Opinions on Roller Furling

[newt]

Yep- roller furling, the old sailor's friend.

[rip]

Rip:
      Where do you sail, Rip?
Bob23 in NJ  on 1985 23/2 "Koinonia"

Hi Bob23, Tried to answer in email, but guess that's another facility of this forum I will have to research. I am sailing on the Hudson in the immediate proximity of Kingston NY. We have the 23 on a dock in the Rondout Creek. The 23 is nearly the perfect sailer/cruiser for this area which has large areas of low water flats.
Yes I agree that the hanked on jib works just fine on the 23. But I have a young sailor/part owner of the boat who is not comfortable with that setup, especially if she might be taking non sailors out for a ride. I appreciate her concern. We have pretty serious currents on the river which as you probably know flows both ways, as Pete would say. To get to our dock the motor is required and the currents at the mouth of the creek can be a challenge. Lifting/lowering the motor and getting it started will also be a challenge for her. It is a challenge for me. I do have it mostly figured out at this point though and can single handle out and in in most conditions. I lived on a 35 foot wooden Atkin design for a couple of years which I and my partner at the time sailed/motored down to Venezuela and back via Bermuda. A real learning experience for a real rookie at the beginning of the ride. I still consider myself a rookie when it comes to sail boats. That boat was a double ended gaff rigged cutter with a roller furled jib on the end of an 8 foot bowsprit. Could get interesting in a blow when furler misfunctioned, eh? Anyway thanks for your comments and those of other 23ers. This forum is a great bunch of sailors, most of whom appreciate the bennys of a full keeled boat that doesn't point too high, or go too fast. Smile, rip(ralph)   

[Shawn]

"but I need the ease of handling from the cockpit."

A downhaul on a hanked on jib helps quite a bit as it will let you drop the sail easily in any condition. Roller furling still wins on convenience though.

The advantage to hanked on is being able to easily change out headsails for a wider variety of conditions. Also because so many have gone to roller furling one can find good deals on lightly used hanked on sails. My 23 came with a 110% jib. For about the cost of the CDI FF2 I added a 130%, a 170% (drifter) and a 65% storm jib.

Shawn

[curtisv]

Just came across this thread and thought it might be a good place to ask a couple of rookie questions. I don't know anything about roller furling rigs. I also just bought an '82 23. It came with two head sails. Haven't taken the time to measure them but one seems like it would be a working jib and the other a bit larger. Here are my questions: If you have roller furling does it work with both sails or is one attached permanently? Does the wire in the rf take the place of the forestay? Thanks, rip

The roller furler foil (airfoil) goes over the original forestay.

Curtis

[Thunderchild]

Enjoyed the comments...I have also been thinking about adding rf to my 23.  I LOVE my genoa and would hate to give it up but it would be nice to have the convenience of rf when a big wind comes up.

[rdcvsmith]

anyone have pics, parts, etc for adding a headsail downhaul for a CP19
-Ray

[Shawn]

Ray,

The downhaul is very simple to add. It is basically just a small swivel block mounted on the bowsprit with an eyestrap. I positioned it to port and slightly aft of the forestay. Tie a 1/8" or 3/16" line to the snap shackle on the halyard then run the line though the block and outside of the stanchions and tie the other end to the lifeline or a stanchion base. I use a velcro strap to coil the downhaul line on the lifeline just to port of the halyard rope clutches.

When you raise the jib just let the downhaul line feed forward and up with the jib. When it is time to drop the jib release the jibs rope clutch and just pull the sail down with the downhaul. It is is really windy use either of the cleats to keep tension in the downhaul and it will prevent the jib from self launching again.

Some run the downhaul through a few of the hanks on the jib but I found that added to much friction and made it more likely to jam when trying to raise/lower the jib.

Shawn

[HideAway]

We use the same system as Shawn does.  It takes a bit of adjustment when you first set it up - alignment is the issue - but it works fine.  We carry a storm sail and genny in addition to the 110.  Its odd but we use the down haul like we used to use seat belts - only when its nasty!  Lately though its good to use it going through the draw bridges.  There is no question about the ease of using RF but some make the argument that reefiing especially in higher winds can damage the sail and ruins the sail shape. 

Years ago we would take students on HideAway for thier lessons when the wind was too high for the DSIIs.  We always had two instructors and up to two students on board.  The the instructor assigned to me refused to sit in the cockpit insisting on standing by the mast all afternoon.  She had long hair that was blowing all over the place and I was growing concerned she d fall off.  finally I declared the lesson over and told her I was dropping the jib.  I remember her looking at me then going forward as I operated the down haul.  She turned abruptly and her long hair wrapped around all three shrouds on the starboard side - caught in-between the metal twists.  She cut herself free but still refused to come back.  I had furry rigging for months- Matt