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Furler recommendation?

8K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  Classic30 
#1 ·
Happy New Year guys.. just coming up briefly for air to post this:

My 30-something year old Hood Seafurl 3250 has finally worn out in more than a few places and I find myself needing a new headsail furler. It chewed the headsail the same time, so I'm not constrained by cut since what I have needs to go to the sailmaker anyway.

Any suggestions (brand/model) to suit a heavy old 30-footer??

Thanks,
Cameron

(Gotta run.. back soon! :) )
 
#2 ·
How about a "maybe steer clear of this one" recommendation? The Hood SL series.

I replaced my 30+ yr old Hood single line furler with an economical Hood SL model. It wasn't horrible and is still working several years later, however;
1. There are design flaws requiring two repairs that involved removing the lower part of the unit.
2. If you are not careful unfurling and keeping tension on the line even after it's unfurled it can create one hell of a tangle. The line can and will pop over the prongs outside the spool/drum, if you are in any kind of air and have a bit of sail rolled up as a reef good, well, good luck with that....

If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone another route.
 
#6 ·
I installed a Facnor FD 230 on my boat in May.

  • The flat deck furling drum is lower than standard drums so I get a larger luff length.
  • Using webbing on the drum give more leverage when furling (especially at the start of when furling in).
  • You can't get overrides on the drum with webbing
  • There is room for a turnbuckle inside the furling drum, so it is possible the have one installed an still get the drum low.

I installed it myself, easy - just follow the book :)



it's note easy to spot but the turbuckle sits inside here.
To adjust you must remove two screws and slide the furling drum up to get access to the turnbuckle.
 
#7 ·
I just replaced a Hood 810LD (line drive, continous loop) furler with a Hood Seafurl 5 (http://hoodyachtsystems.com/pdf files/253data.pdf). The new one has independent swivels at the foot and head like a Harken MKIV. I haven't used it enough conditions to say if it is great or not, but so far it seems pretty good.

Hood gave me a good deal on it since my 810LD was failing (no longer could reef, only furl) and they no longer sell the upgrade kit for the 810.
 
#8 ·
You might consider the Reef Rite from New Zealand. It has some some very nice features for reefing and changing sails if those are of interest to you. Other than that one, there are a lot of very good furlers out there. We have a Shaeffer that has been excellent. We also considered Profurl and Harken and I am sure they would have been fine. One thing to think of -different companies models do not have the same recommended size ranges. For one company you may be able to use a smaller, and cheaper model than for another.
 
#10 ·
I replaced my 30 year old Hood furler last spring. I went with the Harken MKIV and have been very pleased after one season. If you go with Harken, I was advised to stay away from the cruising version of the Harken furler line. Not only does it not have a swivel at the head, I was told the materials used on the MKIV are of higher quality. Well worth the extra $400. I replaced my standing rigging at the same time. I gave the riggers my old standing rigging and they replicated. I was then able to install the furler myself.
 
#11 ·
I have used two of the current models of furlers. I like both the Furlex and Profurl although for ease of maintenance the Profurl is better. I have also had less issues(although minor with the Furlex) than I have had with the Profurl.

I am thinking of buying a Profurl Spinex for my Asym.
 
#12 ·
The Harken Cruising has a swivel at the head (as do all furlers), but not at the tack. The Harken MKIV and Hood Seafurl 5 are two furling systems that I'm aware of with swivels at the head and tack. This furls the sail tighter and from the middle of the sail instead of from the head and tack.

One thing to be aware of with the Alado, CDI, and similar furlers is that the halyard is on the furler instead of coming from the mast head. This makes it less convenient to use the halyard to control sail shape. You'll have to decide for yourself how critical this feature is to you.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Thanks, guys. Good feedback - all of it! :)

I'm getting a quote from the rigger on a Furlex 200S and a Harken MKIV (not the cruising version) and will post back here with the result.

Cheers,
Cameron

EDIT: ..and thanks, Knut, for the pics of the Facnor FD. I'd not seen one before and the rigger mentioned it as an option, but the tape system really won't work for me, so we were able to rule that one out fairly quickly. Alado, CDI, etc. weren't on his list...
 
#15 · (Edited)
Update: I suppose it's lasted for 20 years or so, but after my experiences with this one I would never buy a Hood furler again (my engine is less complex!) and the Profurl got ditched early on in the discussions after finding it's a little "precious" with it's maintenance.

So... the rigger came down yesterday and measured up and I've placed an order for the Furlex 200 with integral rigging screw. It's slightly cheaper than the Harken MKIV and comes with a replacement forestay as part of the kit - which I need - and is extra cost again for the Harken.

I know a lot of people using the Harken, including TDW and my Dad, and it is indeed a really good piece of kit but after watching the plastic (sorry, it's CF..) drum disintegrate on the Womboat... nah, I need something a little more robust. :)
 
#19 ·
Believe me, with the $$$ these things cost, now that I've worked the darn thing out I would have happily had the Seafurl professionally re-built, however:

(a) Support here is practically zero. The guy that used to do it locally retired a couple of years back. There's a helpful guy at Hoods in Sydney (one guy!) with basically no spares to hand and Pompanette in the USA (also very helpful but with limited spares left and none being manufactured)..

(b) I'd have had to have the rigger take the forestay off the boat, then ship the whole kit to Sydney, wait a week or two (with no forestay!) whilst the parts come in from the USA, have it re-built then shipped back here and get the rigger out again (plus travel time) to get it re-installed and re-adjusted.

It turns out it's wayyy safer, quicker and easier (and possibly cheaper - not sure) to order a new furler set-up on a new forestay, sitting on the dock, and pay a hour's labour for the rigger to swap forestays and re-adjust.. plus the Furlex has plenty of local support and spares.
 
#18 ·
Cam,

Granted you cruise some, but I know you race some too......if you have multiple head sails for racing, it may behoove you to have a furler where the drum can come off with 2 pins/bolts etc. Lewmar and the harken IV are the only ones "I" know of. The one you are looking at may be one too. I do ot personally know of that brand. You may have a furler not available here in NA continent vs down under.

BUT, at the end of the day, you are the one that needs to get thru the plus's and minus's of any given brand.

Marty
 
#20 ·
Cam,

Granted you cruise some, but I know you race some too......if you have multiple head sails for racing, it may behoove you to have a furler where the drum can come off with 2 pins/bolts etc. Lewmar and the harken IV are the only ones "I" know of. The one you are looking at may be one too. I do ot personally know of that brand. You may have a furler not available here in NA continent vs down under.

BUT, at the end of the day, you are the one that needs to get thru the plus's and minus's of any given brand.

Marty
Thanks, Marty.. all covered. Like the Harken, and unlike the Seafurl, the Furlex drum splits in half for removal for racing. :)

Yo're right though - there are pluses and minuses for all of them, and the advice here helped to add to the list. For me, it came down to a couple of options with the Harken being the one I knew most about, but the yachts around me at the Club I'm in use pretty much everything under the sun (except the Seafurl that is) so I've been able to ask around also. One of the yachts I race against uses the Furlex and he is quite happy - but people here don't sail the miles some of you guys do, so the long-duration experience was a bit light on..
 
#21 ·
I thought of something else before hitting the sack here......11pm on the left coast of NA.....how is tomorrow shaping up?...........the luff has twin grooves does it not? no use having a removable drum with out the ability to draft the new with old sail going up and down etc!

Now that I am rereading, I believe I have heard of Furlex, but not as popular as harken or lewar among other furlers local. Profurl may have some sales.......I have a feeling, you and I would go after the same basic what we want out of a furler......one of these days I may get one..........

Marty
 
#23 ·
G'day Marty. It's morning here - it'll be 30degC today but that's cooler than the 41 we had yesterday.. and as dry as a pizza oven. It's so dry here at the minute you don't actually sweat outside - it instantly evaporates off your skin - so keeping both cool and hydrated is a challenge. :cool:

Twin foils = check. Split drum = check. Internal rigging screw = (optional) check... $$$ = check.

Yep, they're not as popular as Harken (the Racers' Choice), Lewmar or even Profurl, maybe 'cause they're French ;) - but I know a couple of people using them and nobody here (or anyone else I know) had anything particularly bad to say about them, so I figure they must be ok... right?

I've never really taken much notice of what various different furlers people are using - although you can spot the Black Harken a mile away. Having had a Furlex pointed out to me recently the conversation went more like: "Oh.. One of those! Riiiight.." :)
 
#24 ·
Cam, I wish it were 30-40C here! try about 30F!!! or -1C or there abouts, foggy due to a temp inversion tween the two mtn ranges, no wind, pollution is not getting driven out etc......not fun. Oh, and freezing fog in some area's....not many, but it is still there......

anyway, not sure which furler I would get, other than those general "$$$$/check" terms you rattled off! Along with funds to recut one of my sails, or get a new one to fit the furler.......youch! I have a few other items I need more than a furler frankly!

Marty
 
#27 ·
After four hours wrestling with the old one(*), assembling the new one, re-tensioning the rig and re-tensioning myself after paying the bill (isn't anything cheap these days?.. no, don't answer that :eek:) I'm now the proud owner of a brand new Furlex 200S - and a bright, shiny thinghy it is too!!

..now to get the headsail sorted and I can go sailing again. :)

* = here's some of what we needed to go through: I'd forgotten that the forestay is fastened to a through-bolt that also carries the turning blocks for the two jib halyards, although the rigger reminded me fast enough when I sent him up on the main halyard to undo the forestay. After hooking up the spinnaker halyard for the temp forestay, that meant that, once he unfastened the whole shebang, there wasn't anything left to lower the forestay down - so, after thinking about this for a bit, he clipped one of the jib turning blocks to his bosun's chair(!) and we lowered away..
 
#28 ·
Cameron,
Womboat furler that blew apart is a Furlex. in reality all that happened was the outer cover was UV degraded and it disintegrated. Replacement parts were not all that expensive and took ten minutes to fit. Although I bought replacements for both the inner and outer stays the inner is still the original and seems fine. I guess it is less exposed to the sun.
Andrew B
 
#30 ·
For some bizzarre reason I thought it was the Harken.. oh well, they're both black. :)

The Furlex does seem like a good unit - and that I can understand the Manual is a bonus. I'll be down there this arvo with the sailmaker to talk about adjustments to the headsail... then I get to go sailing again.

C.
 
#29 ·
No problems with my Harken Cruising furler itself but the devil is in the detail of installation. It went from a reluctant, temperamental nightmare, to being 100% reliable, with two mods :

1) Halyard retainer at the top, so that the halyard can't catch on the furler swivel.

2) A ratchet block in the cockpit on the furling line, which keeps the line under tension. This helps the line coil on the furler without overrides, and has the useful side effect of making it easier to unfurl the sail controllably in stronger winds.
 
#31 ·
I have been using the one described in my book, since 1982. Once the sail is up, one moving part.Cost me under $100 to build.No problems . Friends switched from that kind to the far more expensive, commercially produced kind. When I asked what the difference was, they said "Zero difference."
 
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