Roger, Re: huevos the size of apples or grapefruits.....

If that were so, he'd have a really bad time straddling that sprit. How about acorns?
We had hanked on jibs from '79 to '98, mostly because I am stubborn/cheap/slow/hardheaded (pick one or several) and because I just didn't like what roller furling did to the traditional looks of the BCC. Nowadays, roller furling is so prevelent that it looks like something is wrong with a boat with it.
And now that we finally bit the bullet, we find it makes it easier to sail into tighter quarters since the jib can be set or rolled up much quicker than dropping and hoisting a hanked on one.
It also makes for a clearer foredeck when anchoring and saves five or ten minutes sitting on the sprit and stuffing the jib into a bag when you could be having a cold one in the cockpit. And finally, a furler keeps a sail always at the ready in case of trouble. In our 'hank-on', engineless days our policy was to never cover or bag the main and jib until we'd been in anchorage for at least a day just in case an unforseen need arose to 'move fast', such as bad holding on the anchor.
Regards,
Stan on Waxwing hull #22



Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.