Hi all,

Looking at fitting a furler to my duncanson 34. Would be interested in any opinions on brands, reliability, performance etc.

Am leaning towards the Aussie made Reefit from Almast and would be great to hear from any who have one, as well as opinions on Furlex and other well known international brands.

Cheers,
Mike

I have had a brand new profurl for just over 5 years on my Dunc 37 not that much has gone wrong other than the usual. I'm sure it would sail closer to wind on a fixed head sail but for a cruising boat it's fine.

I had a Reefurl from Airlie Beach on my yacht years ago.

It was cheap but also "Nasty". The halliard tension was taken on the furler, not from the mast, which induced forestay sag.

As a furler it worked reasonably well, but NOT as a reefing system for headsails.

I think most people with the furler experience would agree that despite the brand, furlers are furlers only and not really effective reefing systems.

On headsails I believe they are effective when there is an inner headsail (on a furler or not) and in increasing conditions the headsail can be quickly furled and the staysail deployed.

One of the big minuses of furlers is the weight carried aloft. On a lighter displacement yacht at anchor it can make the difference between a good night's sleep or rolling your guts out all night.

Jessica used a Profurl C350.
From the reports of those who have bought the Aldo furler off ebay, it seems very hit and miss. I guess those with expectations of it being as good as the Harken/Profurl/Rutgerson systems are very disapointed, but those who are expecting crap get exactly what they have paid for and live with it.
Definately worth contacting Chris at Boating Hardware for some advice as he will give you an unbiased opinion regarding the best options for your yacht.
Personally my preference is towards the Profurl, they stand behind the 10 year warranty and is the easiest furler to work on/repair and maintain.

rumblefish said...

Just so people know, Reefurl and Reefit are a very very different product!!

Absolutely!! The similar names might cause confusion. Reefit looks to be a high quality product.

Thanks for the input, a few points coming out of this of interest:

- Profurl seems to have a good rep with a fair few so will check these out further, and Jessica Watsons testing of these must say something,
- Southace mentioned nothing had gone wrong with his Profurl 'other than the usual', what would be considered 'usual'?
- Reefit also gets cred from use during a solo circumnav as shown on the Almast site and I recall have a 10 yr warranty also, a word with Chris at boating hardware sounds worthwhile
- think I'll stick clear of halyard return systems, eg Reefurl, Alado, don't sound real flash
- interesting that no comments on Furlex, they seem to be easy the most common at our marina so must be doing something right, I'm uneasy about their enclosed drum design though, bit of a worry if something screws up in there?

Also keen to hear other opinions regarding Ciscos comments on reefing. I agree that furler reefing is not ideal and there a few good reasons for this. Apart from Sail shape at the luff, a furler reefed headsail clearly moves the centre of thrust of the sail to somewhere other than where it was designed inducing stretch, and a heavily reefed headsail also inevitably ends up higher on the forestay when you want the power low to lessen heeling. But do the pros outweigh the cons in general?
Given the next couple of years will mainly be day sailing and short coastal passages with my wife and the boy (very keen toddler but not much good yet with the sheets) the ease and safety of furling and reefing is a big draw card and I think will promote us getting out on the water more often. In a couple of years when the extended cruise plans are more realistic I wonder if the option of hanking a number 4 or storm jib onto the inner forestay is a good compromise for heavy weather? I haven't tried this but the previous owner had her set up to be able to use the inner forestay in a 'cutter' fashion. Advice from anyone who has employed this tactic would be appreciated.

Cheers

Headsail cut to suit furler and preferably with a rope padded luff will still have a good shape even when heavily furled. The padded section does not effect the sail when used 100% but when furled it takes the fullness out. The problem most people seem to have is they want to furl 150% genoas and expect them to keep shape. 135% headsail cut to suit a furler is a different story. 135% headsail on a Duncanson 34 in WA would be more than adequate.
The secret to safe and easy operation is to keep a bit of tension on the sheets when furling and unfurling keep a bit of tension on the furling line so you don't have overiding lines. Blanking the headsail with the main in fresh conditions is also a good idea.
Jessica spent plenty of time with a furled headsail.

There is no reason why you can't set your hanked stormy when ever you go sailing in stronger winds and you can then furl or unfurl the heady as you feel comfortable with. I remember sailing solo through the night with both sails set and as the wind increased to 25 in the morning I just furled the heady in. It's actually good practice in fair weather to fly both sails maybe even get a extra knot.

I would not be in those conditions as shown with jessica with that headsail furled like that, I would worry about my rigg a hanked stormy and full reef main would be far more balanced and less stressed.i would say this would be due to avioding deck work due to the conditions.

Actually seen here she has a inner and also running check stays.

The information you have here is all correct... When choosing your furler you should only consider the quality ones on the market, the Profurl, Reefit, Furlex and Harken are the main brands available in Australia all with great back up service if required. Saving yourself a couple hundred dollars today will end up costing you a lot more money and heartache down the track when you have a failure with a half furled sail. Other things to consider are the installation and serviceability of the unit, Profurl and Reefit are the easiest to work on and maintain with spare parts readily available in Australia, also very well priced. You should also replace your forestay.