Dual track furler / foil?

[jarcher]

Hi All...

I have been poking around, and am wondering if anyone makes a roto furler that has two tracks for sail changes? Or maybe that's not a good idea?

[JimsCAL]

Harken MkIV (not the cruising version) and Profurl (both Classic and New Line).

[Maine Sail]

I think the better question is does anyone ever use both tracks for sail changes? I race quite a bit and we have never used both tracks simultaneously. Sometimes we will prep the new sail and have a few inches in the second slot but we never raise one while lowering the otehr because there are too many ways to mess it up..

Another question should be how many times do folks change a head sail while racing? I find it to be a very, very rare occurrence in the summer winds we race in..

[jarcher]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

I think the better question is does anyone ever use both tracks for sail changes? I race quite a bit and we have never used both tracks simultaneously. Sometimes we will prep the new sail and have a few inches in the second slot but we never raise one while lowering the otehr because there are too many ways to mess it up..

Another question should be how many times do folks change a head sail while racing? I find it to be a very, very rare occurrence in the summer winds we race in..

Thanks! And these are good questions, I was wondering how often this is needed. I have a dual track foil now, and was just thinking that I hate to lose a capability. But bringing the 155 up and down every sailing day is a pain...

Does the furler interfere with air flow over the head sail? Seems like it would be ... slow?

[JomsViking]

Some sail makers make head sails with twin luff tapes, for improved flow. They don't seem to make that much of a difference in the real world. YMMV.

[sailingdog]

Doing so also requires two jib halyards, and a lot of smaller boats don't have two jib halyards.

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

I think the better question is does anyone ever use both tracks for sail changes? I race quite a bit and we have never used both tracks simultaneously. Sometimes we will prep the new sail and have a few inches in the second slot but we never raise one while lowering the otehr because there are too many ways to mess it up..

Another question should be how many times do folks change a head sail while racing? I find it to be a very, very rare occurrence in the summer winds we race in..

[labatt]

When I used to do PHRF racing we did lots of sail changes while racing... especially in light winds in the morning getting heavier later going from the #1 to the #2. In Fall racing sail changes happened even more frequently. The nice thing about the Harken Mk IV (which I have) is that you can remove the drum when racing leaving just the dual track.

[jarcher]

Well of course a dual track foil is no use without dual jib haylards

I like the idea of being able to remove the drum. Thats a pricy device though. This is a next season plan anyhow

[Faster]

Even when we were cruising our twin-foil (non furler) boat we routinely raised the first before dropping the second. We'd raise the "new" sail on the inside groove, then tack, sheet in the new, and drop the "old" sail to the deck as it was now the "inside" sail - very controlled, contained and no significant loss of speed. The beauty of this method is that the sail coming down is easy to contain, it slides down the trimmed sail to the deck. Dropping a luff-rope jib by itself can easily get away from you in a breeze or a seaway, and once part of it goes over the side things can get worse in a hurry.

No reason not to do the same with a twin foil furler.. though I suspect MS is right than not many bother.. but as long as you have two jib halyards this is a good setup to get used to.

[Sanduskysailor]

Maine Sail, we do change out headsails on the fly quite a lot during distance races. Short buoy races not so much. Last year we did 18 sail changes in a 4 hour shift during the BYC MAC on a 38 footer. That's with a 4 man watch. Needless to say I am still tired. Shifting to a larger headsail is not that hard. Swapping out the heavy # 1 for a #3 when the boat is heeling thirty degrees and thrashing through waves is another story. You need 2 jib halyards and a good bowman to keep it sorted out. Peeling the inside sail is usually easier since you don't have to bring it under the new sail. Long sausage sail bags help a lot since you can kind of flake the sail into the bag and be ready for the next change. Most serious boats also use 2 spin halyards for peels also.