Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Moderator: GreenLake

Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby smitrock63 » Wed Jul 05, 2017 1:40 pm

I'm full of questions, and thanks to all who have been helping me. You've been awesome. A few more questions.....

I just joined a local sailboat association. I'm now keeping my DS II there and the way they do it is, you roll your trailer / boat over underneath a jib crane, then hook onto boat, swing it over a highwall, then lower into the lake. They say it's easier that way vs. using a ramp, but, i'm not sure. I think I can ramp it quicker, but, nevertheless, that's the way they want it done.

So, I'm trying to do a few things to shorten my set-up. One is leaving my sails on. I need advice on sail covers for the main, and, I think If I could set up a roller furling on the jib that would make things even easier.

Suggestions?

Thanks again,

Smitrock
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby GreenLake » Wed Jul 05, 2017 1:44 pm

This being a sails related question and not specific to the DSII model, I'm moving it to "Sails".
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby Alan » Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:35 pm

I'm happy with the Harken single-line roller furler on my jib, although some people don't like roller furling because a) it's a mechanism, which can fail when you need it most, and b) because it affects the luff of the sail, and therefore the sailing qualities of the boat.

If you're going to leave the jib on and exposed to sunlight, you probably want a strip of UV-resistant cloth sewn onto the leech so it will wrap around the jib when it's furled. A friend of mine had this done on a 32-footer for $100, so it might not be all that expensive.
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby smitrock63 » Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:28 am

Thanks Alan. I'm looking into that manufacturer now. I will probably order one soon.
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby GreenLake » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:13 am

You can easily build your own furler from PVC pipe and a few other re-purposed parts. There was some mention of how this can be done here, but the bulk would be found in places like boat-building forums.

Worth looking into. (Unlike bigger boats, the loads are small enough to get away with home-built techniques).

That said, I'm not a fan of furlers. I have one on one of my boats (not the DS) and it's managed both to not unfurl when needed and not furl when needed (these are different failure modes).

On my DS, what saves me the most time is to leave the jib sheets rigged. I use a soft shackle (tied into a Prusik loop around the single, continuous sheet) to connect the sheet to the clew. That means, the sheet stays on the boat (even when I trailer) and doesn't have to be rove through all the blocks and (in my case) inhauls. (In all the years, the Prusik loop has not slipped on the sheet, even though it's not really held in place when not loaded).

Tim Webb used a smaller diameter soft shackle that he threaded through the jib sheet. However you do it, it means attaching the jib sheet is as simple as closing a soft shackle through the clew. In my view, on a DS, raising the jib (once attached) is not that much more difficult than furling it, unlike raising a main.

And you get to put away your jib in the cuddy, where it is out of the harmful UV.

PS: did I mention that I know of at least two boats where the furled jib came undone during a blow and shredded the jib - both on the same bay.
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby K.C. Walker » Tue Jul 11, 2017 9:38 am

You can buy sail covers for jibs. Leave everything rigged and just cover it on the deck.
KC Walker, DS 1 #7002
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby smitrock63 » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:43 am

K.C. Walker wrote:You can buy sail covers for jibs. Leave everything rigged and just cover it on the deck.


I'm ordering a cover for my main while left on the boom; however, with the Jib, how would I cover that sail without using a roller furling type setup?
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby K.C. Walker » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:57 am

KC Walker, DS 1 #7002
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Re: Sails; sail covers, roller furling

Postby GreenLake » Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:30 pm

That's a nice looking bag. Proves you don't need to furl a jib to keep it on the forestay.
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