Reefing with an old seafurl 810?

[theredboat]

Just bought an old boat that came w/ old seafurl 810 roller furling with the looped furling line. As far as I can tell, its not possible to reef using this model -- the sail just slips out.

Anyone know if it's possible? Am I doing something wrong or do these older models simply furl, but not reef

Thanks!

[sailingdog]

IIRC, it can be used for furling but you need to setup the furling line properly with two line clutches so you can properly tension it against the drum.

[PalmettoSailor]

No, there is no use wasting money trying to make the POS Hood continuous line furler work when reefed. No matter what you do to the reefing lines, the jaws can and will slip. Even better, they will slip when you least want them to, in the big gusts.

My wife and I had the 150 on our C36 suddenly and completely unfurl on a beat in 25+ knots causing us to completely loose control of the boat momentarily. Then the sail flogged wildly, doing it a world of good, until we could get it furled. Fortunately, we were not near any shoal water or other boats at the time, or things could have been even more interesting. We ditched the Hood at the end of last season and will be sailing with a Profurl this year.

I'd recommend either accepting that you can't reef the headsail or investing in a new furler. Hood offers a discount on a reefable model for folks that own their POS furler, but I didn't think it was a good enough deal to get me to seriously consider it. I was set on Harken, but after talking to several riggers, decided on Profurl, based on value and price. The Harken unit for my boat was just more than I could spend, and the Profurl has proven it's robust and reliable, if not the most "feature rich."

The only complaints with Profurl are it's heavy (Ok for my cruising C36) and the sealed bearings will eventually leak and rust. I figure if you replace the bearings at the end of the 10 year warranty, the furler won't owe you anything by the time the second set wears out.

HTH and good luck.

[DavidReitman]

Originally Posted by theredboat

Just bought an old boat that came w/ old seafurl 810 roller furling with the looped furling line. As far as I can tell, its not possible to reef using this model -- the sail just slips out.

Anyone know if it's possible? Am I doing something wrong or do these older models simply furl, but not reef

Thanks!

I notice my sail is also starting to slip out. Is there a part that needs to be replaced?

[Pub911]

I also have this unit and have experienced the unexpected reef release mentioned above. Since then, I've taken special care to set the two halves of the base unit so that the continuous loop line is just loose enough to spin the drum when desired, but not so loose as to release unexpectedly.

You may not be aware, but the bottom of the drum slides down the barrel of the lower unit if you remove the hex-head fastener that locks it in place. It is also important to be sure you haven't lost the plastic shim that fits between the drum pieces (don't know its name, but probably has a name as does everything in sailing...most likely associated with the size or appearance of some feature of some viking way back when ).

But I digress. Since setting the spacing carefully to match the line diameter, I have been able to reef successfully provided I put a lot of load on both sides of the loop - locking the drum from spinning in either direction.

Good luck.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by Pub911

I also have this unit and have experienced the unexpected reef release mentioned above. Since then, I've taken special care to set the two halves of the base unit so that the continuous loop line is just loose enough to spin the drum when desired, but not so loose as to release unexpectedly.

You may not be aware, but the bottom of the drum slides down the barrel of the lower unit if you remove the hex-head fastener that locks it in place. It is also important to be sure you haven't lost the plastic shim that fits between the drum pieces (don't know its name, but probably has a name as does everything in sailing...most likely associated with the size or appearance of some feature of some viking way back when ).

But I digress. Since setting the spacing carefully to match the line diameter, I have been able to reef successfully provided I put a lot of load on both sides of the loop - locking the drum from spinning in either direction.

Good luck.

I think it's called a rope stripper.

You are correct in everything you said. It's important that the sheave top and bottom are set correctly to grab and hold the line.
Still, in heavy air, I would recommend that once you have the sail reefed to where you are comfortable, that you go forward and actually lash the tack shackle to the pulpit with some small line that you can simply cut with a knife in an emergency. With the shackle lashed, the furler cannot let the sail out. Nor will it allow you to furl it either so don't forget to get rid of the lashing when the wind allows or you near the end of your sail.

[Pub911]

Great idea, Knothead. I will add this to my routine under very heavy weather. Thank you!

[PalmettoSailor]

Originally Posted by Pub911

Great idea, Knothead. I will add this to my routine under very heavy weather. Thank you!

I had considered this also, but discounted it because I'd didn't like the idea of not being able to furl without making a trip to the bow. If I'm already reefing the genny, its fairly concieveable that I might decide to furl it completely if the winds continues to build, and at the point I make that decsion, going to the bow to release lashings might be the last thing I want to do.

If anyone wants to make an offer for parts, I have the drum and upper swivel from the Hood 915 recently removed from my boat ('91 C36). Shipping would be a headache, so it probably would only make sense for local pick up (could meet somewhere between Deltaville and Annapolis).

[Pub911]

Valid points, midlifesailor. If i didn't have higher priority demands on scarce resources ($) I'd have replaced mine too. The additive costs of rig and sail adjustment (because if I were to do this, I'd also make room for an anchor guide and windlass) just caused me to move to the next item on the list.