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Roller/Furlers

  • August 13, 2011 6:55 PM
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    Message # 675742
    Deleted user

    Anyone use a cdi roller/furler on W32 ?  I have a friend who uses one on a Cal34 sailing Prince William Sound, and has found it to be well built, simple and a good investment.  I've checked out a half dozen W32's and 43's from Homer South to Wash/Oregon.  Harken and Pro-Furl seem to be the roller/furler of choice. I would like to purchase a roller/furler for next season and leaning toward cdi and hoping someone with a W32 can offer an opinion or two.  Thanks, Dan Weatherly

     
  • August 23, 2011 11:14 AM
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    Reply # 683097 on 675742
    Deleted user
       You might get a better response in the Sail Plan or Gear for the boat area. That said, Bud has had good service with the Profurl system. He gets them for a good price.Ken
  • August 23, 2011 4:31 PM
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    Reply # 683239 on 675742
    Anonymous member
    I worked at a sailing school with CDI furlers on all of the 20' keelboats. They worked well and were simple, but I wouldn't want one on a larger boat. The flexible foils, while fine for short, small headsails, are bound to have issues on large luffs. Also, even on the little boats, when the wind really picked up, they became hard to furl due to friction on the drum.

    We chose to get a Hood roller reefing unit - cost about $650 and is very well made, robust, and works flawlessly. We don't use it to reef; just furl.

    ~Aaron N.
    Last modified: August 23, 2011 4:31 PM | Anonymous member
  • August 25, 2011 5:08 PM
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    Reply # 684859 on 675742
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I'm pretty happy with a Furlex furler - I find that the line will over wrap on the drum - unless I drag the line while deploying to keep wrap tight.   I think it's been in use 5+ years on the SF Bay.  Came with a new forestay and pretty good directions - installed it myself.

     

    Last modified: August 25, 2011 5:08 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • November 09, 2011 5:23 AM
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    Reply # 745859 on 675742
    Anonymous member
    Maybe it's just my luck but every time I've sailed on a boat with roller furling for an extended time there is at least one occasion when things go to $***.  The furling line parts or gets jammed in the roller, there is a kink in a fairlead, etc. and it always seems to happen just when you don't need the grief. And at 1AM in the morning.

    And there you are, getting soaked out on the bowsprit in increasingly miserable weather, trying to fix something while your jib flaps wildly over your head, lines flogging around you.

    No thank you... I like the K.I.S.S. of my hank-on fore sails.  I need to douse sail?  Uncleat the halyard and boom! It drops to the deck (I have safety netting to catch the sail from going overboard).
  • November 09, 2011 8:43 PM
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    Reply # 746422 on 675742
    Deleted user

    We have a Profurl 42 on the jib and a Profurl 32 on the staysai and never a problem. While we don't have as many miles under the keel as some, @20,000 with a 4,000 mile trip to Mexico, I can say we wouldn't want to cruise without them.  The ability to furl or reef from the safety of the cockpit makes for much safer crusing. We can handle things without getting the other person up, a real advantage when things get snotty in the middle of the night. Also the ease to furl/reef the sails allows us to have many combination without having to go on deck to make sail changes. While crusing I noticed they're were very few boats without one or both headsails on a furler.

    Any of the major brands are up to the task. I'm hearing good things about the one made in Brazil that Bud sells.

    Jim