Sail Management - Roller Furling


One of the fun parts of having a larger boat on Lake Harriet or Calhoun is the ability to stop, drop the anchor, and chill out. It's a great way to socialize and relax. It also breaks up the back-and-forth sailing on a small lake. Do this a few times a day, however, and you soon wish for a way to manage your sails when they are down. In this post, we'll take a look at options for the jib.

By far the best way to manage your jib is with a roller furler. A roller furler wraps the jib around an long extrusion that either replaces or fits over your forestay. A line that leads back to the cockpit controls how much of the sail is in or out. Now, instead of lowering the jib halyard and having someone on the foredeck gathering up the falling sail, you just pull a control line, and the the jib rolls up around its self. Quick and simple. Because it is self storing, you do not have to bag it. It is all very simple and effective.

A few times out, and you will wonder how you lived without it. It also makes soling MUCH more practical, as managing the jib without a furler is really a two person job. You can still race with it, but change sails takes much longer. That is probably this biggest downside. If you are really set on a furler AND full-bore racing, they do make units that facilitate faster sail changes, but that not what I'm here to talk about!

The good news is that furlers can easily be added to most small cruisers, and that work can even be done mid-season. There are several great companies that make furlers, but for small cruisers I think that the CDI Flexible Furler II is a great option. One of the big reasons is because it uses your existing forestay. That really simplifies the design, and lowers the cost. A lot of the other designs replace your forestay, and create a complex structure that actually has to be able to rotate under the pressure of holding up your mast. Sounds expensive, and it is. CDI has a web site found HERE, which has a lot more details.

You will also have to get your favorite headsail modified to work with the furler. That's actually a rather straight forward task. Or, you could get a brand new jib, designed for the furler. In any case, any of the local sailing outfits can help sort you out with the details. But with the exception of the sail, it really is a DIY project. Stop by on Jackdaw this Spring, and check mine out!

Oh- one other note: Furlers seem to work better on fractionally rigged boats or boats with smaller headsails. If you sail a masthead rig typically with a big 150 or 180% genoa, well, that's a lot of sail to roll. Talk to a sailmaker if you have a question, or ask it here.


Another simple and low-cost solution is the jib bag. This zippered bag attaches to your forestay and engulfs your lowered jib while it is still hanked on. Your jib halyard then is attached to the eye loop at the back of the back to keep it off the deck. A great, simple idea. We used one for several years. You can find them all over the net. Like HERE

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