what we have, he said he couldn't do without them.
If Hank on sails work for you and your more comfortable that way, then by all means that's what you should do. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them and I'm not trying to convince you that is what you should do. But having had roller furlers for ten years, hank on for ten years and having been out on the bow sprite trying to get the sail down, I'm convinced roller furlers are much safer than hank on, not just convenient. On the Pacific side Ill bet 90% of the long distance cruisers have roller furling, quite a vote of confidence.
Jim
