Roller Furling mainsail ?

[Captain Tim]

I have seen some old posts about roller furling the mainsail and I was wondering if anyone has come up with a way that works well. If so please post pictures and let me know how it's done.

The Catalina Expo 14.2 has something (not new but) interesting. Looking for ideas for my Spindrift 11after reading some of the things people have tried to make things easier. 

2015 Catalina Expo 14.2 Sail Boat - Walkaround - 2015 Toronto Boat Show - YouTube

 

[Pete McCrary]

Have a look at my June 26 post and following posts on page 7 of my Seabiscuit build at

 

Don't know why that boat pix keeps showing up when I past the link to my Seabiscuitbuild ?? . .

[Captain Tim]

Pete,

I have followed along on your posts about sail handling and the steps you have taken.

I have it in my head that if I could roll the sail onto the mast life would be good.

A lot of the fun in boating is dreaming up things to build.

[Aleksandr Pasechnik]

Maybe something that rotates the upper mast parts of a aluminum tube mast? Above the boom gooseneck?

[Aleksandr Pasechnik]

Is the goal to roll the entire sail onto the mast? Or to get a few folds of sail around the mast in some non-seamanlike-manner. Because the latter might more doable? Maybe?

[Captain Tim]

I would only do it if the whole sail rolled up. The purpose is to be able to douse the sail in a convenient way.

[Paul356]

Sea Pearl sails roll up on the mast.  It's a little complicated.

[Captain Tim]

Paul,

I have seen pictures of the Sea Pearl. I was hoping someone on a Spindrift had done it already. 

I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel just use the principle of making things go round and round.

[Andy B]

I'm not familiar with the Spindrift rigging, but it looks like you have horizontal sail battens.  These would have to be removed to completely wrap the sail around the mast.  A sea pearl has two sail plans.  Most have no battens.  A larger set of sails has vertical battens to allow the wrapping around the mast.

 

A second thought is that unless you make something super-engineered, you're going to be rotating the mast by hand, I assume.  Is the boat stable enough for you to be standing at the mast in a chop?

[Captain Tim]

Andy,

I'm hoping for a simple way of rolling the sail in by pulling a line that could be wrapped around the mast as the sail was pulled out by the out  haul when deploying the sail. 

I have thought that the sail would be without horizontal battens.

[Hirilonde]

Andy, the step of a Spindrift mast is shaped to keep the mast from rotating.

 

Tim, you will need some really sexy bushings or bearings for the mast to spin on for any hope of a furling line to work. You will also have to remove the boom or put the bushings/bearings above the goose neck. I can't imagine either working. I would just raise the sail and go sailing.

[Captain Tim]

Hirilonde,

I was thinking of having a tube from the step to the collar that the mast would fit inside of. At the bottom I thought I'd have some kind of bearing the mast could rotate on. I thought the boom would be attached to the tube just at the collar. I could use some ideas on how to attach the out haul and clew to the boom. I'm thinking some kind of car will be needed.

I will be "just raising the sail and going sailing" but would still like to have a way of rolling the sail if possible.

[Don Silsbe]

O agree with Andy B.  The battens on the Spindrift’s sail prevent you from furling or wrapping it on the mast.

 

I stow my Bay River Skiff’s sails by wrapping them on the masts.  It is easy, since The sails have no battens.  Plus, I have a lot more stability forward.  I simply sit on the deck with my knees forward, and feet dangling.  I wrap up the main, and tie it off.  The mizzen is next to where I sit, so that is also easy-breezy.  I cover them with a waterproof sleeve for travel and storage.

My sails are furled in this photo.

[Captain Tim]

Thrillsbe,

I have a few questions.

Do the masts turn as you roll or do you wrap the sail around and around?

Does wrapping/rolling allow you to use the wraps as a reef ?

How hard is this system to use if it gets breezy ? 

 

 

 

 

[Don Silsbe]

I wrap the sails around the mast.  My previous boat was a Wayfarer with the bendy rig.  It took a solid hour to rig it at the boat launch.  For this one, I wanted a quick and easy rig, and it is all of that.  But anytime you want one thing, you sacrifice something else.  In this case, I sacrificed the traditional reefing for a clean and simple rig.  If the wind is strong before I set out, I simply step the mizzen in the center position.  This reduces my total sail area by 60%.  (See videos.)  If it pipes up while I’m out on the water under full sail, my best bet is to duck into a cove, and re-step the mizzen.  Barring that, I just furl the main, and sail with the mizzen in the aft position.  I haven’t done this in a blow, so I can’t vouch for it’s effectiveness yet.   But then, I don’t have all those pesky reefing lines, cleats, and blocks cluttering up my boat, either.

[PadrePoint]

Thrillsbe,

I’d installed the forward step this spring but I haven’t tried placing the mizzen mast and sail into it yet. Your videos explain a few things I wondered about. My sails don’t wrap around the mast so I’m unsure what to do with the main if I do a switch to mizzen-only while underway. So, I have a few things to try out when I return from a two week vacation.  

[Captain Tim]

Thrillsbe,

I was unable to open the videos. Thanks for trying to help.

I have found a few different small boats with roller furling on youtube. I just need to adapt  some of their rigging to make a simply set up.

[Don Silsbe]

Captain Tim,

Try again.  They open for me off the website.  The main thing with furling the sails is that there cannot be any battens in them.  If your sails have battens, it is because there is roach in the leech of the sail.  This and the batten pockets must be removed for the sails to furl.  Wayfarers can have a furling jib, so hardware is out there for small boats.  Good luck!

 

@PadrePoint— Same goes for your CS15. You have battens and roach, so it is impossible to furl your sails.  But you have reef points and sail tracks.  That’s your best bet.

[Captain Tim]

Thrillsbe I can open the videos on my I-pad but not my lap top. Go figure. Anyway you do have a very big "reef point" there.

About the battens, I know most things on a boat are a trade off for something else. 

[Don Silsbe]

I know!  I’m in the process of getting quotes for a new sail for my nesting pram.  The specs call for (3) 18” battens, because there’s 6” of roach in the sail.  I’d love to eliminate the roach and battens, so I can furl.  But the whole objective of switching from a spritsail to Bermuda rig was speed.  It would be a step backward in sail area, but then I could furl!