Managing headsails

Ok, I have a tuff-luff and I'm pretty happy with hoisting and dropping headsails on it when single-handed. I don't feel the need for a furler to deal with that problem but..

Managing headsails - especially good quality laminate ones - on the deck is a total pain in the arse. Even rolling them is hard to do, especially after a single-handed sail when I'm pretty knackered.

what are my options? Should I look at getting a Dacron #3 made up?
How hard is it to switch out a furler?

Basically I want to be able to single-hand the boat 3 or four nights of the week in summer and race once a fortnight crewed. The races that matter will only be every couple of months.

Hi, its an increasingly common issue, sailing short-handed.
You are very much on the right track with your options.
A few options-
Fit a furler, if you're existing sails are suitable, they can be retro fitted to work on a furler. But you will need UV covers fitted, either to the sail or a halyard hoist cover fitted over furled up sail. You may also need a new luff tape fitted if the tuff luff size is different, possibly research this to get some thing that fits and save a few $'s. You may need to shorten luff to accommodate the swivel at head and drum at tack. I am happy to supply ballpark figures for the sailmaking side if you let me know your boat size or make. Note if you wish to sail semi furled, cloth must be suitable to accommodate this. With performance with semi furled sail, you will get similar speed but lose a bit of pointing ability.
Get a smaller Dacron Jib
This is possibly the most economical way to go, but you will lose performance at lower end of wind range and need to put it away each time you use it.
Or buy a new furler, new custom made furling sail with a foam luff pad for better shape partially furled (still not perfect, but better).
And suggested above, doing away with the tuff luff and fitting Hanks is another option, let the halyard go and the sail drops in bow.

For my fractional rig I like hanks in preference to Furlers and Foils. I have a couple of carbon sails and its never been a problem to do a reasonable flake and sausage bag them on deck single handed. The hanks usually form a natural flake as I drop the sail into the bag which is tied to stanchions. Drag the bag aft then shuffle the sail luff back so the batons line up on the leach and then roll the sausage into three parts. Despite all this, the flake is not perfect and the sails will take more of a beating then if I was fully crewed ... however I also have some old Dacron sails which I can trash for deliveries.

If you do decide to add a furler take particular care to make sure the furling foil is the right size for your sails, its pretty expensive or a lot of work to change the bolt size.

If you havnt already done so, there might be some useful stuff for you in Andy Evans Single handed sailing book. There is a free version on line some where, but the book is more polished and has more info.

www.dymocks.com.au/book/singlehanded-sailing-by-andrew-evans-9780071836531

I used to do exactly what Andrew does, however My new boat a Noelex 30 came with a facnor flat deck furler which keeps the jib low to the deck, so far I love it.

I don't get why furlers are bad for pointing. I don't see any real difference between a nice low profile furling foil and a gemini foil. You can get low drums as well. The IMOCAs and other shorthanded racers usually use furlers so the can't be too much of a bad thing. They pull apparent around to the front and are always going upwind. I have a lovely McDiarmid genoa in laminate that is on a furler and she seems to point fine. At the moment it is down because the boat is not being used. I used to have hanks and changed to furler and there was no difference pointing (never ever ever going back to hanks). But it takes about 10 minutes to get it back up again and is lovely to steer to. You can even put a sock on a nice laminate genoa so you don't have to put the UV strip on the leech. It stays up for a fair bit of time but comes down a lot too. I get it if you want to use different genoas for racing. Maybe the best setup would be halyard lock headsails with torque rope leading to a 5 to 1 under the free luff furler and a lightweight loosish forestay to keep the mast up at anchor. I have this issue with the trailer sailer - so I use the torque rope furler.

The first day I really loved my furler.
We were enjoying a nice sail up the coast and had just changed watches. Weather wasn't bad, 20 knots over the quarter and 1mtr odd swell, some light rain clouds. It's nice sailing. Under white sails, the sail plan is nicely balanced, the genoa and main being pretty much the same area. A bit of attention to the trim and the boat was near driving itself, the chine doing its part just soaking up the occasional gusts.
I'd just stripped off and lay down when I heard that shout. You know the type I mean, one of those shouts that has a sailor bolt upright and reaching for the harness. I was halfway out of the cabin when the first really big gust hit, heeling the boat hard. Now the shouting is markedly picking up in tempo, both the number of voices and the intensity. I popped out of the hatchway to white seas and wind loud enough to reduce communication to hand signals and the merest snatches of words.

It wasn't a pretty sight. 30 degree heel, full main and genoa up, leeward bow pinned, bodies and sheets everywhere, we needed to get some sail down pronto. The genoa sheets being eased, Lydia's got the furler and as the headsail disappears the boat comes right back up on it's feet. The steering comes back, mainsheet comes on, main fills, heel on, chine on then hang on.

Phil's on the helm, he's an owner of a Northshore 38 and a good sailor. The boat is going like a freight train, I turn around to check on him, expecting to see nothing but the utter concentration and white knuckles so deserving of the situation. But instead, he's having a fat time, grinning like a loon, then yelling like a crazy man, pointing at the log as the boat speed pegs 20 knots. We're still under full main, a stub of headsail, wind speed steady in the high 30's gusting 40's, I've no backstay, the sea is a mess of white and yet the boat is just monstering over the waves.
After 10-15 mins of terror intermixed with some champagne sailing, the squall vanished. Some bemused looks at the horizon and at each other over a lack of any damage, then we simply unfurled the headsail and plodded off on our journey at a far more sedately (and welcome) pace.

One good thing, we didn't have to leave the cockpit the entire time.
That was the first day I really, really dug having a furler .

If you are interested in performance there is only one choice and that's a foil. If you interested in safety and convenience then it's a good foil and a well set up furler. If you do Sydney Hobart races it's a removable furler with a second collection of headsails with full-length luffs and a full crew.
I use a furler with a number 2 and would never return to hanks.

My take is this, firstly depends on you.
Personally i hate furling headsails as if properly done the cut of the shape needs a lot of return in the leach.
So put a few turns on the furler and you are left with nothing but leach return and the boat goes sideways not forward.
The luff can be sorted with padding in the luff to take out the seam shape as sail furls.
But I am particular about sail shape.
On the flip side on a 43 footer the high end furlex was a game changer as to ease of handling.
But we did spend a bit of time getting the 110% headsail cut right.
So that all worked but not at first.

On Defiance (a smaller boat) I went all hanks.
Usually I will be solo, and fire the halyard and everything falls down and most importantly can't go anywhere.
Also weight aloft is a big issue with furlers unless you are going high end.
I have tried to calculate it but best guess a normal furler set up is over 10 degrees of AVS.
smaller the boat the more the difference.

Going old school, get the sailmaker to put small eyelets in the luff tape between the hanks.
Then get a piece of VB cord about 1m long to thread through the eyelets.
That holds the luff all together when moving the sail around or bagging the sail.

So educate me please. What is the purpose of a Tuff-luff? Is it just a thermoplastic foil to reduce weight?
I think I have seen them used on Trailer Sailers.

Here is bowman ready to feed a no. 2 up outside of no1. On twin track. Once no 2 up ,on separate halyard he pulls down no 1 . He was pissed with me as I told him to wait till Richard Bennett had taken pics coming in to Hbt. MY feeder was not as refined as these days.

French are already ahead of you.

Like the lacing in the luff of the mainsail to control depth (not the out haul)

Ha Yes Bounty. Great dry boats . Just bad luck the no. 1 was on the inside track but they don't call it adventure land for nothing.