CD25 Furler opinions? (which one?)

[henry hey]

I am going to convert my hank-on headsail system to a roller furling.

I am choosing between the Harken 00A or the unit 0 (MKIII), but i think that I am much more interested in a Schaefer furler -- either the snapfurl cd-700 or the considerably pricier 750.

The reason I am drawn to the Schaefer over Harken is that the Schaefer has an aluminum drum (Harken-plastic) and the Schaefer has a round pole as opposed to the pear shaped Harken. If you have used that pear shaped system, you know that it can bind or be difficult if the sail is under any load.

Anyway. . I would love to hear some opinions about furlers for this boat -- particularly between the 700 or 750.

thanks!

H

[Steve Darwin]

I suggest calling Rigging Only in Fairhaven, Mass., for an opinion on furlers. They sell and install many and readily give advice over the phone.

http://www.riggingonly.com/

[Sea Owl]

H;

As a recent buyer of a CD25 I would be interested in what you find out, if you could post it to the forum here to share.

I currently have a roller furler that I don't like where the Jib rolls around itself rather than the Head Stay. It binds often, and I have just about decided that using it like a hank on, i.e. just raise and lower the jib, will be less hassle than getting frustrated at a bound up furler.

I will thus be looking to go to a new system myself this winter! I will likewise share what I learn from my friends in the local yacht club and marinas!

Thanks!

[henry hey]

Yeah, I will certainly share all info. I plan to look into this from many angles in the next 3 weeks. I will probably haul out around the beginning of November -- take down my rig and start post-season work (including the furler) so I want to make a decision by sometime in November.

By the way. . what are the details of your newly acquired cd25?


hh

[Sea Owl]

H;

Not sure if you mean details on the boat in general, or the furler!

Sea Owl (formerly Okapai), has been through 4 other owners. The 2nd owner currently has a power boat near mine in the marina. The last owner bought her last year, after she had sat for an extensive period of time on the hard. In April he was hurt in a car wreck, tearing his rotator cuff; and again in a car wreck in July (rotator cuff again!). The second owner had done a lot of sailing in her, to include coastal (blue water) sailing from here to Manasquan and places on/around Long Island.

I tripped over the boat in late July at the Marina where she is now, and fell for her. She needs a lot of TLC. The previous owner had done a lot to shine up the brightwork, so she looks good. Most of the equipment on the boat is original, to include the sails, if you can believe that! The standing rigging is in good shape, but I have already been replacing the running rigging.

A couple of soft spots on the deck, I need to replace the bilge pump hose........the list goes on! From what I have heard from my friend who I have crewed for on 3 boats over 10 years, I am now like all other sailboat owners with a never ending list of 'improvement' in mind! This forum is awesome for us new owners, as I have already pulled a lot of project 'how to' information. A bunch of really knowledgeable folks on here, the majority of whom are willing to share that knowledge.

The engine is a 9.9 hp Mariner circa 1993. Runs like a champ, survey gave it high marks for condition.

I have had her out, baggy sails and all, once as far as Sandy Hook bay, just to identify what things I need to do first.

You email got me to thinking about my furler more. I had the Jib down before I went out, so took the time to lube it, as when I took the furler off, it seemed stiff. Lubrication, amazingly enough, helped. I think I have also not put enough tension on the Jib Halyard. We'll see. I am pretty sure I would be happier with a furler that would let me reef the jib, which the current one doesn't, and that rolls the sail around the head stay. I couldn't find anything on the furler that indicated who made it, but it looks like the 'standard' small boat furler I have seen around, and is probably the cheaper version of the options available.

Hope you are enjoying your boat as much as I have enjoyed Sea Owl already! I am pulling mine out of the water this week, a little earlier than I wanted to, due to a sudden turn in my father's health. I will now get the joy of puttering about the boat fixing stuff, which for some reason is infinitely more satisfying than puttering about the house fixing stuff!

[Sea Owl]

Henry;

As promised, I have consulted with my group here, and the winner seems to be the Flexible Furler system. For the CD25, that would be a Flexible Furler 2, at around $400-460.

Specs for the various sizes follow:

Model Max Headstay Length Max Wire Diameter Turnbuckle Size Drum Diameter
CDI FF1 21' 1/8" 1/4" 3.5"
CDI FF2 29' 3/16" 5/16" 4.0"
CDI FF4 33' 7/32" 3/8" 5.8"
CDI FF6 39' 1/4" 7/16" 5.8"
CDI FF7.0 47' 1/4" 1/2" 6.5"
CDI FF9.0 53' 5/16" 5/8" 6.5"

[Kemah]

I've come across a system made by Spin-tec. I've only looked at the website (spin-tec.com), so I have no experiences to share. I, too, will be interested to hear what you find out in your research. (My boatyard has recommended Snap-furl for my 22' boat.)

Kemah

[Dick Kobayashi]

fyi I have had excellent results with the Schaefer sytem 750. It is bullet proof. Five years and no trouble on my 25D

[Gary M]

I just decided not to install a furler, and this Monday I will install a new head stay. All other stays have been replaced and the head stay was waiting my furler decision.

I like the looks of the boat with out the furler.

I kind of like hanking on the head sail.

I'll keep an eye on the weather and pull down the 150 very early to get up a working jib.

Once a working jib is up I can reef the main from the cockpit easily.

If I want to leave my slip with the head sail on the deck I secure it to the deck with long skinny rubber bands. The rubber bands do a great job of holding the sail on deck until I hoist if from the cockpit. Then all the rubber bands just break. (Three rubber bands do the job)

Washing my jib halyard in laundry detergent and rinsing it in conditioner removed the stiffness to the halyard and the head sail comes down easily with a down haul led to the cockpit. Just head to wind, pull the sail down, then back on course.

Four feet of light line can resecure the sail to the deck or if I want to raise it again I secure it with 3 rubber bands.

I basically did the same thing when I owned a Columbia 26 mark 1, and had good luck except when I waited too long to pull down the 150.

Gary

[henry hey]

Interesting that you would say this Gary because I have decided to do the same.

I have many costs this season as it is my first winter (the winter of big refits) with this boat and even without the furler the costs are going to be in the thousands. I have to pick my battles. The other influence on my decision is my nice inventory of headsails. I have a 150,120, 100, storm jib and drifter. If I get a furler, I nullify that nice variety of correctly shaped sails. Carter was telling me that he never put a furler on his CD25 but rather ran a line forward similar to a furling line that he would use as a downhaul to douse the headsail when he needed. This is exactly what I plan to do. The cost on this looks to be about $100 or so (as opposed to upwards of $1000 to add a furler and modify my hanked-on headsails).

I did, however, send my sails to the shop to add a second reef on the main and I will be implementing some of Carter's ingenious single-handing rigging. He was gracious enough to let me take many photos of the rig on his S28. It's pretty beautiful and works very well.

. . . . can't wait 'till spring. . . .

-hh