I have sailed and raced extensively with roller furling on boats your size, 27 to 28 feet over 40,000 miles over my 60 years sailing, all on the great lakes. I have raced in severe conditions single handed without furling and won with a large number of sail changes. I was young, in my 30ś and in good shape. The boat had been reriggerd from a round the bouy racer to a long distancer solo racer. Weather was constant upper 40 knot North easter on Lake Huron, with freighters and coast guard reporting waves in the high 20 ft range (28 ft most often reported). No issues. Used my full sail range including spinnaker as the breeze moderqated. Handled all sailchanges with all sails with hanks in all conditions. In my fifties i utilized roller furling. Did round bouy racing and day sailing. I utilized a custom heavy #1 Kevlar near deck sweeper for racing on a double groove headfoil (harken). I never sailed tthe sail with it reefed. My next sail down was a 120% full hoist heavy air genoa. I also used it for day sailing, the #1 only put up for racing. The sail never left me wanting more in light air. It sailed nicely, only a little slower than #1. The full hoist was its key and generated a lot of power. The sail was never reefed. The furler was only used for taking in and letting out sail and for sail storge. No issues. I was in mid 50ś and good health and strength. The boat was rigged as a simple main and jib cruiser. I carried a spinnaker but rarely used it. Tacking down wind brought desinations almost as quick with less hastle and work. Finally my last 2 years. Now rigged only main and jib. My strength is gone. I cannot even pull up a halyard without a winch, not to tighten the sail but to raise it. My balance is gone. I cannot go out of the cockpit and someone else has to be there for me to sail. Roller furling was absoluterly essential to sail at all. For sail handling with other crew on board the roller furling wins hands down. Guest crewe have no business on a pitching foredeck to handle sails, rising, lowering, or sail changes. In other than light to moderate air the crew handfing sails has to have your level of expertise to go forward. Much safer and morer doable when needed with roller furling. I have never considered a flogging main behind a too big jib as proper or acceptable sail handling. If you are in shape and able to handle the boat single handed then both can be done safely. Once physical strength including stamina start to wain OR if you have to sail with non-expert crew at any age I would not recommend waiting. Change to roller furling for the rest of your sailing career. I am describing what i found in my years of sailing and how i found using both systems in my life. This was in 27 to 28 ft boats. Size can change things quickly. When I was in my best physical condition and energy. In moderate air, 22 to 30 knots. I could not handle #1 genoas on a big rigged (catalina 30 tall rig.) and not a spinnaker at all with the methods at the time. I just offer this to help food for thought.
@robertbranch1667 I am 65 and sail a 35 foot solo. Hank on sails. All halyards on the mast. No issue. It all depends on your physical condition. Back in the day, there were no roller furlers and people did just fine. I'm old school. And proud of it. But I keep myself in shape also. That is the key. Sailing is work.
Dealing with hank on sails when you are young and have a small boat isn't so bad. However, if you have a bigger boat and are a bit older, reducing sail with hank on sails become a bigger job and can be quite dangerous. You can roll up a sail on a furler as small as you want. Yes you lose pointing ability after more than 4-5 turns on the furler, but that isn't such a big deal away from land. As far as having jams and similar issues with a furler, if you know what you are doing that simply doesn't happen. I base that on sailing for 29 years with a furling head sail with zero issues. Incidentally, talking to a racer is not the best thing to do since racers have very different attitudes about sailing than cruisers. Personally, I will opt for the ease of raising/lowering my 135% genoa once a year. Lugging a 37 square meter sail around on deck is doable in light air, but not something I ever want to do again in anything over 10 knots and definitely not on a pitching foredeck. As far as adding luff tape to an old hank on sail goes it isn't worth it. Just buy a new purpose built roller furling sail. You can get a decent sail for a small boat like yours for under $1,500 USD. In other words, spare change in the sailing world.
@todddunn945 Agreed, I meant that to be 50% of life or less so you'll see the wear more than a year before failure. I'm working on improving my lead for extended life.
I agree, the gap mentioned between the storm jib and the minimum furl is not real. I have sailed a lot with my jib furled into a tiny scrap. You lose some windward ability, but in that kind of weather who is trying to go to windward? I was a purist for many years until I got a job on a modern catamaran and now I’m a furling believer. Very worth it. No comparison in terms of safety and ease. I’ll have a roller furling main too, please! Best thing ever.
As a young New Zealander many years ago I built a lightweight 35 foot yacht in Holland where I was working as a boat builder. I decided to go cruising and had hanked on headsails. I cruised Europe and down into Africa solo like yourself and pretty much used my No 3 headsail most of the time. I had a thin tack line to the head of the jib so if it was rough I didn't need to go fwd to pull it down. Drop the hallard pull the head tack line tight and the sheet tight and she was pretty much locked to the deck. Working and sailing in and from The Netherlands was an amazing experience. I'll never forget. Enjoy NZ !!
Did similiar trip years ago totally agree with your conclusion . I found a 80 % jib for ocean crossing was adequate fo most of of the ocean work . Really impressed with your trip and your preparation.
Very good sense. Having had endless problems with rollers I rigged my cutter with hanks and a boomed staysail. Not ideal but practical. Look forward to following you to us in South Africa 🇿🇦🌈
I was one of those who questioned why you don't use a genoa furler. I respect and accept your arguments. You actually use a manual genoa furler on your genoa 3, with the bag rolled up and zipped !!! I myself came across this argument from sailmakers about 15 years ago. Some more experienced sailors asked me: why would a sailmaker tell you to use only two sails - a furling sail and a storm sail with a staysail - instead of selling you four sails? I then also asked myself why solo sailors in major regattas and even boats with large crews would use genoa furlers, even when the sails are high-performance and made of very rigid materials? But it was the time at sea and sailing that made me decide to use a genoa furler... reducing movements and maneuvers on deck is important when sailing in intense winds and heavy seas. And I quickly concluded that the boat's performance was not affected when I started using the staysail in fierce winds, all I had to do was furl the genoa and open the staysail. It is not only the effort expended that must be considered, but the reduction of maneuvers on deck as a safety factor.
Good point reduction of movement on deck...as a safety feature... I don't like the extra wind age if in a storm or boat at anchor ... Especially at the top of the mast. Are there some roller systems that are relatively easy to take down put back up? And if one sail rips its good to have some spare perhaps?
Thanks for explaining your reasons for not using a roller furling. I see how your current setup works great for you. My concern was the safety aspect of the having to be on the bow of the boat to make sail changes in rough conditions as a solo sailor. Hats off to you. You are an awesome sailor. Be safe.
I think timing is crusual here. Its better to sail a bit slower and save because of a early change of sails then to get in stress when the weather turns bad fast.
I still use hank-on sails. I have considered roller furling many times. It seems like it would be easy. However, the mechanical simplicity of hank-on sails appeals to me. Also, the weight and windage of a furled sail in rough conditions makes me uneasy. I prefer to take sails down and stow below decks when conditions require it. I also use a turtle bag lashed to the railings, which works well. Thanks for sharing your views and methods.
I solo circumnavigated in a 33' cutter with a roller furling jib and hank-on staysail and this set up served me well. The roller furling was really appreciated in the southern ocean so I didn't have to brave the foredeck in heavy weather which can be pretty scary especially at night. Down at 50-60 degrees South, I spent most of the time running downwind with only the staysail poled out. This kept my boat speed
In 1977 I crewed on a 45 foot wooden yawl crossing the north Atlantic. We sailed half the passage on the club staysail and a high aspect ratio loose footed storm main. The owner was an aerospace engineer and hated single point failure in critical systems. Above 30 knots of wind we'd wrap the spinnaker halyard around the furler for peace of mind.
@@lungarottaInstall a removable forestay which, when not in use, is attached to the deck just in front of the mast and when needed it's attached near the bow with a strong tightning block system to give it tension. You can use it for a large lightwind sail or a storm sail. It's also a safety feature in case the furling system jams.
What an excellent explanation on why a roller furler is not necessarily a good option for a small blue water boat. Your seamanship is really very impressive. Not having personally sailed smaller boats on blue water voyages I really did not understand why so often I see hanked on sails on smaller boats. Now it makes perfect sense. Bravo! Thanks for the education!!
I think you have good arguments and have made a good choice for your boat and your way of sailing. I bought a boat, the same size as your Grinde, that had a Furlex and a jib that worked great in light winds. Unfortunately, a good light wind sail does not turn out well if you try to sail with it partially furled, so I removed the Furlex and put a wire stay there and used a light wind jib and a hard wind jib, both of which had hooks on the stay. It takes a while to change but is not difficult when the sail remains on the stay when you take it down to the deck and can tie it before unhooking it from the stay.
Hank on keeps it simple and allows for sail changes. Those furlers are more convenient but seem to have issues right when you don't want to have issues. A cutter seems like it would be great with a furling headsail but a hank on stay sail.
I'm a humble coastal sailor with a 14ft ballasted Beneteau Cabochard. I have 3 foresails: genoa, large jib and a storm jib. I too have been reticent about roller furlers and still am. When dousing, I use a jib downhaul and use the jibsheet to pull the tack back along the port side. Changing jibs at sea is tricky, so I anticipate and put on the right jib for the forecast conditions. Thanks for the reflections.
You describe exactly why I sail a cutter with both Yankee and Staysail and both on furler on my Vancouver 27…….great rig! And great boat for solo sailing❤
We had a genua tied up on deck or the lower railing line. We beat up in the Mona passage to come in the Atlantic coming out of Nassau in the Bahamas. A wave damaged the sail pretty badly!
@@sailingloveworkx That is the advantage of a bag which confines the sail so it can’t fill with water, and the bag can be solidly attached in many points to the gunnel. The only negative is that it will be on one side or the other.
Thanks for explaining your reasons for not having the roller furler. And lovely to meet you at Marsden Cove Marina today. I am so pleased I got to say hi.
The Words ,Analysis, Wisdom and Conviction of an Experienced Sailor ~ Whose Knowledge is The Power Behind her Journey , Learned Heaps from your Tete A Tete with the "Racing Sailmaker" and your Clear and Precise Seamanship ! 👌
My current boat, a large ketch has a good sized stay sail, but the boat is made for strong winds anyway so I don't even think about reducing sail until the wind hits 18 knots and sometimes I don't until it hits 22 knots. All my sails are roller furling which makes it very nice. This is the first time I've had a 155 genoa. I tried rolling it up a lot but found out the sheets rub on the stays so I just use the stay sail when the winds get around 28 knots. I haven't had it in 40 knots yet but am pretty sure I wouldn't have to furl the stay sail until then. Now my old boat with both sails furling, A Hunter 376 that had a 105 jib and a large main that was made for light winds, I started thinking about reducing sail at 12 knots. Over the course of 40K offshore miles I have had all kinds of sail out. Many times I've had what you would consider 3 reefs in both jib and main and it worked fine. I guess it depends on the sail, but I had no problems on my Hunter furling the headsail to where it was like a storm sail. I did have foam strips on the luff to help it furl smoothly though. So I guess it depends on the layout of the boat and the shape/size of the headsail, but I do know that some headsails can be rolled up to storm sail size and still function well.
Everyone of your reasons for not using a Genoa Furler are exactly the same ones that decided me to remove the furler from my Careel 22 trailer sailer called Wanton. I too have now made a bag that I place around the Nos. 3 genoa, on the foredeck, ready to be deployed as you described. One other reason that is not often mentioned when discussing furlers, is that when things go wrong with a roller furler, they happen at the worst possible time for such failures. You may be interested to read this narration I gave of a rather scary event, on a forum called trailer sailor place. "Surprisingly the scariest experience we have had sailing occurred on the Gippsland lakes between Paynesville and Metung almost within Metung Bay of all places. My wife and I along with our two grand daughters, in our boat Wanton, had sailed at Fraser Island with some pretty stiff wind on our return to the mainland. We also sailed all over the Whitsundays, again often in rather windy conditions. Wanton handled everything that was thrown at her with zest and it resulted in my wife and grand daughters gaining a lot of confidence in their abilities and Wanton's worth as a sailing boat. On this occasion at Metung Bay three things happened, that in a lesser boat would have spelled disaster. Firstly, whilst trying to outsail and out motor a storm, that suddenly and totally unexpectedly hit us, our terrific near new plastic outboard bracket snapped in half. Whilst attempting to haul the motor into the cockpit, with my wife at the tiller, we got hit by a starboard side squall that resulted in the listing and the spreaders touching the surface of the water. Bravely, my wife let the tiller loose and that resulted in Wanton self-righting almost instantly. The main sail was already fully furled so I then decided to reduce our furling genoa. The wind now being fully ahead resulted in the furler fouling with the forestay snapping the forestay. Luckily for us we have always sailed with the baby stay on the mast. All this happened in the space of perhaps 80 seconds." The purpose of mentioning this incident is to remind everyone the Poo Poo can happen anywhere, yes even in our beauteous Gippsland Lakes."
In my opinion if you have a roller furler you also need a removable inner forestay to be able to add a staysail when needed (trinquette as we say in French) so that you still have good point of sail instead of making 4 or 5 turns and losing speed in a messy sea. Imao 4 turns in a Genoa is the max. So your choice really make sense, thanks for sharing!
On my 28 footer I fitted an extra inner forestay (with added back stays). This way I just lowered the foresail, tied it up, and continued with a nr 3 jib on the inner (cutter)- stay. All strong safe hanked-on system. No dangerous strenuous sail changes and the benefit of stronger rigging incase of a forestay failure Note that this was ages ago. Nowadays on my 36 footer I sail with a Hood furler and enjoy the benefit of leaving the spinnaker pole in the jib while reefing on the long downwind oceancrossings. Little foredeck work ! You could/should have thought this through before this big journey dear Loveworker.
Safer for sure. Rig downhauls so you can have the sail secured DOWN before going forward to secure with gaskets. You will be always 'inspecting' your sails, unlike roller fooling where they just get rolled up and never looked at until they blow up. Also, changing to a smaller furling sail is always in stronger wind or you wouldn't be doing it. You are very smart to stick with hanks. And you can use your own soft shackles when the hanks wear through, as they do.
You are so organised its like you have an invisible helper. An xclent answer to why you don't have a furler. I have watched you doing your sails and they are easily handled by you as you drop and stow in its bag and then stowed away with the other sail prepared on the deck. I saw as you approached Opua wharf how everything was prepared ropes and stuff. Also how you put everything away after use. Your attention to weather reports days out and your preparation amazing. It seems normal but i dont see the same leve;l of care and attention to detail on other solo voyages. It was great to see our tupuna Manaia in your pan of Whangarei harbour Te Maunga whakahirahira, Te Maunga Whakaruruhau Te Maungakorero i tu ki tai.
when your furl a roller jib you raise the center of effort, when your change to a smaller jib you lower the center of effort, which reduces heeling moment, which is why you reduce sail to start with, right? I'm shopping for a little bigger boat and my criteria includes the comfort factor (Ted Brewer came up with a way to measure how the boat's motion in a seaway feels) and ease of single handed sailing, so I'm looking at fairly long keels, skeg hung rudders, deeper hulls and not really caring about sailing into the wind because I'm not is a race. Roller furling makes a lot of sense in a cutter rig where i could keep a staysail either up and flying or ready to hoist while trimming the jib from the cockpit. I plan to sail around the west coast of Canada and Washington state for a year or two while customising the rig and systems before doing some offshore cruising, likely solo or with less than expert crews
When you go to a bigger boat the weight of the genoa becomes a factor. It takes two people in calm weather to muscle mine around which is why it is on a furler. I have a staysail that is hank on so I can run in heavier weather on that. It does not deal with the windage aspect but I'd have to have a decent crew to have a hank on genoa.
Nice views of Whangārei Harbour and Marsden cove marina, the team there gave me and my son Alex great help when his little yacht when we got stuck there with a damaged engine during covid…
I am a new subscriber. I admire your view and courage! I live in South Africa and sailed the Indian ocean for the last 30 years as well as the Atlantic. I have a roller furler on a 47’ Vagabond. I don’t think I can ever go back to hank on sails. Good luck but most of all enjoy! I will follow you and look out for you in SA
Your family has to be so immensely proud of what you are doing. It takes a lot of courage and determination to sail off to the horizon and beyond. Not to mention solo and on a small boat.
I've never been offshore but know Chesapeake Bay storms well. Good practice for offshore. Some fellas and I would look for storms so we could practice in crappy weather. we learned a lot. You have obviously learned a lot more and we can learn from you.
Also sailing a 27 footers solo, not over oceans but still, weeks at a time in the Finnish archipelago. I feel hanks are just super reliable. if I want to get the sail down It'll come down no matter what wind direction. There's not much than can go wrong. I have a fractional rig so I'm almost always using a G3 and when it opens up I use my flat small spinnaker. Almost never bring out the G1 when cruising. I feel You have made the right choice when going with a non furling setup.
Had the same setup that you're talking about mine was set up with two turtle bags one on Port one on starboard and it worked great for me the only thing you have to be careful is change your sales early
Hi.up to you.but i run two forward stays.one with my largest sail on a furler for lite wind and when I'm lassy.and then the second stay for Hank's.and it good to have two of everything for safety. Well done on your channel.i love some one that loves what i love.the freedom of the sea.
It's always good to see someone doing things the simple way! I didn't realize your boat was so small! I have always owned and sailed boats with hank on jibs, but in handfull of times that I've sailed on a friends boat with roller furlers i've seen something go wrong a suprising amount of times, and I even went aloft to fix one once! but I have never had to go aloft to fix my jib. on that note, I have a downhaul so I can drop the jib from the cockpit (and cleat it down) of course I go forward after that to tie it down, but it's not so urgent!
Agree. It's fine and dandy when it works but... As soon as it stuck and it happens and you are in a narrow spot as we went in some inlet, then you wish you have a much simplier system.
I solo sailing with no engine. Manual anchor winch furling is dangerous. I will never use one again. May you have a fantastic and blessed voyage. Aloha
I used roller furling to stop and hold a position in the ocean to rest. Would only unfurl a few square feet of sail going down wind, then deploy a parachute sea anchor off stern. That was not enough sail to move against sea anchor and boat would stop and hold that position, boat & sea anchor would move together with current
There is another option: to get a furling genoa with luff foam strips sawn in. I just got one myself this summer and love it because you can furl it down to any size you'd like without much distorting the shape of the sail. Granted, I do not know if that type of sail is suitable for ocean crossings. I love your videos and wish you safe voyages!
I agree with you on what you said. Sorry I have not been here enjoying your channel. That is because We got hit with another Hurricane and was without electricity, water, cell phone services, and cable. My folks (I am their caregiver and live with them) and I are ok. So now I have some catching up to do. Happy Sailing ⛵.
I sailed JamToday a Farrier F 36 around the world and did not have a furler on the forestay, but had two profurl flying furlers that I could lower after furling onto the deck reducing windage to slow the boat down. I hanked my No 1, 2,3 . I have seen torn sails on furling systems that struggled to be lowered on a fixed stay so avoided that type. PAUL van Gysen, Luderitz
Most of today's furling systems are not reliable for long distance cruising. What you are doing works for you, it is simple and mostly foolproof, there is nothing wrong with your decision. Nice channel.
We have a Tasmanian designed and built Reefit furler on my boat. A 1974 built Swanson 30 IOR half tonner. It works perfectly and has never caused any issues, either in racing or cruising. By all accounts, it’s one of the very best and simplest furling systems for your Genoa out there. I am so glad I never have to go forward and hank on a foresail. We always sail with our N0.2 genny and with its two reefing points it works just fine. As we don’t have a inner forestay, changing over to a stay sail or even storm jib isn’t something we have ever needed to do. If the worst conditions were encountered we would simply furl the Genoa right in leaving but a handkerchief and put 2 reefs in the main. We don’t have a large main so it doesn’t have a 3rd reefing point.
@@thestardusterchronicles5462 I would like to see the data on this along with information on where the data came from. (grin) Modern furlers are almost always designed to be easily shippable which means there are countless joints in the extrusion pcs. held together with little set screws. These extrusions tend to be weak in my experience. Eventually the screws work loose and can jam the sail or if the extrusions come apart the sail can be hopelessly jammed with no way to lower or fully furl the sail. This stuff seems to always happen when the weather is not being nice and dealing with such a failure under bad conditions can be dangerous... In the past there were systems that you could buy that had full length one pc. extrusions which completely eliminates the unintended disassembly issue, maybe there are still some built like this but I am not aware of them. But even without the extrusion problem are others that will eventually get you. I had one customer who had a top bearing completely seize in a Hood furling system and it had to happen in the middle of a bad thunderstorm. He spent 45 minutes going in circles in the middle of the Gulf Stream in big seas during the storm to wind the sail up since it was too dangerous to go on deck with the big flogging Genoa. My boat btw is actually fully roller furling. main, mizzen and Genoa. All of the extrusions are one pc. and the gearboxes and swivels are massively built. The Genoa gearbox, swivel and motor weigh in around 50 lbs not counting the extrusion and this is on a 46' boat. It is a lot to maintain since real steel roller bearings are involved along with ,oil and seals but it is so wonderful to have that I am willing to put in the time and dollars to look after it and to accept the risk of failures. The boat also has powerful manual backup furling that so far has not been needed but is reassuring. I have owned the boat since 2016 and before I had the time to competely rebuild the systems I had one partial swivel seize which did minor damage but the sail still furled and one motor that had a stuck brush, a tap on the case restored function. All of my previous boats had traditional hank on sails and they ALWAYS worked. As nice as the furling systems on my boat are, I know for sure that they will not always work. Simplicity just wins when it comes to reliability. I agree with Jaquelines decision to avoid roller furling for now. She is a lot of fun to watch, so happy and she is out there doing what she loves. Stay safe and have fun Jaqueline! J&J SV Sueno
I like the idea of the turtle bag. I was contemplating something like that for my slutter sail which is a hank on an I would prefer that it lives above deck. As to reefing, you’ve gone half way around the world, and what you have works well, so stick with it. Regardless, you should test your thinking to find improvements that you can perform, and will make a difference, I think.
Petje af hoor, ik kijk graag naar jouw video clips. One day I like to do that too. Sail terug naar het oude land Holland, say hello to family and dan weer terug misschien . Ik heb gezeild in Holland maar dat was een lange tijd terug. Hou je haaks en veilig; ik wens je goede winds en kalme zeegang.👍🇳🇱👍
I have had hank on sails my whole life. I bought a newer boat in 2022 and was sailing it home. It had roller furling and of course the damn thing jammed up like 220 miles offshore at 3 in the morning. Weather was good so it was not a disaster, but it still took me like 20 minutes to fix. The first thing I did when I got home was have the furlers removed and converted to hanks. I will never own a boat with furlers.
I think you are best with the hanked sails, as you have them. A lot of comments here are probably from yachties who day-sail or do mainly weekend short coastal sails, racing or not. When way offshore, and in something like a 40 or 50 knot storm or more, I would hate to have a storm jib and hopefully properly furled headsail up. The extra windage, and perhaps the risk of it partly unfurling as well, or not easily furling fully in a sudden onset of wind, would all be a worry to me. Dropping a headsail, reaching under reefed main, and at some stage hoisting the storm jib would give much better peace of mind. Also I don't think it is feasible to think you can plan on lowering a headsail off a furler before a storm set in. I might be wrong but I believe that once a headsail is on a furler, it stays there for the entire voyage. I am sure some people have been deep offshore with furlers, and it would be good to get their perspective, but I know that plenty of them go long distance on pure luck instead of experience. Looks like you are headed to Auckland. I'll keep a watch out for if you get to the Tamaki Estuary.
Ik heb sinds 1979 een TWINSOLE 27, een stalen zeilboot van 27 voet, ontworpen door Martin Bekebrede en gebouwd in Nederland. Ik vaar ermee op de Waddenzee, de Noordzee, het Kanaal en de Oostzee. Al snel na de inbedrijfstelling heb ik de enkele voorstag vervangen door een dubbele voorstag. Sindsdien heb ik voor langere afstanden (voor mij betekent dat slechts IJmuiden-Lowestoft of Den Helder-Grimsby) twee zeilen tegelijk op: een zeil voor de momentele windkracht en een tweede, kleiner zeil voor meer wind. Ik denk nog steeds niet dat een rolfok het ideale zeil is. Een half opgerolde rolfok is gewoon een voorzeil met een inferieur profiel. Maar je oplossing met de turtle bag klinkt interessant! Misschien zien we de oplossing binnenkort in beeld?
I have zero interest in watching couples on 35'+ boats and catamarans with tons of money sailing around the world. You are what I want to watch, solo sailors in small boats. I wish the UA-cam algorithm could tell the difference. Subscribed.
I have a hank-on system on 33' cutter. My neighbor who races J22 gave me for free his #1 genoa that fits as a storm jib on mine. In my marina office for $150, I've bought a 7oz new working jib exactly for my boat. A brand new 145% genoa that came with my boat I've converted to hanks for $25. Three new sails that allow me to sail in any condition for under $200. Deals like this exit all the time. Fair winds, sister ⛵️
There is another possibility, and that is that if there were hanks designed to work over the aluninium “spar” (?) then you could work both systems. That would require some new sails. Then of course it requires an answer to why bother? And that answer might be that it is preparing for future sails. If you could continue with the existing sail set by swapping the hanks but have the roller fuller equipment ready, there might be some advantage in that. I like the deck bag idea best. And I am going to do that for my hank on cutter sail, now that you have shown that to be a good solution. Im also thinking through the possibility of adding a boom to the cutter sail, which has one reef, and that bag could be a mini boom bag. I could also use that boom for single handed launching of the dinghy from the for deck, maybe. Also if that boom had an inner slide out pole, that could act as a jiffy pole, also a big maybe, I have to do some measurement (my inner forestay is removable). Just thinking out loud here.
Yup. The general rule of thumb is that a roller furling is good for coastal or short hop sailing and hank-on sails are for passage making. It’s a less parts breaking safety issue. Can you talk about your solar oven? How is that working out for you?
I avoid the foils and just use a drum and swivel at either end of my fore stay for furling, it is simple and never jams, and it's really fast to pull the sail down should there be any kind of issue. But you have got to have a modest stay sail for beating off shore if the wind gets up, or night time when the weather is unsettled. Even when I was a young man I was keenly aware of how exposed I was on the fore deck of a small boat in the dark, when you cannot see which wave is about to climb aboard. The safety of Staying in the cockpit, especially for a single hander, outweighs any loss in 'sailing efficiency' in my mind.
Há toda a vantagem de usar velas com enrolador, ainda mais viajando em solitário, em caso de mau tempo basta deixar um metro de vela deixando de ser quase necessário a utilização da stormjib, por outro lado nas popas a utilização da genoa com o pau de spi permite regular a área vélica com facilidade.
If you could have two stays, then you could have a roller furling un the front and the jib un the back. So you could have a small bowsprit in order to attach the extra stay
Omg I’m so jealous. You’re literally living my dream life, sailing…although I think I would bring my boyfriend. (I would probably have to kidnap him bc he’s a total land-lover.) 😂 Take care!
Roller furlers will positively fuck-up sooner or later and especially when the wind is 40 knots and swell is 40' (verdomd.) Someday you'll be looking up at a twisted, Gordian knot at the mast head which you can't cut away without going aloft. On top of that all the control lines are under foot and trying hard to make you "lost at sea." Old school sailors are positively rolling over in their graves by the contraptions modern sailors routinely go to sea with. I have a cutter with hank-on head sails and a bowsprit. There is a raised bulwark all around the boat. Double lifelines with netting provide additional security (I want all pipe railings but that's next.) There is a sail bag secured to the bowsprit surrounded by the bowpulpit. Several head sails are stored in boat lockers. The head sails come down and simply lay against the netting until they can be properly placed in the bowsprit bag. Of course I have no interest in racing, only arriving.
hi i just subscribed as i also am a solo sailor with hank on sails. I am interested in what you have to say and your stories as a solo sailor. keep up the good work. fair winds.
I have hank on head sails also. I grew up sailing that way. I dont like stories of rollers jamming or whatever when you need to get the sail down in a hurry. If you're not in a bad situation, what's the hurry? And you get the right sail for the job.
The risk of fouling a jib in the furling system is for sea- and oceanfaring a substantial risk. Furling systems are far from reliable, although on smaller boats the risk is not that important being on iland waters. Therefore I always opt for the traditional system for many obvious reasons.
A Furling sail is okay until it gets damaged. I would have two stays, when changing sails hank the second sail on the spare stay drop the working sail into the turtle bag & hoist the new sail.
tell me about this “zip” reef in your Genoa 3 to make it a 4? I have a club footed staysail with a reef point in it similar to a mainsail. I haven’t rigged it to reef yet but curious on how yours is set up. Thanks!
@sailingloveworkx will be hot,not much wind.Plenty motoring.Why don't come via Brisbane ,Sydney and say hi to me in Perth West Australia.Good for sailing 😅
Sensibly you came to the correct conclusion. The KISS principle applies here. Rolling in the #1 on a furler to make say a #3 would form a sail with poor shape compared to your hanked on #3, especially for going upwind plus it would be of lighter material. You'd hate it. The only way a roller furler could work on your boat would be to install something like a solent inner forestay. The other really big advantage of your current setup is less weight and windage aloft which would be significant.
Please subscribe to my Channel, that means a lot to me www.youtube.com/@sailingloveworkx?sub_confirmation=1
I have sailed and raced extensively with roller furling on boats your size, 27 to 28 feet over 40,000 miles over my 60 years sailing, all on the great lakes. I have raced in severe conditions single handed without furling and won with a large number of sail changes. I was young, in my 30ś and in good shape. The boat had been reriggerd from a round the bouy racer to a long distancer solo racer. Weather was constant upper 40 knot North easter on Lake Huron, with freighters and coast guard reporting waves in the high 20 ft range (28 ft most often reported). No issues. Used my full sail range including spinnaker as the breeze moderqated. Handled all sailchanges with all sails with hanks in all conditions. In my fifties i utilized roller furling. Did round bouy racing and day sailing. I utilized a custom heavy #1 Kevlar near deck sweeper for racing on a double groove headfoil (harken). I never sailed tthe sail with it reefed. My next sail down was a 120% full hoist heavy air genoa. I also used it for day sailing, the #1 only put up for racing. The sail never left me wanting more in light air. It sailed nicely, only a little slower than #1. The full hoist was its key and generated a lot of power. The sail was never reefed. The furler was only used for taking in and letting out sail and for sail storge. No issues. I was in mid 50ś and good health and strength. The boat was rigged as a simple main and jib cruiser. I carried a spinnaker but rarely used it. Tacking down wind brought desinations almost as quick with less hastle and work.
Finally my last 2 years. Now rigged only main and jib. My strength is gone. I cannot even pull up a halyard without a winch, not to tighten the sail but to raise it. My balance is gone. I cannot go out of the cockpit and someone else has to be there for me to sail. Roller furling was absoluterly essential to sail at all. For sail handling with other crew on board the roller furling wins hands down. Guest crewe have no business on a pitching foredeck to handle sails, rising, lowering, or sail changes. In other than light to moderate air the crew handfing sails has to have your level of expertise to go forward. Much safer and morer doable when needed with roller furling. I have never considered a flogging main behind a too big jib as proper or acceptable sail handling. If you are in shape and able to handle the boat single handed then both can be done safely. Once physical strength including stamina start to wain OR if you have to sail with non-expert crew at any age I would not recommend waiting. Change to roller furling for the rest of your sailing career. I am describing what i found in my years of sailing and how i found using both systems in my life. This was in 27 to 28 ft boats. Size can change things quickly. When I was in my best physical condition and energy. In moderate air, 22 to 30 knots. I could not handle #1 genoas on a big rigged (catalina 30 tall rig.) and not a spinnaker at all with the methods at the time. I just offer this to help food for thought.
Thanks for sharing!
@robertbranch1667 I am 65 and sail a 35 foot solo. Hank on sails. All halyards on the mast. No issue. It all depends on your physical condition. Back in the day, there were no roller furlers and people did just fine. I'm old school. And proud of it. But I keep myself in shape also. That is the key. Sailing is work.
I love watching you sail! Subscribed.
Thanks! Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Dealing with hank on sails when you are young and have a small boat isn't so bad. However, if you have a bigger boat and are a bit older, reducing sail with hank on sails become a bigger job and can be quite dangerous. You can roll up a sail on a furler as small as you want. Yes you lose pointing ability after more than 4-5 turns on the furler, but that isn't such a big deal away from land. As far as having jams and similar issues with a furler, if you know what you are doing that simply doesn't happen. I base that on sailing for 29 years with a furling head sail with zero issues. Incidentally, talking to a racer is not the best thing to do since racers have very different attitudes about sailing than cruisers. Personally, I will opt for the ease of raising/lowering my 135% genoa once a year. Lugging a 37 square meter sail around on deck is doable in light air, but not something I ever want to do again in anything over 10 knots and definitely not on a pitching foredeck. As far as adding luff tape to an old hank on sail goes it isn't worth it. Just buy a new purpose built roller furling sail. You can get a decent sail for a small boat like yours for under $1,500 USD. In other words, spare change in the sailing world.
You are correct
Agree 100%. At worst, change the furling line every 2-3yrs and watch that it has a fair lead.
@@artsmith103 My experience is that furling lines last much longer than that with zero issues. I do carry a backup.
@todddunn945 Agreed, I meant that to be 50% of life or less so you'll see the wear more than a year before failure. I'm working on improving my lead for extended life.
I agree, the gap mentioned between the storm jib and the minimum furl is not real. I have sailed a lot with my jib furled into a tiny scrap. You lose some windward ability, but in that kind of weather who is trying to go to windward? I was a purist for many years until I got a job on a modern catamaran and now I’m a furling believer. Very worth it. No comparison in terms of safety and ease. I’ll have a roller furling main too, please! Best thing ever.
As a young New Zealander many years ago I built a lightweight 35 foot yacht in Holland where I was working as a boat builder. I decided to go cruising and had hanked on headsails. I cruised Europe and down into Africa solo like yourself and pretty much used my No 3 headsail most of the time. I had a thin tack line to the head of the jib so if it was rough I didn't need to go fwd to pull it down. Drop the hallard pull the head tack line tight and the sheet tight and she was pretty much locked to the deck. Working and sailing in and from The Netherlands was an amazing experience. I'll never forget. Enjoy NZ !!
Thanks for sharing!
Did similiar trip years ago totally agree with your conclusion . I found a 80 % jib for ocean crossing was adequate fo most of of the ocean work . Really impressed with your trip and your preparation.
Thanks so much. Looking forward to all your lovely comments.
Very good sense. Having had endless problems with rollers I rigged my cutter with hanks and a boomed staysail. Not ideal but practical. Look forward to following you to us in South Africa 🇿🇦🌈
Thanks!
Thanks!
Hi Debbie. Thanks! That's highly appreciated. 🙏
I was one of those who questioned why you don't use a genoa furler.
I respect and accept your arguments.
You actually use a manual genoa furler on your genoa 3, with the bag rolled up and zipped !!!
I myself came across this argument from sailmakers about 15 years ago. Some more experienced sailors asked me: why would a sailmaker tell you to use only two sails - a furling sail and a storm sail with a staysail - instead of selling you four sails?
I then also asked myself why solo sailors in major regattas and even boats with large crews would use genoa furlers, even when the sails are high-performance and made of very rigid materials?
But it was the time at sea and sailing that made me decide to use a genoa furler... reducing movements and maneuvers on deck is important when sailing in intense winds and heavy seas. And I quickly concluded that the boat's performance was not affected when I started using the staysail in fierce winds, all I had to do was furl the genoa and open the staysail. It is not only the effort expended that must be considered, but the reduction of maneuvers on deck as a safety factor.
A stay sail is a great add to a boat. Especially to a boat with a furling genoa.
Good point reduction of movement on deck...as a safety feature...
I don't like the extra wind age if in a storm or boat at anchor ...
Especially at the top of the mast.
Are there some roller systems that are relatively easy to take down put back up?
And if one sail rips its good to have some spare perhaps?
@PedroPaulo-bd5ik thanks for your thoughts! safety is also an important factor.
Thanks for explaining your reasons for not using a roller furling. I see how your current setup works great for you. My concern was the safety aspect of the having to be on the bow of the boat to make sail changes in rough conditions as a solo sailor. Hats off to you. You are an awesome sailor. Be safe.
I think timing is crusual here. Its better to sail a bit slower and save because of a early change of sails then to get in stress when the weather turns bad fast.
It means you watch the weather more closely and you reef early
@patrickjohn2990 Thanks. Looking forward to all your lovely comments .
You are just amazing and inspiration to all of us sailors! ❤You are also the one of the bravest women in the world! 😊Stay safe and enjoy your sailing!
🙏🙏🙏 Looking forward to all your lovely comments
I still use hank-on sails. I have considered roller furling many times. It seems like it would be easy. However, the mechanical simplicity of hank-on sails appeals to me. Also, the weight and windage of a furled sail in rough conditions makes me uneasy. I prefer to take sails down and stow below decks when conditions require it. I also use a turtle bag lashed to the railings, which works well. Thanks for sharing your views and methods.
Thanks. Good to hear.
I solo circumnavigated in a 33' cutter with a roller furling jib and hank-on staysail and this set up served me well. The roller furling was really appreciated in the southern ocean so I didn't have to brave the foredeck in heavy weather which can be pretty scary especially at night. Down at 50-60 degrees South, I spent most of the time running downwind with only the staysail poled out. This kept my boat speed
The difference with you is that you had a cutter rig, enabling you to use the furling jib and when needed the storm jib.
In 1977 I crewed on a 45 foot wooden yawl crossing the north Atlantic. We sailed half the passage on the club staysail and a high aspect ratio loose footed storm main. The owner was an aerospace engineer and hated single point failure in critical systems. Above 30 knots of wind we'd wrap the spinnaker halyard around the furler for peace of mind.
@@lungarottaInstall a removable forestay which, when not in use, is attached to the deck just in front of the mast and when needed it's attached near the bow with a strong tightning block system to give it tension. You can use it for a large lightwind sail or a storm sail. It's also a safety feature in case the furling system jams.
@ronkirk5099 Thanks for sharing your experience!
What an excellent explanation on why a roller furler is not necessarily a good option for a small blue water boat. Your seamanship is really very impressive. Not having personally sailed smaller boats on blue water voyages I really did not understand why so often I see hanked on sails on smaller boats. Now it makes perfect sense. Bravo! Thanks for the education!!
Thanks for your lovely comment
I think you have good arguments and have made a good choice for your boat and your way of sailing. I bought a boat, the same size as your Grinde, that had a Furlex and a jib that worked great in light winds. Unfortunately, a good light wind sail does not turn out well if you try to sail with it partially furled, so I removed the Furlex and put a wire stay there and used a light wind jib and a hard wind jib, both of which had hooks on the stay. It takes a while to change but is not difficult when the sail remains on the stay when you take it down to the deck and can tie it before unhooking it from the stay.
Nice to hear.
Hank on keeps it simple and allows for sail changes. Those furlers are more convenient but seem to have issues right when you don't want to have issues. A cutter seems like it would be great with a furling headsail but a hank on stay sail.
Thanks Steve!
I'm a humble coastal sailor with a 14ft ballasted Beneteau Cabochard. I have 3 foresails: genoa, large jib and a storm jib. I too have been reticent about roller furlers and still am. When dousing, I use a jib downhaul and use the jibsheet to pull the tack back along the port side. Changing jibs at sea is tricky, so I anticipate and put on the right jib for the forecast conditions. Thanks for the reflections.
Thank you for sharing.
You describe exactly why I sail a cutter with both Yankee and Staysail and both on furler on my Vancouver 27…….great rig! And great boat for solo sailing❤
Nice!
We had a genua tied up on deck or the lower railing line. We beat up in the Mona passage to come in the Atlantic coming out of Nassau in the Bahamas. A wave damaged the sail pretty badly!
I can imagine that, since lots of waves can come through.
@@sailingloveworkx That is the advantage of a bag which confines the sail so it can’t fill with water, and the bag can be solidly attached in many points to the gunnel. The only negative is that it will be on one side or the other.
Yes that makes perfect sense now that you have explained the sail set up, it is best for changing conditions...love your channel
Thanks Amanda! Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Thanks for explaining your reasons for not having the roller furler. And lovely to meet you at Marsden Cove Marina today. I am so pleased I got to say hi.
Was very nice meeting you indeed!
The Words ,Analysis, Wisdom and Conviction of an Experienced Sailor ~ Whose Knowledge is The Power Behind her Journey , Learned Heaps from your Tete A Tete with the "Racing Sailmaker" and your Clear and Precise Seamanship ! 👌
Thanks so much!
My current boat, a large ketch has a good sized stay sail, but the boat is made for strong winds anyway so I don't even think about reducing sail until the wind hits 18 knots and sometimes I don't until it hits 22 knots. All my sails are roller furling which makes it very nice. This is the first time I've had a 155 genoa. I tried rolling it up a lot but found out the sheets rub on the stays so I just use the stay sail when the winds get around 28 knots. I haven't had it in 40 knots yet but am pretty sure I wouldn't have to furl the stay sail until then.
Now my old boat with both sails furling, A Hunter 376 that had a 105 jib and a large main that was made for light winds, I started thinking about reducing sail at 12 knots. Over the course of 40K offshore miles I have had all kinds of sail out. Many times I've had what you would consider 3 reefs in both jib and main and it worked fine. I guess it depends on the sail, but I had no problems on my Hunter furling the headsail to where it was like a storm sail. I did have foam strips on the luff to help it furl smoothly though.
So I guess it depends on the layout of the boat and the shape/size of the headsail, but I do know that some headsails can be rolled up to storm sail size and still function well.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
You’re so clever and brave, I’ve learned so much about sailing watching your videos, thank you 😊
So nice to hear!
Everyone of your reasons for not using a Genoa Furler are exactly the same ones that decided me to remove the furler from my Careel 22 trailer sailer called Wanton. I too have now made a bag that I place around the Nos. 3 genoa, on the foredeck, ready to be deployed as you described. One other reason that is not often mentioned when discussing furlers, is that when things go wrong with a roller furler, they happen at the worst possible time for such failures. You may be interested to read this narration I gave of a rather scary event, on a forum called trailer sailor place.
"Surprisingly the scariest experience we have had sailing occurred on the Gippsland lakes between Paynesville and Metung almost within Metung Bay of all places.
My wife and I along with our two grand daughters, in our boat Wanton, had sailed at Fraser Island with some pretty stiff wind on our return to the mainland. We also sailed all over the Whitsundays, again often in rather windy conditions. Wanton handled everything that was thrown at her with zest and it resulted in my wife and grand daughters gaining a lot of confidence in their abilities and Wanton's worth as a sailing boat.
On this occasion at Metung Bay three things happened, that in a lesser boat would have spelled disaster. Firstly, whilst trying to outsail and out motor a storm, that suddenly and totally unexpectedly hit us, our terrific near new plastic outboard bracket snapped in half. Whilst attempting to haul the motor into the cockpit, with my wife at the tiller, we got hit by a starboard side squall that resulted in the listing and the spreaders touching the surface of the water. Bravely, my wife let the tiller loose and that resulted in Wanton self-righting almost instantly. The main sail was already fully furled so I then decided to reduce our furling genoa. The wind now being fully ahead resulted in the furler fouling with the forestay snapping the forestay. Luckily for us we have always sailed with the baby stay on the mast. All this happened in the space of perhaps 80 seconds."
The purpose of mentioning this incident is to remind everyone the Poo Poo can happen anywhere, yes even in our beauteous Gippsland Lakes."
So true. Things happen mostly in a bad timing.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEO. AMAZING!
🙏
I’m so glad I found you. You’re fantastic. And at 27 ft I can really relate to her and your experiences aboard her. I’ve subscribed.
Thanks so much. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Toujours aussi intéressant !! Merci !!
Merci!
In my opinion if you have a roller furler you also need a removable inner forestay to be able to add a staysail when needed (trinquette as we say in French) so that you still have good point of sail instead of making 4 or 5 turns and losing speed in a messy sea. Imao 4 turns in a Genoa is the max. So your choice really make sense, thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I agree.
On my 28 footer I fitted an extra inner forestay (with added back stays).
This way I just lowered the foresail, tied it up, and continued with a nr 3 jib on the inner (cutter)- stay.
All strong safe hanked-on system.
No dangerous strenuous sail changes and the benefit of stronger rigging incase of a forestay failure
Note that this was ages ago. Nowadays on my 36 footer I sail with a Hood furler and enjoy the benefit of leaving
the spinnaker pole in the jib while reefing on the long downwind oceancrossings. Little foredeck work !
You could/should have thought this through before this big journey dear Loveworker.
I still have an inner forestay for hanked-on small jibs. Its just like Ron Kirk down below.
Thanks Karel. I did think this through before I left. And now I come to the same conclusion. Happy as it is.
@@sailingloveworkx Fine, its your journey.
Have a safe Indian ocean crossing.
Thank you from Canada.
🙏
You are amazing and I am enjoying watching all your episodes.
🙏🙏🙏
Really enjoying your channel. Stay safe and we will be watching.
Thanks. Looking forward to all your lovely comments.
Thanks for explaining why you don't have furling. I had the same question. Wishing you great sailing. I really enjoy your videos!
Thanks Kurt! Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Safer for sure. Rig downhauls so you can have the sail secured DOWN before going forward to secure with gaskets. You will be always 'inspecting' your sails, unlike roller fooling where they just get rolled up and never looked at until they blow up. Also, changing to a smaller furling sail is always in stronger wind or you wouldn't be doing it. You are very smart to stick with hanks. And you can use your own soft shackles when the hanks wear through, as they do.
Thanks!
EXCELENTE DECISION CAPITANA UN APAREJO MUY MARINERO Y PARA TODEO LOS MARES Y OCEANOS !!!! UN GRAN SALUDO DESDE ARGENTINA Y BUENA PROA !!!!
Muchas gracias!
Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Thanks!
You are so organised its like you have an invisible helper. An xclent answer to why you don't have a furler. I have watched you doing your sails and they are easily handled by you as you drop and stow in its bag and then stowed away with the other sail prepared on the deck. I saw as you approached Opua wharf how everything was prepared ropes and stuff. Also how you put everything away after use. Your attention to weather reports days out and your preparation amazing. It seems normal but i dont see the same leve;l of care and attention to detail on other solo voyages. It was great to see our tupuna Manaia in your pan of Whangarei harbour Te Maunga whakahirahira, Te Maunga Whakaruruhau Te Maungakorero i tu ki tai.
Thanks for your lovely feedback!
when your furl a roller jib you raise the center of effort, when your change to a smaller jib you lower the center of effort, which reduces heeling moment, which is why you reduce sail to start with, right? I'm shopping for a little bigger boat and my criteria includes the comfort factor (Ted Brewer came up with a way to measure how the boat's motion in a seaway feels) and ease of single handed sailing, so I'm looking at fairly long keels, skeg hung rudders, deeper hulls and not really caring about sailing into the wind because I'm not is a race. Roller furling makes a lot of sense in a cutter rig where i could keep a staysail either up and flying or ready to hoist while trimming the jib from the cockpit. I plan to sail around the west coast of Canada and Washington state for a year or two while customising the rig and systems before doing some offshore cruising, likely solo or with less than expert crews
When you go to a bigger boat the weight of the genoa becomes a factor. It takes two people in calm weather to muscle mine around which is why it is on a furler. I have a staysail that is hank on so I can run in heavier weather on that. It does not deal with the windage aspect but I'd have to have a decent crew to have a hank on genoa.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Nice views of Whangārei Harbour and Marsden cove marina, the team there gave me and my son Alex great help when his little yacht when we got stuck there with a damaged engine during covid…
I love the Marsden Cove Marina team. Great they could be of help to you.
I am a new subscriber. I admire your view and courage! I live in South Africa and sailed the Indian ocean for the last 30 years as well as the Atlantic. I have a roller furler on a 47’ Vagabond. I don’t think I can ever go back to hank on sails. Good luck but most of all enjoy! I will follow you and look out for you in SA
Thanks. That must have been beautiful experiences. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Your family has to be so immensely proud of what you are doing. It takes a lot of courage and determination to sail off to the horizon and beyond. Not to mention solo and on a small boat.
Thanks. So nice of you.
Nice to meet you today J , have a great weekend in Akl.
Very nice to meet you too. Auckland was very nice. Sailing there in December also.
I've never been offshore but know Chesapeake Bay storms well. Good practice for offshore. Some fellas and I would look for storms so we could practice in crappy weather. we learned a lot. You have obviously learned a lot more and we can learn from you.
Thanks Richard! Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Also sailing a 27 footers solo, not over oceans but still, weeks at a time in the Finnish archipelago. I feel hanks are just super reliable. if I want to get the sail down It'll come down no matter what wind direction. There's not much than can go wrong. I have a fractional rig so I'm almost always using a G3 and when it opens up I use my flat small spinnaker. Almost never bring out the G1 when cruising. I feel You have made the right choice when going with a non furling setup.
Thanks Harald.
Had the same setup that you're talking about mine was set up with two turtle bags one on Port one on starboard and it worked great for me the only thing you have to be careful is change your sales early
Good to hear!
Hi.up to you.but i run two forward stays.one with my largest sail on a furler for lite wind and when I'm lassy.and then the second stay for Hank's.and it good to have two of everything for safety. Well done on your channel.i love some one that loves what i love.the freedom of the sea.
Thanks Peter. Nice to hear about your setup. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Keep us posted on the turtle bag. I tend to stuff my hanked on headsails into a bag lashed to the pulpit, which is hard on the fabric.
Will do that.
It's always good to see someone doing things the simple way! I didn't realize your boat was so small!
I have always owned and sailed boats with hank on jibs, but in handfull of times that I've sailed on a friends boat with roller furlers i've seen something go wrong a suprising amount of times, and I even went aloft to fix one once! but I have never had to go aloft to fix my jib. on that note, I have a downhaul so I can drop the jib from the cockpit (and cleat it down) of course I go forward after that to tie it down, but it's not so urgent!
Thanks for sharing!
Agree. It's fine and dandy when it works but... As soon as it stuck and it happens and you are in a narrow spot as we went in some inlet, then you wish you have a much simplier system.
Thanks!
Nice work! Safe sailing.
Thank you
I solo sailing with no engine. Manual anchor winch furling is dangerous. I will never use one again. May you have a fantastic and blessed voyage. Aloha
🙏
I used roller furling to stop and hold a position in the ocean to rest. Would only unfurl a few square feet of sail going down wind, then deploy a parachute sea anchor off stern. That was not enough sail to move against sea anchor and boat would stop and hold that position, boat & sea anchor would move together with current
Sounds interesting. I would only deploy a sea anchor in gale force. I do heave to
There is another option: to get a furling genoa with luff foam strips sawn in. I just got one myself this summer and love it because you can furl it down to any size you'd like without much distorting the shape of the sail. Granted, I do not know if that type of sail is suitable for ocean crossings. I love your videos and wish you safe voyages!
Thanks! Looking forward to all your lovely comments.
There is simplicity in Hank on headsails. Thanks for your videos, Subscribed 😉
Thanks. Looking forward to all your lovely comments.
Gewoon geweldig.
🙏🙏🙏
Nice video 😊
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I agree with you on what you said. Sorry I have not been here enjoying your channel. That is because We got hit with another Hurricane and was without electricity, water, cell phone services, and cable. My folks (I am their caregiver and live with them) and I are ok. So now I have some catching up to do. Happy Sailing ⛵.
Sorry to hear about you being struck by a hurricane. Good to see you here. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Sorry to hear about you being struck by a hurricane. Good to see you here. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, but I still enjoyed the conversation :)
Thanks for your response. 😀
I sailed JamToday a Farrier F 36 around the world and did not have a furler on the forestay, but had two profurl flying furlers that I could lower after furling onto the deck reducing windage to slow the boat down. I hanked my No 1, 2,3 . I have seen torn sails on furling systems that struggled to be lowered on a fixed stay so avoided that type. PAUL van Gysen, Luderitz
Thanks for sharing Paul. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
Most of today's furling systems are not reliable for long distance cruising. What you are doing works for you, it is simple and mostly foolproof, there is nothing wrong with your decision. Nice channel.
And yet most long distance cruisers use roller furlers..... reliably
@@thestardusterchronicles5462😅😅...No doubt!, he is talking like a sofa-sailor!
We have a Tasmanian designed and built Reefit furler on my boat. A 1974 built Swanson 30 IOR half tonner. It works perfectly and has never caused any issues, either in racing or cruising. By all accounts, it’s one of the very best and simplest furling systems for your Genoa out there. I am so glad I never have to go forward and hank on a foresail. We always sail with our N0.2 genny and with its two reefing points it works just fine. As we don’t have a inner forestay, changing over to a stay sail or even storm jib isn’t something we have ever needed to do. If the worst conditions were encountered we would simply furl the Genoa right in leaving but a handkerchief and put 2 reefs in the main. We don’t have a large main so it doesn’t have a 3rd reefing point.
We sailed from Alaska to New Zealand, 5 years cruising with roller furling on both head sails. We have cutter… never had a problem.
@@thestardusterchronicles5462 I would like to see the data on this along with information on where the data came from. (grin) Modern furlers are almost always designed to be easily shippable which means there are countless joints in the extrusion pcs. held together with little set screws. These extrusions tend to be weak in my experience. Eventually the screws work loose and can jam the sail or if the extrusions come apart the sail can be hopelessly jammed with no way to lower or fully furl the sail. This stuff seems to always happen when the weather is not being nice and dealing with such a failure under bad conditions can be dangerous... In the past there were systems that you could buy that had full length one pc. extrusions which completely eliminates the unintended disassembly issue, maybe there are still some built like this but I am not aware of them. But even without the extrusion problem are others that will eventually get you. I had one customer who had a top bearing completely seize in a Hood furling system and it had to happen in the middle of a bad thunderstorm. He spent 45 minutes going in circles in the middle of the Gulf Stream in big seas during the storm to wind the sail up since it was too dangerous to go on deck with the big flogging Genoa. My boat btw is actually fully roller furling. main, mizzen and Genoa. All of the extrusions are one pc. and the gearboxes and swivels are massively built. The Genoa gearbox, swivel and motor weigh in around 50 lbs not counting the extrusion and this is on a 46' boat. It is a lot to maintain since real steel roller bearings are involved along with ,oil and seals but it is so wonderful to have that I am willing to put in the time and dollars to look after it and to accept the risk of failures. The boat also has powerful manual backup furling that so far has not been needed but is reassuring. I have owned the boat since 2016 and before I had the time to competely rebuild the systems I had one partial swivel seize which did minor damage but the sail still furled and one motor that had a stuck brush, a tap on the case restored function. All of my previous boats had traditional hank on sails and they ALWAYS worked. As nice as the furling systems on my boat are, I know for sure that they will not always work. Simplicity just wins when it comes to reliability. I agree with Jaquelines decision to avoid roller furling for now. She is a lot of fun to watch, so happy and she is out there doing what she loves. Stay safe and have fun Jaqueline! J&J SV Sueno
I like the idea of the turtle bag. I was contemplating something like that for my slutter sail which is a hank on an I would prefer that it lives above deck. As to reefing, you’ve gone half way around the world, and what you have works well, so stick with it. Regardless, you should test your thinking to find improvements that you can perform, and will make a difference, I think.
Thanks. I agree. Stick to what works.
Great video, fair winds
🙏
Look forward to seeing the bag solution …interested in doing the same…
The bag is ready for use
Petje af hoor, ik kijk graag naar jouw video clips. One day I like to do that too. Sail terug naar het oude land Holland, say hello to family and dan weer terug misschien .
Ik heb gezeild in Holland maar dat was een lange tijd terug.
Hou je haaks en veilig; ik wens je goede winds en kalme zeegang.👍🇳🇱👍
Dank je wel!
19th century sailing for over two years from SF to south Mexico and back. Sextant and Stars and a handheld Magellan GPS in the 90s. Hahaha
Nice!
Curious to see the turtlebag. About furlers: don’t underestimate the windage-effects of a furled sail.👍👍
Hi Alfred. The turtlebag is ready now.
I have had hank on sails my whole life. I bought a newer boat in 2022 and was sailing it home. It had roller furling and of course the damn thing jammed up like 220 miles offshore at 3 in the morning. Weather was good so it was not a disaster, but it still took me like 20 minutes to fix. The first thing I did when I got home was have the furlers removed and converted to hanks. I will never own a boat with furlers.
Glad you where safe. Thanks for sharing
you are really een inspiration
Thanks so much Tally!
I think you are best with the hanked sails, as you have them. A lot of comments here are probably from yachties who day-sail or do mainly weekend short coastal sails, racing or not. When way offshore, and in something like a 40 or 50 knot storm or more, I would hate to have a storm jib and hopefully properly furled headsail up. The extra windage, and perhaps the risk of it partly unfurling as well, or not easily furling fully in a sudden onset of wind, would all be a worry to me. Dropping a headsail, reaching under reefed main, and at some stage hoisting the storm jib would give much better peace of mind.
Also I don't think it is feasible to think you can plan on lowering a headsail off a furler before a storm set in. I might be wrong but I believe that once a headsail is on a furler, it stays there for the entire voyage.
I am sure some people have been deep offshore with furlers, and it would be good to get their perspective, but I know that plenty of them go long distance on pure luck instead of experience.
Looks like you are headed to Auckland. I'll keep a watch out for if you get to the Tamaki Estuary.
Thanks. I agree to what you say. I am headed for Auckland in December.
Ik heb sinds 1979 een TWINSOLE 27, een stalen zeilboot van 27 voet, ontworpen door Martin Bekebrede en gebouwd in Nederland. Ik vaar ermee op de Waddenzee, de Noordzee, het Kanaal en de Oostzee. Al snel na de inbedrijfstelling heb ik de enkele voorstag vervangen door een dubbele voorstag. Sindsdien heb ik voor langere afstanden (voor mij betekent dat slechts IJmuiden-Lowestoft of Den Helder-Grimsby) twee zeilen tegelijk op: een zeil voor de momentele windkracht en een tweede, kleiner zeil voor meer wind. Ik denk nog steeds niet dat een rolfok het ideale zeil is. Een half opgerolde rolfok is gewoon een voorzeil met een inferieur profiel. Maar je oplossing met de turtle bag klinkt interessant! Misschien zien we de oplossing binnenkort in beeld?
Dank voor het delen van jouw ervaring. De turtle bag is inmiddels klaar.
I have zero interest in watching couples on 35'+ boats and catamarans with tons of money sailing around the world. You are what I want to watch, solo sailors in small boats. I wish the UA-cam algorithm could tell the difference. Subscribed.
Thanks so much! Looking forward to all your lovely comments
I have a hank-on system on 33' cutter. My neighbor who races J22 gave me for free his #1 genoa that fits as a storm jib on mine. In my marina office for $150, I've bought a 7oz new working jib exactly for my boat. A brand new 145% genoa that came with my boat I've converted to hanks for $25. Three new sails that allow me to sail in any condition for under $200. Deals like this exit all the time. Fair winds, sister ⛵️
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You make a very strong case for not having a roller furler. Not everyone agrees, but a roller furler is a compromise. Thanks for your take on them.
Thanks!
There is another possibility, and that is that if there were hanks designed to work over the aluninium “spar” (?) then you could work both systems. That would require some new sails. Then of course it requires an answer to why bother? And that answer might be that it is preparing for future sails. If you could continue with the existing sail set by swapping the hanks but have the roller fuller equipment ready, there might be some advantage in that. I like the deck bag idea best. And I am going to do that for my hank on cutter sail, now that you have shown that to be a good solution. Im also thinking through the possibility of adding a boom to the cutter sail, which has one reef, and that bag could be a mini boom bag. I could also use that boom for single handed launching of the dinghy from the for deck, maybe. Also if that boom had an inner slide out pole, that could act as a jiffy pole, also a big maybe, I have to do some measurement (my inner forestay is removable). Just thinking out loud here.
Thanks for thinking out loud!
Yup. The general rule of thumb is that a roller furling is good for coastal or short hop sailing and hank-on sails are for passage making. It’s a less parts breaking safety issue.
Can you talk about your solar oven? How is that working out for you?
Hi Richard. Thanks. My solaroven is ok, but I use it very little.
Lashing headsails to the fence in heavy weather is a good way to lose not only the sail plus your fence. Happy sailing
So true. Thanks for caring.
"... Not alot of people do that." I see what you mean ^_^ Great channel tough!
Thanks!
I avoid the foils and just use a drum and swivel at either end of my fore stay for furling, it is simple and never jams, and it's really fast to pull the sail down should there be any kind of issue. But you have got to have a modest stay sail for beating off shore if the wind gets up, or night time when the weather is unsettled. Even when I was a young man I was keenly aware of how exposed I was on the fore deck of a small boat in the dark, when you cannot see which wave is about to climb aboard. The safety of Staying in the cockpit, especially for a single hander, outweighs any loss in 'sailing efficiency' in my mind.
Safety is very important indeed.
Há toda a vantagem de usar velas com enrolador, ainda mais viajando em solitário, em caso de mau tempo basta deixar um metro de vela deixando de ser quase necessário a utilização da stormjib, por outro lado nas popas a utilização da genoa com o pau de spi permite regular a área vélica com facilidade.
Obrigado pelos seus pensamentos. Muito simpático.
If you could have two stays, then you could have a roller furling un the front and the jib un the back. So you could have a small bowsprit in order to attach the extra stay
All true. But my boat is simply to small.
Omg I’m so jealous. You’re literally living my dream life, sailing…although I think I would bring my boyfriend. (I would probably have to kidnap him bc he’s a total land-lover.) 😂 Take care!
Thanks Erica!
Roller furlers will positively fuck-up sooner or later and especially when the wind is 40 knots and swell is 40' (verdomd.) Someday you'll be looking up at a twisted, Gordian knot at the mast head which you can't cut away without going aloft. On top of that all the control lines are under foot and trying hard to make you "lost at sea."
Old school sailors are positively rolling over in their graves by the contraptions modern sailors routinely go to sea with.
I have a cutter with hank-on head sails and a bowsprit. There is a raised bulwark all around the boat. Double lifelines with netting provide additional security (I want all pipe railings but that's next.) There is a sail bag secured to the bowsprit surrounded by the bowpulpit. Several head sails are stored in boat lockers.
The head sails come down and simply lay against the netting until they can be properly placed in the bowsprit bag.
Of course I have no interest in racing, only arriving.
Thanks for sharing!
hi i just subscribed as i also am a solo sailor with hank on sails. I am interested in what you have to say and your stories as a solo sailor. keep up the good work. fair winds.
Thanks Wayne. Looking forward to all your lovely comments
I have hank on head sails also. I grew up sailing that way. I dont like stories of rollers jamming or whatever when you need to get the sail down in a hurry. If you're not in a bad situation, what's the hurry? And you get the right sail for the job.
So true.
Bravo me and my father congrats to you
🙏🙏🙏
Really you strong sailing 😊
🙏
The risk of fouling a jib in the furling system is for sea- and oceanfaring a substantial risk. Furling systems are far from reliable, although on smaller boats the risk is not that important being on iland waters. Therefore I always opt for the traditional system for many obvious reasons.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello Jaqueline
Sails and hook never fail, roller furler do.
Check.
You have a little boat with little sails. They work. I like it.❤
Thanks!
As a rigger, I'm with you. I call them roller foolers.
Thanks for sharing your professional opinion.
A Furling sail is okay until it gets damaged. I would have two stays, when changing sails hank the second sail on the spare stay drop the working sail into the turtle bag & hoist the new sail.
Sounds good.
tell me about this “zip” reef in your Genoa 3 to make it a 4? I have a club footed staysail with a reef point in it similar to a mainsail. I haven’t rigged it to reef yet but curious on how yours is set up. Thanks!
Thanks for your question. I roll the sail up and zip the bottom part. Then change the jib sheets to the higher position
комментарий для продвижения канала, спасибо за видео
это очень любезно. Спасибо.
Found you by way of Chasing Latitudes
Nice to see you here
great video - but you are a pro; so, I would certainly go for a roller furler if sailing single-hand...
Maybe next time
Whereabouts in Australia you passing by if i may ask.
Hi Peter. I am not shure yet. I could be sailing to Brisbane or Cairns. And then through the Torres Strait.
@sailingloveworkx will be hot,not much wind.Plenty motoring.Why don't come via Brisbane ,Sydney and say hi to me in Perth West Australia.Good for sailing 😅
Unless you like go straight to Indonesia and or Malaysia, Thailand
Then Madagaskar , CapeTown and way home 😅
Your choice, your destiny, stay safe and following seas. Cheers retired mariner🙌
Good decision
🙏
Sensibly you came to the correct conclusion. The KISS principle applies here. Rolling in the #1 on a furler to make say a #3 would form a sail with poor shape compared to your hanked on #3, especially for going upwind plus it would be of lighter material. You'd hate it. The only way a roller furler could work on your boat would be to install something like a solent inner forestay. The other really big advantage of your current setup is less weight and windage aloft which would be significant.
Thanks!
Hank on is the only way to go automatic furnace is the jam nothing but problems
And with Hank on you can run double Jib
Thanks