Furling or HankOn sails?
Which do you prefer and why?

"Todays headsail-reefing/furling systems are extremely reliable.
Failure is rare and is usually the result of improper installation or
incorrect use. "

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm

Somewhat basic but some good tips and info, worth a look.

Excellent drawing diagrams.

Enjoy Mic.

those are good pics and text....

Mic wrote:
Furling or HankOn sails?
Which do you prefer and why?

"Todays headsail-reefing/furling systems are extremely reliable.
Failure is rare and is usually the result of improper installation or
incorrect use. "

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm

Somewhat basic but some good tips and info, worth a look.

Excellent drawing diagrams.

Enjoy Mic.


Thanks Mic..
I've bookmarked the site and printed off the article.
When I think of the trouble we had with the old self furling drum on my
buddies Mirage 33.....
He ended up getting a new Harken model after we lost the mast during a race.

Don...that can be a problem in a race...

;-)

"after we lost the mast during a race"

Mic wrote:
Furling or HankOn sails?
Which do you prefer and why?

"Todays headsail-reefing/furling systems are extremely reliable.
Failure is rare and is usually the result of improper installation or
incorrect use. "

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm

Somewhat basic but some good tips and info, worth a look.

Excellent drawing diagrams.

Enjoy Mic.

Even the best genoa-furling systems cannot compare, when the sail is
partially-furled, to a hank-on genoa of the correct size and shape. They are
a useful compromise when short-handed, but that is all.

Dennis.

"Dennis Pogson" wrote:

Mic wrote:
Furling or HankOn sails?
Which do you prefer and why?

"Todays headsail-reefing/furling systems are extremely reliable.
Failure is rare and is usually the result of improper installation or
incorrect use. "

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm

Somewhat basic but some good tips and info, worth a look.

Excellent drawing diagrams.

Enjoy Mic.

Even the best genoa-furling systems cannot compare, when the sail is
partially-furled, to a hank-on genoa of the correct size and shape. They are
a useful compromise when short-handed, but that is all.

Dennis.

What do you mean "that is all"? Most sailing other than racing is
done short-handed.

grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote:
"Dennis Pogson" wrote:


Mic wrote:

Furling or HankOn sails?
Which do you prefer and why?

"Todays headsail-reefing/furling systems are extremely reliable.
Failure is rare and is usually the result of improper installation or
incorrect use. "

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...llerreefer.htm

Somewhat basic but some good tips and info, worth a look.

Excellent drawing diagrams.

Enjoy Mic.

Even the best genoa-furling systems cannot compare, when the sail is
partially-furled, to a hank-on genoa of the correct size and shape. They are
a useful compromise when short-handed, but that is all.

Dennis.


What do you mean "that is all"? Most sailing other than racing is
done short-handed.

grandma Rosalie

A furler-reefed genoa is less than half as good as a proper sized,
proper shaped, proper trimmed decent sail, especially going to
weather, when a small raise in the wind may make a difference, the
more so as your genny size increases.

It is a considerable compromise. Short handed means not enough
sailors aboard who can manage the changing of a sail for good purpose.

The improvement over a spongebag flopper is worth the effort,
especially if sizing down far enough means you can get your
automatic jib gear working with a sail small enough to automatically
tack foreward of the shrouds. Release the jib halyard from the
cockpit, pull a line to pull down the too biggie, easing the boat
motion. Go foreward, hank on a smaller sail, change sheet shackle,
leaving the large sail on, siezed up snug if it's gonna be a short
squall or draggged below if at sea, clamber back to the cockpit and
raise the smaller sail.

Suddenly, heeling decreases, the airbrakes are off, drag is reduced,
speed and apparrant wind increases, footing increases, progress to
weather increases, effort and anxiety reduces. Flatten the main,
sheet in, and go even better to weather. All this without reefing
the main yet.

Some boats may do better reefing the main first, but that depends on
the individual boat and gear.

With my self tending rig at least, when you have done that much,
with the club boom previously readied, You no longer need to trim
jib sheets every tack. So, being short handed makes the effort
invested worth more than just face value.

A self tending jib could be rigged under a furling drum system, with
a sail set free of the headstay (no hanks!) You would need a spare
jib halyard, and your club boom would be a little shorter, and the
automatic jib a little smaller.

I hang the club boom "gooseneck carabiner" from the chain pennant on
the tack of the jib. It was done that way for ease of adjustment and
tuning.

As a fringe benefit, having a club boom, whisker pole or spinnaker
pole about the same length as your main boom means you can easily
rig a bipod to raise or lower your mast.

Ain't synergy great?

Terry K

Even the best genoa-furling systems cannot compare, when the sail is
partially-furled, to a hank-on genoa of the correct size and shape. They are
a useful compromise when short-handed, but that is all.

I am a hank-on partisan, because that is what I have, I know how to
use it, how to fix it and how to change sails quickly and safely. I
also like the performance boost, as seen in how I can race and beat
larger boats with lower PHRFs if they have furling unless it's a
downwind run, say. Part of this is pointing ability, the rest is that
I can carry a properly cut No. 1 instead of the typical vaguely yankee
cut of most compromising furling genoas.

But I am 44 and am "fast cruising" in Lake Ontario on an IOR
performance cruiser that likes the wind. Also, I get free sails from
racers I can cut to fit for cruising purposes for a hundred bucks or
so to convert tape luff to hanks. This, needless to say, means my
biggest inconvenience is storing slightly worn but perfectly fine
sails in the joists of my garage until I need to cycle them in my
boat. With new genoas and working jibs at over $2,000, I can bear a
little stretch or a couple of patches whereas the racing guys buy new
Kevlar/Mylar suits of sails every three or four years for $10K.

Thank you, crazy racers...G

I would argue that cruisers, older sailors or those unhappy with the
idea of heavy weather deck work tip the balance in favour of furling.
It's not foolproof or bulletproof, however, and I've seen problems
both expensive and dangerous due to improper use or mechanical
failure. Just last week in a blow I called a fellow yachtie to tell
him his genoa was shredding and to ask permission to secure it. Well,
I got aboard and his furling line was completely out...I could do
nothing until more bodies were aboard to do a controlled unfurling of
the remains and then a proper furling.

So it depends on your intended use, fitness level, age and skill, but
while less can go wrong with hank-ons, people who furl are rarely
washed off the foredeck carrying a 100 lb. foresail. My wife the
foredecker would appreciate less folding down and more room below as
well, but our four-year-old can make a fort from the sail bags and nap
very safely in the middle of them in the roughest seas.

One last comment: I would urge anyone with a cutter rig to keep the
staysail hank on, because in a bad blow that can destroy the furled
foresail, the staysail will usually hang in there as it can be reefed
down or swapped for a storm jib safely closer to the mast.

R.

yea...some great points there rhys...thanx....
as i have thought in the past, roller reefing is
good for the "casual" sailor or racer...but for
hard core or serious sailor / racer, hanks
are just fine, thank you.....

On 23 Oct 2005 09:10:59 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^"
wrote:

yea...some great points there rhys...thanx....
as i have thought in the past, roller reefing is
good for the "casual" sailor or racer...but for
hard core or serious sailor / racer, hanks
are just fine, thank you.....

This is not to knock roller reefing at all. Let me put it this way: As
the owner of a racer-cruiser who doesn't "race" it except to cruise
efficiently (and who cruises "light" in crew and cargo regardless),
you couldn't pay me to install roller reefing.

But if the next boat has a reputable and properly sized reefing drum
and track installed, you couldn't pay me to take it off!

(The next boat is likely to be larger, heavier and completely
cruise-oriented, needless to say).

Hope this debate helps. As a side comment, I certainly wouldn't
install roller reefing on any boat sub-30 feet if I had decent hank-on
sails available to me, or unless I sailed alone constantly and was
older or physically unfit. The performance hit on smaller boats seems
bigger to judge by how the "cruisers who race" do.

R.