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I know everyone has their own opinions regarding hanked on versus roller furling and all the reasons given are valid. Since I have a lot of time on my hands right now I will add my one cent worth. I agree with John and the others, try living with it for awhile. On my first BCC I had hanked on headsails. Hell, if the Pardey's can do it so could I. Well, it worked most of the time but there were a few times I needed to go out on the bowsprit to lash the sail to keep it aboard or filling with water. I found my additional weight on the bowsprit caused the boat to hobby horse and I was buried under water to the neck on each wave. I finally learned to head off the wind if I had to go out on the bowsprit and this did help but I still found my self being dunked to the waist. I decided that Larry must have huevos the size of apples or grapefruits. I admire that he continues sailing without roller furling. I was not so brave and went to roller furling. My sailmaker, at the time, explained to me that one of the major problems with roller furling is the sheet lead must lead to the headstay at an acute angle if the sheet lead aft is to remain on the vessel. This causes the lead point to drop as sails are furled. This makes for a poor shape if reefing. On the BCC the angle of the headstay permits the sheet lead to the head stay to be near 90 degrees with nearly equal sail area above and below this line. This permits the sail to be reefed without changing the sheet lead and maintain good sail shape. Not sure all this makes any sense but it sure works for me. This will depend on the cut of the sail and the height of the clew. The lower the clew the more sail area above the sheet lead which requires more downward pull to get the leach to the proper shape. Another important factor with roller furling is that there always be tension on the furling line when deploying the sail. This is a mechanical system that requires regular maintenance and inspection. The older I get the more my "courage" shrinks and I feel less challenge to go out on the bowsprit. Now I don't even like to go to the mast to reef so I have my three reef lines for the main sail led back to the cockpit. This is what age does to us........me!
Roger
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Roger you really should grace the forum more often. Your experience is extensive and your humor is priceless. I about fell out of my chair reading this discussion.
Thank you for that.
Don
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Hi from Aloha,
Thanks Roger. Yes I have no huevos, however I appreciate your
humorous commentary. Being more intelligent than brave, I figure it
is easier to shake a reef than tuck a reef. I confess. I have been
seen leaving the dock with a nice reef or two tucked neatly into
Aloha’s mainsail.
That confession made, if I did want a real showpiece, and it is a
worthy goal, … for the BCC is a great masterpiece of a sailing vessel
with all the tradition and proof of a sea worthy vessel. So I might
just go for it. I would get really nice bow sprit netting…Surprise
had the most beautiful netting I’ve yet seen.
And another thing…I bet Lin Pardey probably goes out there … she is
lighter!
AlohaKate
Kate Christensen
— In bcc@yahoogroups.com , “Roger Olson” <roger.olson@a…> wrote:
I know everyone has their own opinions regarding hanked on versus
roller furling and all the reasons given are valid. Since I have a
lot of time on my hands right now I will add my one cent worth. I
agree with John and the others, try living with it for awhile. On my
first BCC I had hanked on headsails. Hell, if the Pardey’s can do it
so could I. Well, it worked most of the time but there were a few
times I needed to go out on the bowsprit to lash the sail to keep it
aboard or filling with water. I found my additional weight on the
bowsprit caused the boat to hobby horse and I was buried under water
to the neck on each wave. I finally learned to head off the wind if
I had to go out on the bowsprit and this did help but I still found
my self being dunked to the waist. I decided that Larry must have
huevos the size of apples or grapefruits. I admire that he continues
sailing without roller furling. I was not so brave and went to
roller furling. My sailmaker, at the time, explained to me that one
of the major problems with roller furling is the sheet lead must lead
to the headstay at an acute angle if the sheet lead aft is to remain
on the vessel. This causes the lead point to drop as sails are
furled. This makes for a poor shape if reefing. On the BCC the
angle of the headstay permits the sheet lead to the head stay to be
near 90 degrees with nearly equal sail area above and below this
line. This permits the sail to be reefed without changing the sheet
lead and maintain good sail shape. Not sure all this makes any sense
but it sure works for me. This will depend on the cut of the sail
and the height of the clew. The lower the clew the more sail area
above the sheet lead which requires more downward pull to get the
leach to the proper shape. Another important factor with roller
furling is that there always be tension on the furling line when
deploying the sail. This is a mechanical system that requires
regular maintenance and inspection. The older I get the more
my “courage” shrinks and I feel less challenge to go out on the
bowsprit. Now I don’t even like to go to the mast to reef so I have
my three reef lines for the main sail led back to the cockpit. This
is what age does to us…me!Roger