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The very first time I went offshore as paid crew, it was from Maine to Antigua, aboard a Bristol sloop with Hood in mast furling powered from the cockpit. The three other guys, all paid delivery crew were very experienced sailors. It broke, somewhere south of Bermuda and was deemed unfixable so we had to reef etc from the mast manually. They condemend this thing and spewed freely to the noobie, (me) “don’t ever buy such a contraption, stick with what works). OK duly noted. Another delivery, same route, bigger boat, same Hood system rig with power, during the largest on record (at the time) storm off the Eastern seaboard between Maine and Bermuda (we all remember that….Perfect Storm) It worked spot on and really helped our ass be able to reef “to a bedsheet” while motoring (good strong engine) into telephone pole high seas for almost 3 days. Many failures on that trip, including the wheel constantly loosening from the hub, but the furling did a good job. OK duly noted. I seem to remember using the manual set-up one other time, no doubt an uneventful trip.
So my question is, knowing some of the possible faults of the system, topping lift failure, the impossibility, almost to remove the sail in bad conditions, has anyone any advise of what not to ever do and any techniques to avoid problems furling. I know that practice makes perfect and hands on is the best teacher. I guess I’m hoping for any little pushes in the right direction to help me along. It seems for sure, a solid boom vang will help a topping lift nightmare, any other suggestions from you roller furler guys?
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The one key thing to remember with this system is minimize side loading
when furling. In other words, stay as close to the wind as possible so
you’re not dragging the sail across the mast extrusion. Bad for the sail,
terrible for the furler. Control the tension. Too loose and it will
bunch. Too tight and you put extra stress on the system.But all in all, you should be able to have trouble free experience from the
system. I’m not sure what maintenance is necessary, but whatever it is,
make sure you do it or you’ll be reliving your first experience soon enough.Your idea of a fixed boom vang is probably the best thing you could do to
assist you. And it gets rid of an annoying line.But this is all hearsay – I’m still old school, slab reefing.
Bob
On Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 7:22 AM, Page Two wrote:
The very first time I went offshore as paid crew, it was from Maine to
Antigua, aboard a Bristol sloop with Hood in mast furling powered from the
cockpit. The three other guys, all paid delivery crew were very experienced
sailors. It broke, somewhere south of Bermuda and was deemed unfixable so
we had to reef etc from the mast manually. They condemend this thing and
spewed freely to the noobie, (me) “don’t ever buy such a contraption, stick
with what works). OK duly noted. Another delivery, same route, bigger boat,
same Hood system rig with power, during the largest on record (at the time)
storm off the Eastern seaboard between Maine and Bermuda (we all remember
that….Perfect Storm) It worked spot on and really helped our ass be able
to reef “to a bedsheet” while motoring (good strong engine) into telephone
pole high seas for almost 3 days. Many failures on that trip, including the
wheel constantly loosening from the hub, but the furling did a good job. OK
duly noted. I seem to remember using the manual set-up one other time, no
doubt an uneventful trip.So my question is, knowing some of the possible faults of the system,
topping lift failure, the impossibility, almost to remove the sail in bad
conditions, has anyone any advise of what not to ever do and any techniques
to avoid problems furling. I know that practice makes perfect and hands on
is the best teacher. I guess I’m hoping for any little pushes in the right
direction to help me along. It seems for sure, a solid boom vang will help
a topping lift nightmare, any other suggestions from you roller furler guys?
Writing a New Chapter Page by Page in an Old Book._______________________________________________
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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I’ve never had in-mast furling but I have a couple of comments.
They can be very noisy when docked or moored. The wind can whistle across the back slot on the mast and make one heck of a racket.
They compromise sailing ability. The 424 isn’t known for it’s pointing ability and installing a roller-furling mast won’t help.
There are other less expensive
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Thanks Bob!
Richcarter, yes I’m aware of the noise and a simple sleeve (a pain to do every time there are those who might bitch) that slides up the slot with a small halyard. I’m also aware of the extra weight and the lack of performance in light air with the specially cut sail. I would prefer a traditional mast but compromises are the name of the game in cruising boats unless you want to build your own.
Ken
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Clairebuoyant has a Hood Stoway mast furling system. Since we have 30 year old boats and mast systems are expensive, I think that “Love the one you’re with.” might be the operative phrase. The advice posted already is all good. The Hood system is a very early mast furler. More modern systems have wider slots and probably are less prone to jamming. That said, we added a longer boom, more layers of sail inside the mast, but have had no problems. Our current main is cut very flat. With the long boom, it is pretty much low aspect ratio. It’s cut from genoa cloth rather than mainsail cloth, and sets like a genoa.
You can make or buy a device to close the slot so that it won’t whistle, but it only does that when in a slip with the wind on the beam, so never at anchor.
I agree with Rich that powered Hood furlers are problematic. Ours is manual and fits a winch handle in the front of the mast so it would be easy to back up if it binds. It is no small comfort that the main is completely furled in 22 turns.
Our Harken jib furler on the other hand will backlash like a fishing reel if it unfurls without tension on the line. That is a PITA.
Quent
Quent -
Agreeing with what previously said on the handling the manual Hood mainsail furlers.
I did remove the vertical batons from the Hood mainsail as they regularly caused jams. Anybody using the batons?
Also, I will shortly need to replace the line that runs from the furling winch to the in-mast furler. Anyone have suggestions before I take on that task?
Roger
On Jul 24, 2013, at 9:34 AM, “quent” wrote:
Clairebuoyant has a Hood Stoway mast furling system. Since we have 30 year old boats and mast systems are expensive, I think that “Love the one you’re with.” might be the operative phrase. The advice posted already is all good. The Hood system is a very early mast furler. More modern systems have wider slots and probably are less prone to jamming. That said, we added a longer boom, more layers of sail inside the mast, but have had no problems. Our current main is cut very flat. With the long boom, it is pretty much low aspect ratio. It’s cut from genoa cloth rather than mainsail cloth, and sets like a genoa.
You can make or buy a device to close the slot so that it won’t whistle, but it only does that when in a slip with the wind on the beam, so never at anchor.
I agree with Rich that powered Hood furlers are problematic. Ours is manual and fits a winch handle in the front of the mast so it would be easy to back up if it binds. It is no small comfort that the main is completely furled in 22 turns.
Our Harken jib furler on the other hand will backlash like a fishing reel if it unfurls without tension on the line. That is a PITA.
Quent
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Years ago, I had an exchange with a British sailmaker who built furling mains with carbon fiber vertical battens. He suggested that I go to Annapolis Boatshow and talk to the Oyster Yachts guys who sailed these rigs across the pond. They were unhappy. Apparently, the battens broke with pointy ends, cut through the batten pockets, and tried to spear crew in the cockpit. I learned a few new English words that I cannot post here.
I much prefer horizontal battens like the ones in a Freedom 45 I was on in a blow. They were 22 feet long, disappeared out the back without a trace. That is, if you gotta have battens…
Quent -
Quent, that’s how I felt when viewing the boat, I’ll learn to love it or I’ll leave it. The rest of the boat is just about everything I wanted.
The boat has a slot sleeve, the PO spent a lot of time at a dock.I’ll have to do more “boatyard and dockside” research on the wider slot. If it really helps, I wouldn’t be scared to widen it myself with a proper built jig and router.
How much did you stretch the boom and how many extra turns at the handle? This is something I might consider when it’s time for a new main. Do you have crank numbers for different points of reef, like first reef 5 cranks second, 8 etc, etc? How can you not love that 22 turns put’s it completely away, no sail ties, lazy jacks, sail covers. That’s a real big plus for learning to love this rig.
I never saw the second half of RichCarters post on the forum, he posted and explained and said see below….. but nothing was below. As you might know, power anything on a boat breaks really bad when it breaks. The windlass will be fine!
Ken
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Ken
I’ve seen both manual systems, at the mast and the endless loop back to the cockpit. My only suggestion would be to do a good job on the splice.
Regarding a solid vang, not a fan. Topping lift works well for us. Almost never needs adjustment. Our long boom would put a lot of leverage on a solid vang and it would take a lot of deck space.
Old boom was I think, about 15 feet, new one is 18.5 feet. Its a bit lighter in section than the massive Hood boom, but we’ve had it in some good wind and it hasn’t bent or failed.
Regarding going to windward in light air, that’s why Pearson gave you 80 gallons of diesel.
Quent -
I’ve not seen the endless loop to the cockpit and more than likely, not interested. I have no problem going to the mast. Maybe it’s just that once on my own boat and once on someone elses, both with traditional slab reefing, we lost the topping lift. That’s what makes me think ridged vang. Losing a topping lift on that rig could be a disaster getting the sail back in. Yeah, the windward history, that’s why a 72 HP re-power with a Martec 3 blade feathering prop called out to me! Thanks for all the info Quent.
Ken
@quent wrote:
Ken
I’ve seen both manual systems, at the mast and the endless loop back to the cockpit. My only suggestion would be to do a good job on the splice.
Regarding a solid vang, not a fan. Topping lift works well for us. Almost never needs adjustment. Our long boom would put a lot of leverage on a solid vang and it would take a lot of deck space.
Old boom was I think, about 15 feet, new one is 18.5 feet. Its a bit lighter in section than the massive Hood boom, but we’ve had it in some good wind and it hasn’t bent or failed.
Regarding going to windward in light air, that’s why Pearson gave you 80 gallons of diesel.
Quent -
I replaced my topping lift with a steel wire. When at anchor, the rig used to pump at anchor in a moderate breeze making an annoying noise. With the steel topping lift, it no longer does this. I had to cover the top 5 or 6 feet of the wire with a plastic shroud cover to prevent the mainsail shackle from catching on the wire.
Regards
Rich
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