[hriehl1]

My wife has had enough. Can anyone give some informed guidelines on what we would spend to add roller furling to a 28 foot masthead rigged sloop? The luff is 34 feet and we have a decent condition 160% or brand new 110% we could have recut. We are day sailors with no performance needs at all. Our priorities are simplicity, reliability and lower cost.

We are in Salem MA if that matters. Comments should include all-in cost for furling hardware, sail recut and turnkey installation.

Thank you.

 

[Faster]

We put a new harken cruising furler on a couple of years back, included a new forestay and installation was ~$2K... Modifying the sail (shorter luff) was a few hundred more. Similar dimensions.. More for two sails, of course.

 

[ambianceack]

We installed our own Harken cruiser furler for around $1,100.00. We purchased it from Rigging only in New Bedford. MA. You may want to call Northeast Rigging in Concord, MA Phone (978) 287-0060. They quoted me a price around $2,400.00 installed. We're on Nantucket so the travel over added to the expense. They do a good job, they replaced all our standing rigging about six years ago. The following year we added the Harken furler. We have a 34 foot boat so maybe yours will be less expensive

 

[Chas H]

I installed a Harken Unit 0 on my 24 Mirage last year. I am very happy with it. It's easy to furl in a blow. Total cost including installation was about $1300. The unit 0 is for boats up to 26 feet. The links below will help with furlers for your size boat.

Harken

Cruising Genoa Furlers - For 20-29ft Boats: Mauri Pro Sailing

 

[DonScribner]

CDI FF4 goes for about $700. Another couple of hundred to mod sail

 

[travlin-easy]

Here's a link to the absolute best roller furling system rated by several sailing magazines, including Practical Sailor. Alado Nautica USA Pricing Page

As you can see the cost is relatively low, installation took me just over an hour doing it by myself. And, they're a great company to work with.

Gary

 

[christian.hess]

Here's a link to the absolute best roller furling system rated by several sailing magazines, including Practical Sailor. Alado Nautica USA Pricing Page

As you can see the cost is relatively low, installation took me just over an hour doing it by myself. And, they're a great company to work with.

Gary

pics of your install gary if you dont mind?

 

[travlin-easy]

I'll shoot some video of it when I get to the boat on Friday.

Gary

 

[christian.hess]

thanks bud...looks like a great unit...

 

[Alex W]

Alado and CDI furlers are less expensive, but you do give up an important sail control by having the halyard run up and down the furler. You lose easy adjustment of halyard tension, which is used to control draft in the sail. They also make for more difficult sail changes than a more typical design.

I have a boat similar in size to yours, though my forestay is a few feet longer. Furlering systems run $1000-$2000. You'll probably need to budget for a new forestay and installation if you don't do it yourself.

By the time you change the hanks to luff tape and add UV covering to your existing jib you'll probably find that you are close to the cost of a new one. A cheap sail (using low end Dacron) for this size boat runs about $1000, a high quality one that will last a long time is going to be closer to $2000.

You might find that adding a jib bag and downhaul to your existing hank-on sail provides the ease of handling that you want for a lot less money. The jib bag allows you to store the sail on the foredeck instead of below and doesn't require removing the sail. The downhaul would allow you to douse the sail from the cockpit instead of sending someone forward. I installed a new furler a couple of years ago, but sometimes regret that and wish I had switched to hank-on sails instead.

 

[bratzcpa]

We have a Catalina 27 tall rig. same size luff as yours. This past winter, we ordered and have received a CDI FF6 (with ball bearings). We ordered this from the Sailnet store - best price, just under $800. But be aware - you will need to order the furling line and fairleads separately.

We will be installing this week, so can let you know how that goes. So far, it seems to be well built. You can install over your existing forestay IF it has toggles at both ends. If not, then the forestay needs to be replaced too.

 

[ccriders]

If you are not racing, changing out the jib is not a big deal as in the CDI. Same with luff tension. CDIs are well thought out and work effortlessly and don't have halyard wrap problems. Good pricing too.
John

 

[mstern]

If you are not racing, changing out the jib is not a big deal as in the CDI. Same with luff tension. CDIs are well thought out and work effortlessly and don't have halyard wrap problems. Good pricing too.
John

Two big thumbs up here. I have the CDI and for cruising, I think it's the most cost-effective solution. I bought the unit from my sailmaker (who matched the best internet price), and he unrolled the foil and attached it to my stay (the only tricky parts of the process). I then "installed" it on my mast (which was down for the season); it took about 38 seconds. I did not go for the ball bearings, but I have one of the smaller units. Maybe it would be worth the extra dough if you are handling a bigger sail.

 

[Alex W]

If you are not racing, changing out the jib is not a big deal as in the CDI. Same with luff tension. CDIs are well thought out and work effortlessly and don't have halyard wrap problems. Good pricing too.

The CDI furler runs the jib halyard up and down the furler. This eliminates the option to use a winch to tension the jib's luff. The solution offered by CDI is to run a line up and down the sail tack and furler drum a couple of times to get a multi-part purchase, but there is a lot of friction with this method.

On a standard furler it is easy to get hundreds of pounds of luff tension (if that is appropriate for your sail and conditions) using a mast or cockpit mounted winch. On the CDI furler you would be lucky to get 50lbs of tension. That can have a great effect on the position of the sail's draft.

The Alado copied this part of the design from CDI.

The small size of the halyard, dealing with a messenger line for the halyard, and having to tension the sail's luff in this odd way makes sail changes take a lot longer than on a conventional furler. That makes one less likely to put on the right sail for the conditions.

The money saved on the Alado or CDI furlers might make these tradeoffs the right ones for you, I just think that it is important to be aware of them.

 

[Brent Swain]

Mine cost me under $100 to build 30 years ago to build , but they now cost closer to $150 in materials . I have used the same type of unit since 1980, with no problems.
Huge safety factor, not having to go forward to reef or drop the jib.

 

[Memopad]

A couple of thoughts: Halyard wrap is only an issue if you make it one. There are quite a few ways to address the issue and a proper furling installation should remove any potential issues. To me proper installation includes getting the foil as far up the headstay as possible, and having the sail cut/pendants installed so that it gets a full hoist. On most boats that will be good enough, but occasionally you'll need to change the halyard lead angle with a restrainer.

When sizing a furling system, headstay size and length are the critical components. Some units will have boat length recommendations as well, but those are secondary to the headstay length and size.

 

[Mr. Bubs]

Mine cost me under $100 to build 30 years ago to build , but they now cost closer to $150 in materials . I have used the same type of unit since 1980, with no problems.
Huge safety factor, not having to go forward to reef or drop the jib.

Do you have photos of this? Id' like to see how it's constructed.

 

[krisscross]

You might find that adding a jib bag and downhaul to your existing hank-on sail provides the ease of handling that you want for a lot less money. The jib bag allows you to store the sail on the foredeck instead of below and doesn't require removing the sail. The downhaul would allow you to douse the sail from the cockpit instead of sending someone forward. I installed a new furler a couple of years ago, but sometimes regret that and wish I had switched to hank-on sails instead.

Very true, but with a furler you can quickly and safely adjust the size of the sail, which IMO is a good safety feature.

 

[Alex W]

Very true, but with a furler you can quickly and safely adjust the size of the sail, which IMO is a good safety feature.

A reef can be added to a hank-on sail that also allows you to do this. It is not as quick, but it is faster than doing a sail change. You have to lower the halyard a little bit, reattach the reef tack (with a little rigging those two steps could be done from the cockpit), and move the sheets to the new clew.

Roller reefing has some advantages and some disadvantages. It is an expensive upgrade and it is worth knowing about the alternatives. It makes sail changes harder than a hank-on boat, which for me is a major drawback. Roller furling gives you a passable but not good sail when you need to reduce sail area.

 

[MarkSF]

You also need to budget for blocks to bring the furling line back to the cockpit, a rachet block at the cockpit, a cleat, and a halyard restrainer at the top of the mast. Be particularly careful to get the halyard at the correct angle to the forestay and furler, or you'll be getting halyard wraps.