how do headsail furlers work?

The sail is rolled around the furler tube/foil. You pull on the sheet to unfurl the sail. The drum is connected to the foil. The drum rotates as you do this, and winds the furler rope around the drum. When you want to furl the sail, you pull on the furler rope. The drum and foil rotates the other way, and the sail is furled.

Hi Sectorsteve

The drum is directly attached to the foil that the head sail luff bolt rope feeds into so when you pull on the sheet it rotates the foil and the furler drum and as the sail unwinds the furler rope winds on to the drum

When you want to furl the sail you pull on the furler rope and this turns the foil in the opposite direction and winds the sail on to the foil

If the sail is furled the drum might only have one turn of furler rope around it but as you pull on the sheet to unfurl the sail it winds on more turns of furler rope around the drum

Regards Don

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Yara said..
The drum turns with the foil. There is nothing complicated.

but how!!! does it have a big spring in it or something like a roller blind?
What powers the furler to wind back in?

man power , you pull on the rope and as you pull rope off the furling drum you are turning the drum so the foil turns and bingo the sail roles up .


try utube bound to be a million vids of the process ?

thanks guys... i feel a bit dumb now but its real simple. I always thought there was some mechanism inside the drum that wound the sail in...

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Sectorsteve said..
thanks guys... i feel a bit dumb now but its real simple. I always thought there was some mechanism inside the drum that wound the sail in...

In a bit of a blow , you have to really depower the sail to role it up ,and even then it can be a bit difficult .

But never use winches to furl up as the mechanical power could destroy the system if there is a caught rope somewhere !

its also a way of reducing you Genoa size as the wind increases. You probably knew that already its not as good as having many foresails but it means you don't have to carry so many sails on the boat to do changed when the wind increases or decreases

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Sectorsteve said..

HG02 said..
its also a way of reducing you Genoa size as the wind increases. You probably knew that already its not as good as having many foresails but it means you don't have to carry so many sails on the boat to do changed when the wind increases or decreases

i know what they do and what theyre for. just wanted to know the workings of it. i fully understand now..
im still in 2 minds whether to go the furler route. Planning a batemans bay trip xmas so ill use the hanks for that and see how we go.

Careful, Steve asked about furlers, not reefers!!

Basic models don't have a tack swivel and don't give an effective furled sail shape without adding a foam luff to each sail you want to use on the furler. What happens without a tack swivel is that your headsail gets big wrinkles which will damage you sail over time and create a terrible shape, epsecially for sailing to windward under reduced sail in a blow. Your headsail has vertical depth as well as horizontal depth and the vertical depth, and if the sail is simply rolled up as a flat shape this cuases the creases.

The better furlers are also reefers, they have tack swivels (as well as halyard swivels which all models have) which with the sail being cut correctly means they take out the depth and flatten the sail as you furl/reef. They can be worth a biot more $$ but they are worth it IMHO in the long run as you can get a big #2 headsail to work as a #3 and #4

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samsturdy said...

SandS said..

Sectorsteve said..
thanks guys... i feel a bit dumb now but its real simple. I always thought there was some mechanism inside the drum that wound the sail in...

In a bit of a blow , you have to really depower the sail to role it up ,and even then it can be a bit difficult .

But never use winches to furl up as the mechanical power could destroy the system if there is a caught rope somewhere !

SandS.....what is destroyed if there's a snagged rope. Next door neighbour got a sheet
caught around a hatch as he furled, he wondered why there was so much resistance but
it did furl without the use of a winch.
He reported that next time he was out he made sure there was no snag but he felt that
the furling action was not as smooth as it had been before.
What damage could he have done.??.

As the system is so simple i think the damage would be a twist in the drum/extrusion causing the resistance.

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Sectorsteve said..
thanks guys... i feel a bit dumb now but its real simple. I always thought there was some mechanism inside the drum that wound the sail in...

Sectorsteve, Remember, The only dumb question is the question you failed to ask, this is so because, it is the answer to the question that you failed to ask, that will bite you on the bum at the worst possible time.

Re unfurling the sail on the furler on my Mottle 33 and an RORC39 I had I found it usually unfurled by itself. ie. As soon as it was partially unfurled the wind would catch it and unfurl the whole sail "automatically". Wonderful :-)

I raced the Mottle and after buying it and sailing first race found immediately the furled sail unfurled was flat and had no shape. ie. To make it furl neatly its draft was cut way to small. We also found it would jam where the line on the drum rolled up just when we didnt want it to.

After taking the furler off (permanently) and getting draft stitched back into the sail by adding material at the sail maker the boat went MUCH better, upwind especially. Also we found obviously when we wanted to hoist or drop it - no jamming. Simple hanks.

SO if you're thinking of putting one on theres + and -. The biggest + I found with the furler was the space saved down below by not having to store sails not in use.

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Trek said..


Re unfurling the sail on the furler on my Mottle 33 and an RORC39 I had I found it usually unfurled by itself. ie. As soon as it was partially unfurled the wind would catch it and unfurl the whole sail "automatically". Wonderful :-)

I raced the Mottle and after buying it and sailing first race found immediately the furled sail unfurled was flat and had no shape. ie. To make it furl neatly its draft was cut way to small. We also found it would jam where the line on the drum rolled up just when we didnt want it to.

After taking the furler off (permanently) and getting draft stitched back into the sail by adding material at the sail maker the boat went MUCH better, upwind especially. Also we found obviously when we wanted to hoist or drop it - no jamming. Simple hanks.

SO if you're thinking of putting one on theres + and -. The biggest + I found with the furler was the space saved down below by not having to store sails not in use.

The sail shape problem is easily solved by a padded luff. Correctly shaped sail rolls around it and keeps a good sail shape even when the sail is partly furled. The jammed drum problem is easily solved by keeping some weight on the line as the sail unfurls. Then turn up the line to a cleat so no turns can form on the drum, no slack no jammed turns. Having a jammed furler while solo and blasting home through the moorings on a fresh NE is awkward! But the biggest advantage of a furler for a solo sailor is the sheer convenience. I can board my vessel and sail off in the time it takes other sailors to drag out their chosen headsail for the day.

I should add here that I do carry a No5 headsail that can replace my furling headsail. I would never change it at sea though, that would be even harder than a hanked sail. I stitched up a vinyl sail bag pillow sized for it and it resides on a bunk. Velcro strip stops it flying across the cabin at sea.

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Yara said..

Ramona said..
I should add here that I do carry a No5 headsail that can replace my furling headsail. I would never change it at sea though, that would be even harder than a hanked sail. I stitched up a vinyl sail bag pillow sized for it and it resides on a bunk. Velcro strip stops it flying across the cabin at sea.

If you cant change it at sea whats the point of having it? Maybe check out the Kiwi slides which work with furlers and ease a heady change with furler.

It's there for the occasion I get stuck somewhere weather bound and have to get home. Therefore it will probably never leave the sailbag.