Roller reeling jib

classic Classic list List threaded Threaded
6 messages Options
Edmondsley Edmondsley
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Roller reeling jib

Is it possible to convert a Seawitch with fixed jib sails to add a roller reeling system.If so what roller reefing would fit and can they still be bought?
GregSeaHawk GregSeaHawk
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Roller reeling jib

SeaWych? Surely, you are having a "senior moment"?
Greg Chapman
GregAfloat - My Boating Biography
Edmondsley Edmondsley
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Roller reeling jib

Sorry Greg I must have forgot to take my memory tablets today. Of course I meant Seahawk.
Who am I?
GregSeaHawk GregSeaHawk
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Roller reeling jib

Well, I have no furling gear on my boat and am no expert, but guess that you have in mind something of the type that was fitted as standard to later boats, providing roller reefing. That system wound the sail around a pole and I suppose would require something of a specific length. I'm sure an owner of such a boat would be able to provide some details.

I'm not clear from Tony Campbell's posting if it shows a rigid pole around which the headsail furls:
http://seahawk-forum.968426.n3.nabble.com/Forestay-tp3651435p3653153.html
but Phil Brown's YouTube post certainly hasn't. His is a standard jib and it's simply the line in the luff that is twisted, causing the sail to furl. His gear is not intended for reefing. He uses it to stow his sail neatly in about one and a half seconds as he comes into his mooring buoy.
Blink and you miss it. It all happens a few seconds after 3:40 into his video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=a5rjNTVj_cQ

Greg Chapman
GregAfloat - My Boating Biography
GregSeaHawk GregSeaHawk
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Roller reeling jib

Or, indeed, the last half minute of this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyonJhnPBp8
Greg Chapman
GregAfloat - My Boating Biography
ianhurley20 ianhurley20
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Roller reeling jib

The question has two answers. Roller reefing is one and roller furling is the other. I have used both. Both will be easy to fit to a Seahawk.

Firstly roller furling - this consists of a drum at the bottom of the genoa (or jib) and a bearing at the top. When the sail is no longer required it is furled from the cockpit by pulling on a rope wound around the drum. This system is cheaper to buy and fit but will not allow you to use only part of the sail when the wind is up.

Roller reefing consists of a drum at the bottom of the genoa with a pole that is cut to size for your sail which is threaded down a track in the pole. pulling on the rope wound around the drum will reduce or completly furl the sail as you wish. This system is fairly expensive with the cheapest being made by Plastimo (although there are many other makes).

Dylan Winter has posted a video of assembling a plastimo system on his KTL website http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/how-to-fit-roller-reefing-to-a-small-yacht/

I have used both and would say that if you use a genoa the roller furling sytem wold be best as this allows you to sail with a reduced genoa whereas using the furling system is most cost effective if you sail with a smaller jib only.

Regards
Ian