Keeping furlers in check • DSC radios • Squeaky blocks SKIPPERS’ TIPS
As a cruiser, I love the increased ease of taking a headsail ‘down’ by furler. It is a great advantage compared with a headsail on hanks, especially if the wind is blowing and the seas are making work on the foredeck a challenge.
However, I am absolutely no advocate of using a furler for actual ‘furling’, for the simple reason that the shape of the headsail changes too much and becomes inefficient — the exception being furling a headsail downwind, for which it works fine.
I am writing this note on furlers during our holiday on board a Victoire 933 (a conservative 9.33m GRP design from Koopmans Sr.) from the Royal Netherlands Navy YC, which we are sailing in Danish and Swedish waters. As with charter yachts, it is a good idea, as well as a necessity, to make a thorough check around the vessel and all its ‘systems’ before setting off.
In this case, there were only two minor issues. The first was the log transducer that was blocked by small barnacles, which was easy to solve by pulling out the transducer and clearing the small shells. The next thing was easier but more essential to solve. The two pictures (left and above) show before and after. The headsail furling line was conveniently run through a clutch, which makes it easy to lock and unlock.
However, what would happen if you or one of your crew accidently unlocked the rope clutch? Imagine it happening while you are busy manoeuvering in a small port while the wind is up. An unplanned unfurling of the headsail here would guarantee disaster.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry and always put in two half hitches of which the first is ‘slipping’. Harry Dekkers