Furling Staysails

[Moneypenny]

While I subscribe to the policy of simplicity where possible, I have never sorted out my staysail so that it drops neatly under a downhaul line led from the head of the sail, down to a block inside the forestay and thence aft to the cockpit. The sail is an original SA model with a luff wire; the piston hanks are brass and just about large enough for hoisting but inevitably jamb when lowering. Finally, I finish up with a sail over the deck just where I want to work the anchor or bowlines. Time to change to a furling system? What works?

[David Hill]

Hi,

I have stuck to the simplicity of a downhaul line. I too had the problem of jamming (I also have the original SA jib with the brass hanks), but I 'solved' it by putting the downhaul line through only a single hank instead of all 7 or 8. By pulling the jib sheet tight as you drop it, the sail does fall to one side leaving the other side relatively clear for anchor work.

I remember Nick telling me that if you are using the jib in a blow, then you really want the luff as tight as poss to avoid leeway, which could be important........and as such, he'd never advocate a furling jib.

just my 2c, of course!

Cheers,

David

[Simon Head]

Hi Peter

I upgraded to a furling system, using the same ronstan drum as the genoa, probably a bit over the top but it works well. There are cheaper barton drums that will do the job (in and out furling).

There is no additional drilling required- you just need to have a wire luff sewn into the sail if that is not there already. It fits neatly behind the forestay using the same fitting to connect to the deck as the existing sail, with the addition of a shackle.

To avoid wrapping around the forestay it is advisable to have a forestay guard.

I use to have the downhaul but found it a bit messy on deck.

Regards

Simon Head

[oak]

Well Simon,I took your advice re the Ronstan furler rather than the Barton .The main reason being apart from the fact they seem to work pretty well is that it's always a good idea to have similar items around in case of breakages.
I also bought the swivel with guard .I am wondering though whether this will cause any problems when dropping the mast for bridges? I shall see
One point not mentioned is apart from the wire luff is the desirabilty of putting on a U.V.strip.
My sailmaker has just modified my staysail with the wire and strip.He also left the hanks on!perhaps he was just to lazy to take them off.or he wears belt and braces.
a good point about tightness of luff beating off a lee shore,just make sure I 'm not there.
terrific site.shall need to take a day skippers course in IT.
regrds
Jack
Merlin

[David]

If the staysail has a wire luff for furling, is it neccessary to have the forestay as well, as you can get the tension via the luff. I have tried doing away with the forestay and have found it ok. Previously tensioning the luff caused the forestay to sag and tightening that up further seem to put excess load on the mast. More masts break with over tensioned rigging than anything else, the compression loads have to be kept right.

David

CC36 Credence

[oak]

Golly David,wouldn't that be a bit risky?supposing the halyard slipped in the clutch or some-one flicked the wrong rope.
you must be getting some tension on the halyard if everything else is taut
Jack
Merlin

[David Peck]

Quote From Dennis

[I"]Hello again Frank

I noticed that you have fitted roller furling to your staysail.

How do you you find the sailing performance compared with the hank on sail you originally used?

I am still undecided whether to change to roller furling on Mary Ann."[/I]


Roller Furling

Hi Dennis,
Personally I think it would be a bad move to go away from a hanked staysail to a separate furling system behind the forestay. It does not make sense when the current downhaul system (for me at least) works well.

If you want to be able to furl away the sail why not consider a proper reefing foil around the existing forestay and have the added ability to reef the system as well as furling away for convenience. There are times when tacking in heavy seas would benefit from a slightly smaller staysail/jib. Jeckells told me they could convert the existing sail for this purpose.

The downside of course, is stowage of the foil when trailing. As you do not trail every week like some, this may not be too much of a problem. Of course if you went for my light weight carbon fibre mast, stowage would be simple, you just stuff the foil up the centre of the tube!! I have looked into this and may install this system on my boat but I certainly would not go for a separate furling system behind the forestay. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Regards
David Peck
Whistling Rufus CC94

[Dennis]

Hello David

Thanks for your comments.

I have considered a foil around the forestay. My previous boat (Winkle Brig) had such a system (Holt), and it worked well. However, I anticipate it would be a nuisance when raising and lowering the mast. The advantage is that I would retain the rod straight luff on the staysail whilst having the convenience of the roller furling.

On my previous boat I simply lashed the genoa (wrapped around its foil) to the mast when towing.

As far as I am aware only Plastimo make a foil system which may be suitable, but I would be delighted to be told otherwise.

I do envy you your carbon fibre mast. Some day:(

[Ru88ell]

As far as I am aware only Plastimo make a foil system which may be suitable, but I would be delighted to be told otherwise.

Zephyr came with one of these and it was the first thing I got rid of. It looked like a carbuncle on the face of a beautiful woman. Yuk.

Before you come to any conclusions, Dennis, you should sail alongside a CC19 with a furled staysail. You'll stay as you are as soon as you realise how much higher you can point.

[David Peck]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
As far as I am aware only Plastimo make a foil system which may be suitable, but I would be delighted to be told otherwise.


Dennis,

One type of foil/furler I have seen on a Swallow Boat "Bay Cruiser 23" is a Schaefer Snapfurl CF500 which is suitable for boats up to 24ft. This will give you both reefing and furling capabilities!

http://www.furling.com/snapfurl.html

Regards
David Peck
CC19 Whistling Rufus