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Furling Line Hardware -- A New Option

46K views 67 replies 33 participants last post by  Alex W 
#1 · (Edited)
I thought I'd post about a small upgrade we just made on our boat.

Like many of you, we have a roller-furling headsail. The furling unit is manipulated by a line that is lead aft to the cockpit, via a series of blocks and fairleads attached to the pulpits and stanchions.

I never liked the fairleads on our boat. They attach to the stanchion base, and lead the furling line inboard along the edge of the side-deck. The Schaefer hardware we had, called the "clamp-on stanchion block", looked like this:



Installed on our boat, it looked like this:



The biggest problem with this old hardware system was that the blocks stuck out on the inboard side of the stanchion, right at ankle-bone level. I cannot tell you how many times I smacked and sliced my ankles on those blocks -- believe me it hurts like the devil!

To their credit, about seven or eight years ago Schaefer came out with a much-improved stanchion fairlead, called the "clear-step":



The advantage of the "clear-step" is that the block slides down over the stanchion, and leads the line outboard, which cleans up the side-decks and reduces the chance of scraping your ankles on the hardware.

Unfortunately, we could not upgrade to the "clear-step" because it has to drop down over the stanchion. In our case, our boarding-gate stanchions have support "knees" welded to them, preventing installation of the "clear-step" system on 2 out of 4 stanchions.

Another option available from Schaefer is a simple clamp-on bulls-eye fairlead, which can be oriented inboard or outboard. I wasn't keen on this solution due to the increased friction, but it might be a good option for smaller boats:



But at the Annapolis Boat Show in October, I noticed a new solution from Harken. It's called the "Outboard Stanchion Lead Block Assembly" (OSLBA). It combines the best of the two Schaefer solutions, i.e. outboard blocks that can be clamped-on. Have a look:



I ordered four and installed them this past weekend. They are great! They are lower profile than the "clear-step" system (i.e., on the inboard side, they don't stick out hardly past the stanchion), and the twin-block assembly improves the fairlead.

Here are some photos, which I must apologize for their poor quality (the close-up macro on my camera isn't the best). The first two photos show the old and new blocks side-by-side, the last photo shows the completed installation. In the last photo, you can see the problem I mentioned with the boarding gate stanchion and its welded knee:







NO MORE SLICED ANKLES!!!

:) :) :)
 
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8
#2 ·
Very tidy, John.. that's a good idea from Harken....

No sliced ankles on our boat, our furling line (and the spinn downhaul) run THROUGH our SS handrails... another good idea from Camper Nicholson!!
 
#4 ·
The one problem I've found with some of Harken's stanchion mount blocks is that the screws fasten into a press-fit threaded insert, and if you're not careful, the inserts can be pulled free...making the mounting system not hold very securely.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Val,

The Schaefer "Clear-Step" pictured above retails from Defender at US$40/each.

The new Harken OSLBA units I installed retail from Defender at US$28/each. Price-wise, it is a no-brainer.

Garhauer has something similar that lists for about US$32/each. However, I examined their offering at the boat show and it was very heavy and klunky by comparison -- not a very elegant solution. You can see it here:

Garhauer SB-3 Stanchion Block

Edit: Oops, that link won't work since it's a search result. Just follow that link to Garhauer and search the product name.
 
#8 ·
Hello,

That Harken piece is nice. However, if there is no significant change in direction, a simple fairlead won't add any friction. I have a real block where the furling line comes off the drum and then just fairleads along the stanchions.

You can easily detect how much friction the fairleads or blocks add by just furling the sail by standing near the bow and pulling the line where it comes off the drum.

Barry
 
#9 ·
Hello,

That Harken piece is nice. However, if there is no significant change in direction, a simple fairlead won't add any friction. I have a real block where the furling line comes off the drum and then just fairleads along the stanchions.

You can easily detect how much friction the fairleads or blocks add by just furling the sail by standing near the bow and pulling the line where it comes off the drum.

Barry
Fairleads will definitely cause more friction that a good leadblock unless you have a straight line. I have confirmed this more times than I can remember.

You are correct that you can detect how much friction the fairleads or blocks add by furling the sail standing on the foredeck by you have to try it in all conditions.

The Harken blocks look pretty good to me. Side decks are narrow enough to begin with.
 
#12 ·
I installed the Garhauer stantion blocks for for our furling lines this past summer and I love them. Clunky? Not to my eye. I think the stainless construction of the Garhauer blocks blend in nicely with the stanchions. No plastic on them--I don't see them breaking any time soon.
 
#13 · (Edited)
The most important aspect of furler systems is how well you can pull the sail under load. Your stanchion blocks - how they are configured are the most important aspect of the design.

It has nothing to do with "you welt your legs" aspect. If you are welting then you are not sailing properly!

Lotsa of comments on using winches etc, all wrong using winches on furling lines period!!!!...Never!!

simple solution...

run the fairleads outside the stanchions for best mechanical advantage...It is where they should be actually. You get a better angle for starters...

Secondly you keep the deck clear.

The last stanchion block should be 45 degrees to point of incident. IE: 45 degrees to where you pull. It will stick out a hair but provide you the man handling leverage to pull in the genny / jib without using the winch. NEVER EVER use a winch to pull out the furler line... trust me - many $$$$

It either works or it does not and when it does not, it is human error not a result of the furler..Usually wrapped halyards at top of mast of mast or no slack in the tacking leads..
 
#14 ·
...It has nothing to do with "you welt your legs" aspect. If you are welting then you are not sailing properly!
I guess I did not make that point clearly.

Our furling system worked perfectly fine.

The problem was the propensity to clip our ankle bones on the old inboard clamp-on blocks while traversing the side-deck -- usually while docked or anchored.
 
#15 ·
Jody-

JRP was "welting" his ankles... the older Schaefer blocks were at the perfect height to do that and stuck out just far enough to do so regularly.
 
#17 ·
Ah, I miss the days when I was a GOOD Harken customer. I bought over 100 18 foot long mainsheet traveler tracks and 150 mainsheet cars in one pop, then bought a slightly smaller quantity a short time later. They didn't go on boats, they went on greenhouses! I could get my own boat hardware added on to the orders for some really good discounts!
 
#20 ·
Can anyone answer me what is the benefit of running the furlig line like this?

I had a similar setup on my boat when I purchased it, but I changed it after a while and moved the line up to the left "cockpit winch" instead. I felt it has worked better for me. Now I have a proper rope clutch for it and so on (there was only a clam cleat for it to begin with)..

The pictures arent perfect for illustrating, but you should be able to see the furlig line to the left on the top picture, and over the cabin (trough the rope clutch and around the left "cockpit winch") on the lower picture.



 
#25 ·
Thanks for the cautionary note, SD.

But I want to add that I had no such problems when installing our OSLBAs.

They snugged up nicely with the allen key. I did not use the "long arm" of the key, as I felt the short arm was adequate to the job.

As a matter of fact, I plan to replace the remaining pulpit blocks with the model SD embedded above.
 
#29 · (Edited)
We installed that nifty Harken kit (#7404) start of last season to replace a more cumbersome failing old set of fairleads and blocks, and did not encounter the insert pullout failure during installation (I hadn't been aware of it), so either it was fixed or not all have it. The furling line is now outboard of the stanchions and has been performing flawlessly.
 
#30 · (Edited)
John and others, thank you for posting all this great information which was quite useful to me for my upgrade. Prior to my upgrade, the line was neatly run through bulls-eyes on the inboard side of the bullwarks...but it had it's issues so I decided on an upgrade. Here is my installation using a combination of the Schaefer stanchion blocks and a Harken furler lead-in AirBlock.

The Schaefer stanchion block....Nice solid construction.



To secure it to the Stanchion, line up the hole in the sheave with the hex bolt and do not over tighten. It doesn't take much to solidly secure it in place.



I'm going to try them up high (7" above the caprail) for now because I want them clearly out of the way of the amid-ship cleats, chocks and headsail travelers but I will likely lower them a bit later.





Harken lead-in furler AirBlock for the pulpit.



I'll remove the old bulls-eyes and fill the holes when I get better weather.

 
#32 ·
Just curious, but why run the line so high. If you ran it lower, it would put less stress on the stanchions.
 
#37 ·
I understand that there two types of furling systems, one is just for headsail storage, the other is for reducing sail area while sailing. Which one is the storage type, and which one is the one that can be sailed on with a partially exposed sail?

I have a santana 525. I am looking into a furling system for it. Any suggestions?
 
#38 ·
Pretty well all the mainstream furlers are designed to reef as well (Harken, Furlex, Schaeffer, Profurl etc).

Some of the small boat designs like the smallest Cruising Designs and any zipper-luff jibs that are on furlers that are an integral part of the forestay generally are for furling/storage only.

The 'reefable' systems are, I would say, the majority these days.
 
#39 ·
Reefable systems require that the furler be able to handle significant torque loads. This requires a ridgid tube or extrusion. If there is just a luff wire or PVC extrusion then reefing is not possible, or a bad idea, because the extrusion will get permanently twisted. Furling also works best on relatively flat sails, and usually when furling say 30% of the sail. Beyond that most furling sails develop a bag shape that doesn't provide much in the way of drive.

Gary H. Lucas
 
#40 ·
Guys, i appreciate your input. My boat currently has a pvc type of housing on the forestay. It looks as though the head sail just slides onto the moulded track. I guess the sail has a rope type luff maybe. The pvc moukding had a couple breaks in it. So i am thinking that it may be shot. Now might be a good time to goto a furling system. You guys have any ball park ideas of cost for one?
 
#44 ·
Thanks for this great thread. I just bought the Harken kit that includes 3 OSLBA's as well as the lead block and the ratchet block. I have a question on how to set it up, the cleat I need to use is aft of the stern rail that I need to mount the ratchet block to. The kit says you need a 90 degree turn off of that block but I really can't get one. It would be a real pain to mount the cleat that came with the kit. I am putting this on an S2 7.3, has anyone used this kit on a small boat like this and how did you do it?

Thanks
 
#45 ·
That's great that you got the whole kit!:) Nice upgrade. I am just using the OSLBAs. Our terminal ratchet block at the cockpit has a jam cleat built into it. We do have another small, fixed cleat forward of that as backup.

It really won't work very well if your cleat is aft of the ratchet block. Like they say, for the ratchet block to work advantageously, the line need to wrap around it.

Could you possibly find another spot forward of the stern rail to mount the small cleat? Or possibly show us some photos of your cockpit? We have some regular folks here that are very clever with rigging and deck hardware -- if you can give them a visual they can probably suggest a solution.
 
#47 ·
You shouldn't simply run the line from the cockpit/cleat directly to the first OSLBA. The OSLBAs are only designed as stand-off blocks to allow the furling line to pass outside of the stanchions with low friction. They require that the line be led in fair, and can't take much load. Same goes for any furling line stanchion blocks - not just Harken's OSLBA

So you really need to have some kind of turning block as the terminus near the cockpit. The block will (1) line up the furling line so it leads fair into the OSLBAs, and (2) take the load when you are pulling on the furling line to furl the sail. The block does not have to be a ratchet block per se, but the ratchet feature on the block will help you ease the line out under better control. You can get the same effect as the ratchet by wrapping the line on a winch.
 
#50 ·
Here is a picture of my setup, the furling line will be the yellow line, you can see the forward most part of the stern rail with the ratchet block sort of on it and the cleat behind it. I may be able to mount the harken cleat ahead of the ratchet block and turn the line 180 but the deck is narrow there and hard to access from below so that would be my last choice.

Forgive all the dirt! I haven't got to my spring cleaning yet!
 
#51 ·
jet,

Those photos are great and very helpful! Don't worry about the spring cleaning.:)

In my view, you have a very standard configuration. The ratchet block is definitely for the termination at the cockpit, and the regular block is for forward at the bow pulpit just before the line enters the furler drum.

The ratchet block needs to be spun around and mounted so that it is facing forward and inward somewhat toward the cockpit (not completely opposite how you have it now in the photo, more like spun 90-110 degrees counterclockwise). Then you can very easily mount the small cleat on either the flat surface of the cockpit coaming or the surface of the coaming that cants down to the narrow side-deck, somewhere forward of the pulpit (typically 1.5-2' forward of the block).

I think you can get this set-up very nicely. You should have pretty good access to the underside of the deck via the locker (or an aft cabin?) for mounting that small cleat.
 
#52 ·
jet,

Those photos are great and very helpful! Don't worry about the spring cleaning.:)

In my view, you have a very standard configuration. The ratchet block is definitely for the termination at the cockpit, and the regular block is for forward at the bow pulpit just before the line enters the furler drum.

The ratchet block needs to be spun around and mounted so that it is facing forward and inward somewhat toward the cockpit (not completely opposite how you have it now in the photo, more like spun 90-110 degrees counterclockwise). Then you can very easily mount the small cleat on either the flat surface of the cockpit coaming or the surface of the coaming that cants down to the narrow side-deck, somewhere forward of the pulpit (typically 1.5-2' forward of the block).

I think you can get this set-up very nicely. You should have pretty good access to the underside of the deck via the locker (or an aft cabin?) for mounting that small cleat.
Thanks!
That makes sense, I will look at that route, I was also thinking of setting the cleat on the teak block aft of the jib winch cam cleat. That cleat could stand to be moved a bit anyways.
 
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