Becalmed, Mayhem, and a Maintenance Warning

[Dr. Peter]

Thanks, Mark.

My set up has no separate forestay so I attach the furled sail to the top of the mast when rigging. Have the backstay slack, stand-up the mast and then attach the furled sail to the bow and use back-stay pressure to tighten when sailing.

My code zero uses the spinnaker halyard.

I have used the little dinghy furler for a standard headsail and it is useless in all but the most benign conditions. I have used the larger spool with more success, but it is not all that strong. I certainly would not trust it to half-furl the headsail. It has to be all the way in or all the way out. And sometimes a couple of straps of velcro around the lot improves my piece of mind.

Because I manage a code zero I have been giving some thought to a continuous furler; they aren't cheap but if there is too much pressure in the sail even the large spool furler won't get it all the way in.

I have also given some thought to using a continuous furler on my headsail. My thinking being it uses a decent sized line and it could be cleated off to allow for a partly furled sail. It also shouldn't be overcome by a strong breeze.

The two furlers would be expensive. I can definitely make a case for one to manage the code zero, but one for the headsail too. I wonder.

Could having a continuous furler helped Mark out in his situation?

[Yara50]

Furlers are exactly that, the sail has to be totally out or furled. A reefer has a rigid torque tube/extrusion, and that holds the sail all the way to the top. In my experience if a headsail gets out of control with a furler it can be jambed and unable to be dropped. That is unacceptable in heavy conditions. A continuous furler is good, but needs a method of keeping the tension on the furling line, and that is a lot of complication for a t/s.

[Mark]

Yes Ian agreed, your statement sums it up nicely
Best
Mark

[Dr. Peter]

A continuous furler is good, but needs a method of keeping the tension on the furling line, and that is a lot of complication for a t/s.

How about a big horn cleat to stop both "ends" of the line?

Every week I put up the flag at work - I tension both sides of the halyard, take a full turn around the horn cleat, then do the figure 8s. Stops it going up and stops it coming down.