Jib furling.

Jib furling gear? yay or nay or neither better nor worse?
My little Seahawk has a furling jib and I have been practicing raising and lowering the mast ready for my first trip of the year,
My old boat had a hanked jib and I found this a easy procedure,my seahawk however has a furling jib, I am seriously thinking of ditching this and just using a hanked on sail as it seems simpler less lines easier to raise and lower .......
Could I get some opinions on the disadvantages or advantages or is it just a suck it and see adventure....

All the best.

As a side note I have found an easy way of raising the mast if anyone is struggling...

Hi Stuart,

Is your method of lowering the mast anything like mine, described here:
http://www.seahawk17.org.uk/owners-custom-sailing-tabernacle.php#inuse

As a Broads sailor there is no doubt in my mind that a hanked-on jib is preferable option by far. A fully extended genoa is a quite unwieldy sail for tacking up narrow rivers and you are likely to find your self failing to come about a lot of the time and when partially furled so it does not constantly wrap itself around the mast as you tack it becomes smaller and has a less efficient shape.

However, I recall that Phil Brown, swore by his Barton furling (not reefing) gear for the final approach to his swinging mooring on Windermere. The last half minute of this video shows his gear in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyonJhnPBp8

Yes more or less Gregg but I have not got a tabernacle just the alloy plate but I have found that if I line the mast up carefully i can push (using my not inconsiderable weight behind it) the bottom end of the mast down and put the bolt in before hoisting the mast up with the block and tackle,makes it an easy job single handed even without the tabernacle which I thought i would need.

Hi Stuart
As someone who sails on the sea, I find a furling jib better than a hanked on sail for the simple reason that it can be reefed almost instantly - very useful as the winds in Lyme Bay can go from almost nothing to force 6+ very quickly!  Even with the jib half furled and a deep reef in the main my Seahawk goes through a tack with no problems providing the wind is steady and over force 3.  I never use the genoa - my standard jib and new main sail are fine even in light winds.
Brian

Hi Stuart
We use a furling system on our jib on the Broads.  We find it very useful when mooring and getting ready to go under bridges, and we put the jib away in the cabin rolled up between sails. It doesn't have a pole because that would make things difficult when lowering the mast so we can't use it to reef the jib, but we've never felt the need.
Victoria

Sent from my iPad

It seems that I would need to thread a new halyard through the mast if i was to use a hanked on jib as mine is missing due i suppose to the furling system which means removing the bottom or top of the mast i presume,? not something i am keen on doing as i would need to find a pop rivet gun big enough to re attach it..So
I have a question.
My furling gear consists of a drum at the bottom/bow and a alloy pole through which the standing rigging passes the alloy pole rotates and winds/furls the sail.
At the top of the alloy pole which attaches to the mast there is a block/roller attached directly by pop rivets to the alloy pole which makes me wonder if a sheet can be attached to raise and lower the sail seems pointless and clumsy putting a block there just to tie of the sail?but if a sheet/rope is used to raise/lower/replace/tension the sail tying the sheet/rope of at the bottom would be difficult as it would need to be attached to the drum to stop it getting twisted and there is not really room for it to be tied off
Also should there be a shackle at the top which is free to rotate? as mine was just tied up with a rope which seems to cause some wind up on the standing rigging.
When my son comes round i will get him to take a picture my phone does not have a camera.
Many thanks for any comments.

The block at the top of the alloy pole is there for two reasons:

1  to allow you to change the sail if for example you want to replace a standard jib with a genoa.

2 to be able to tension the sail luff. This is very important as the straighter the luff the more power you get from the sail. The jib halyard (not a sheet) should attach to a small cleat at the base of the alloy pole to allow you to adjust the sail tension.

The pole should rotate around the forestay and should have a fitting at the top (normally a collar) that allows it to do so.

Hi Brian,

There is a lack of decent images of furling gear, whether for stowing a jib or reefing a genoa, on the site.

If you (or anyone else) have any that would illustrate the components you're describing I would love to add them to the main body of the site.

Ideally, use the "Email Me" link on the Contacts page, so you can send full sized versions straight from your camera, which I can then crop and edit as needed.

I think from the sound of it I am missing several components as I have no collar at the top and no cleat at the bottom.
pictures are on the way