Convert furling sails to hank on

[BlueWaterMD]

My boat has the older style roller furling which runs directly behind the forestay. It really doesn't work well at all. The sail gets tangled in the forestay. It takes an incredible abount of force to furl the sail. The sail doesn't lay flat, leaving spaces that are not covered by the UV cover.

I don't have the $$$ to replace the furler. Is it possible to get the sail restitched to convert it to a hank on sail? If so how much would this generally cost me (23' boat)?

[WouldaShoulda]

I know people have done it, but I'm worried it would cost nearly as much to re-cut it as it would to replace it.

Maybe a used sail loft would trade you??

[121Guy]

Hi Blue water,

This is a fairly easy thing to do. The small piston hanks are readily available. If you pck the right sailmaker, he may have the ones he took off someone else's Sail when he did the reverse conversion to what you are attempting.

Your sail probably has a beaded tape called a luff tape which goes into the furler channel currently. Behind that there should be a bolt rope. Some smaller sails don't have the bolt rope as the luff tape and the sail fabric are strong enough. If your sail has a bolt rope sewn in, and on a sail your size, and depending on the distance between te bolt rope and the edge of the luff tape, you may only have to press in small grommets every 24 or so and then screw in the hanks through the grometts. That is the easiest scenario. The hardest would be to remove the luff tape and install a bolt rope or otherwise refinish the luff, then install grommets and screw in hanks or as some sailmakers prefer / insist, sew them in.

The complicates scenario may make you think about putting money into an older sail. The easy scenario should be pretty inexpensive.

Perhaps if you described the problems you are having with your behind the headstay furler, they can be easily remedied as well. Those systems rely on small free bearing races as well as halyard tension to work well. Clean and lubricate very well, ease off the halyard when rolling and unrolling.

Good luck,

121 Guy

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by BlueWaterMD

Is it possible to get the sail restitched to convert it to a hank on sail? If so how much would this generally cost me (23' boat)?

I would imagine it's possible, but I would also guess you're going to have to talk to someone at a loft about what it would cost.

Due to a snafu on my part, a grommet was ripped out of the foot of our cruising main last season. To have that one grommet replaced, add "floppy rings" to the two reef points, put tell tales at the batten pockets, plus have the entire sail inspected for condition and needed maintenance cost us $100 last season. The work was done by a local North Sails loft.

Jim

[SailKing1]

BW,
I had this done on my 26 when I bought it and the process cost me about $75.00 for hanks and professional install on a 135 Genoa. The sail loft even left the sail in a condition that if I decided to take the hanks off and use a furler I could.

[captainmidnight]

How do you know you don't have the $$$$ Check out Schaefer Snap Furl @ defender

[WouldaShoulda]

Originally Posted by SailKing1

BW,
I had this done on my 26 when I bought it and the process cost me about $75.00 for hanks and professional install on a 135 Genoa. The sail loft even left the sail in a condition that if I decided to take the hanks off and use a furler I could.

What a deal!!

I usually just figger everything will cost a few hundy.

Boats cost a lot you know!!

[Valiente]

I have converted several "close match" tape luff sails for use on my Viking 33 (with a 15 foot J measurement, I usually took a slight total area penalty to get the right hoist measurement). The reason for this is because a lot of racers chuck foresails that still (from the cruiser point of view) still have life in them, and the cost of $130 for me (mostly the price of 15 or so piston hanks, I guess), was super reasonable instead of paying $2,500 for a new No. 1.

Basically, I use these composite sails for four years or so, then I salvage the hanks and do it again. I would consider a new No. 1 pretty well blown out after 12 seasons or so, so this represents a 70% savings to me. I have done this now with a No.1, a main and a No. 3. The "free to me" main, the cost of which to me was about $250 for slugs and a recut along the foot, has a hoist that was two inches higher than my ideal main, meaning I finally used the cunningham! The "new" one needs a repositioning of the clew grommet to fit my outhaul. Otherwise, it's a near-perfect, durable Dacron that should last five seasons with care.

So you can convert your existing sail, or use the various "boat spec" sites to determine a boat with a similar foretriangle, and then you can see if someone has a sail they want to get rid of.

I have some great one-season tape-luff Dacron sails in my garage rafters off a C&C 34 (very close in measurement to me) that came my way for free because the racer in question opted to go for composite sails 10 years ago, and they were folded away clean and dry 10 years ago. They still smell new.

[CaptKermie]

Originally Posted by 121Guy

Hi Blue water,

This is a fairly easy thing to do. The small piston hanks are readily available. If you pck the right sailmaker, he may have the ones he took off someone else's Sail when he did the reverse conversion to what you are attempting.
121 Guy

Whhaatt.... so they kept my brass piston hanks did they! For two sails, a jib & genoa with a 25' luff, what was I thinking, never thought I should ask for them.
I paid $6/ft for $150 per sail, total $300 to convert my two hank-ons to #6 luff tape. Not that I need those hanks but hey, they were worth something and I never got them back. Do they keep them as part of the conversion charge or was I just neglectful?
About your original question - for a 23' boat I would just get a new hank-on sail since the conversion process is about half the cost of a new sail and see if I could sell the old luff sail to someone for a few dollars to defray part of the replacement cost. Check around a few places, you might be surprised how cheap it is to replace rather than convert.

[Quickstep192]

One solution may be to add a "Tuff Luff" to your headstay; this will allow it to accept a sail with a luff tape.

If you decide you need some hanks, send me a PM. I have a sail with hanks I'll never use; you can have the whole works or just the hanks.