Jib Furler Buyer’s Guide: Best Brands for Headsail Furling
There is an unusual amount of choice on the market when it comes to fitting or replacing a jib furler. Here’s a buyer’s guide to help you find whats right for you!
Headsail furlers
Where much of the sailing industry has seen brands consolidate, furlers are still made by some smaller entrepreneurial suppliers alongside the bigger names.
Costs for a manual furler typically run from around £500 to equip a dinghy up to £2-3,000 for a 40ft cruising boat, although some premium brands are closer to the £6,000 mark. Some also price the luff foil, furling line and fairleads separately, so take care to compare like with like when looking about. Options include a specific Ocean variant for Harken, race variants for several brands and through-deck systems.
While the idea of a through-deck unit nicely tucked out of sight may appeal, it is a fiddly business and one best done on the production line. None of the brands I approached could recall an example of a customer retrofitting under-deck furling. “It is unusual, as the bow locker of the boat has to accommodate the drum/motor unit,” says Steve Norbury, MD of Selden UK. “Most new boats now fit through-deck and were designed with this in mind.”
Think also about the sort of treatment your jib furler is going to get. If you’re a fair-weather yachtsman, then there’s no need for a heavily-built system designed for days of offshore sailing in a gale. But if the furler is close enough to your bow roller and anchor to be at risk from incidental boshes, you’ll be glad of a stout metal enclosure for it. Most people will get the sailmaker or rigger to fit the furler, but some, like Harken and Selden, provide instructions that a skilled owner could follow.
Jib Furler: Going electric
Labour-saving electric furling is another matter, and quite a common retrofit. Costs are naturally higher than a manual unit, so count on an extra £1000-£2000 for the motor, plus more for switches, remote control, wiring and installation. If you want the full push-button experience, you won’t see much change from £6-7,000 on a 40-footer, and it could be much more. Harken, Selden, Profurl and Facnor all offer an upgrade option that allows you to keep your existing jib furler and simply bolt on the motor unit.
Luckily, it is usually unnecessary to install a dedicated battery, because the motor, though powerful, is only in use for a few minutes per day. As usual with power at the bow, it all comes down to a balance between running relatively heavy cables the length of the boat from the existing battery or placing a new one close to the furler with much lighter charging cables running aft.
These days, an electric jib furler can be more reliable and safer than the manual equivalent, according to Norbury at Selden. “Electric Furlex can handle conditions up to the limit of the boat,” he tells me. “In some ways it is superior to a manual unit for distance sailing. The furling line is eliminated that is the most common cause of problems. They can slip in clutches so releasing the sail, become twisted along the deck and they can wear. We know from experience with in-mast furling that when the furling process is easier, sailors are more likely to adjust their sail area to the conditions making for safer, faster and more comfortable sailing.”
Easy upgrade
Most brands allow you to keep your existing forestay and simply slide the luff foils on over the top. And if you want to accommodate a turnbuckle or rigging screw to adjust forestay tension, the furling drum assembly is designed to fit neatly over it. That said, adjusting it can end up being a bit of a mission. All the brands offer an array of different toggles and brackets for fitting the furler unit higher or lower off the deck. Some sailors want every inch of luff length, in order to maximise sail areas, while others like a high-cut yankee that clears the guardwires.
Only Furlex supplies a new headstay with every order. “By the time an owner needs a new furler, it is likely the forestay needs to be replaced,” explains Steve Norbury. “Also, once a furler is fitted, the lower swage (most likely to fail on old rigging) is hidden. As a mast maker, we do not believe new furlers should be fitted to old forestays.”
Furling: Race mode on
For true racing, where every gram counts, a jib furler is never going to appeal. Though the drum unit is located close to the deck level, there is the additional weight of the foil around the headstay, which can add 10-20kg high up in the rig, plus the halyard swivel unit and the halyard deflector. It all feels like a step in the wrong direction when you’ll be more interested in quick headsail changes.
Where a performance oriented furler comes in is on boats designed for fast cruising, or where the owner wants the flexibility to race from time to time. Look for a product with twin luff grooves in the head foil, enabling you to hoist and change sails quickly, and with a furling drum that dismounts easily to transform from furling mode to manual mode.
All the same, Selden UK’s Steve Norbury speaks for all manufacturers when he sounds a note of caution for racers. “Furlex can be converted to ‘race mode’ in which the drum is removed and a non-furling race sail can be fitted. However, as with all furling systems, the hoisting will be compromised compared to the usual TuffLuff solution. Do not expect a three-second hoist within three boats lengths of the mark; a 20-second hoist within 10 boat lengths is more likely.”
Profurl
Recognisable in the past for its yellow-green anodised fittings around a plastic drum, Profurl has switched to black anodising, which it says is better for the environment. Its systems are still found on boats the world over, and they come in cruising and racing variants, manual and electric, on deck and under deck. All units have a 10-year guarantee, and Profurl claims to be the only one on the market that can handle “severe loads” thanks to “specially designed mechanisms”.
Bearings are held in a waterproof grease bath and require no maintenance. Other specificities include a special arrow-shaped device at the top of the foil to prevent halyard wrap. And Profurl is about as flexible as they come in terms of fitting to the deck around existing headstays and rigging screws. Whether you prefer your sails close to the deck, or lifted well clear of anchors and even lifelines, there are fittings to suit.
All Profurl furlers from the C350 upwards (suitable for 11m boats) can be converted to electric operation using the NDE2 system. Power starts at a reasonable 400W – equivalent to around 35 amps on a 12V system and giving up to 115Nm of torque (3-5 times more furling grunt than you can manage by hand). But to get the maximum 1,200W out of the larger motors, you’ll need a 24V system. Profurl says it has engineered its systems for low power consumption so they don’t require special batteries, and they have been fitted on the Amel 50 and the CNB 66.
Racing units look the same as the cruising ones, but there are a couple of important differences. First, the black foil extrusion is oval shaped for lower wind resistance and cleaner flow into the sail. The opening pre-feeder comes as standard, and the mounting options are slightly less comprehensive.
Facnor
Facnor has many years of building cruising furlers under its belt, but it also has a race variant and a small boat version of the same basic system. Its LS cruising jib furler is well designed with a high-load swivel to take the halyard and a deflector wheel at the top of the foil to minimise chafe. Its entry-level C260, good for sail areas up to 15sqm, has a built-in halyard which helps to reduce forestay sag – especially on fractionally-rigged boats.
The drum is made of plastic, with stainless steel arms to protect it and retain the furling line. A nice feature when it comes to installation is that the bottom section of the foil is telescopic, so you don’t have to cut any track to size. You can install the drum and track around an existing fixed headstay, or a rigging screw / turnbuckle.
The racing RX variant offers lighter, more aerodynamic foil sections. Depending on the size of the unit, you can save between 20 and 40 per cent of the foil weight – removing perhaps 5-6kg from high up in the rig of a 30ft boat. The RX furler also gives you the possibility of removing the drum to hoist a second racing jib or genoa.
If you want to go electric, there’s a Facnor conversion kit from model LS 165 upwards, but it comes at a hefty price tag of well over £4,000. Power ratings are either 400W or 800W at 12V, or 1,200W at 24V for the larger units. The smaller unit contains multiple smaller motors to keep a lower profile. It fits over the existing stay, just like the manual unit, and there’s an endless line and lock-in pulley system to give an emergency override in case of power failure. Control options include a wired handset, buttons in the cockpit or a wireless clicker.
Distributed by Eurospars in the UK.
Harken MkIV: Headsail Furler
The MkIV is Harken’s answer to headsail furling, available in a standard or newer Ocean variant and five different sizes covering boats from 22ft to 80ft. The standard version is a performance-oriented product, with a split drum that can be easily removed for racing, twin track luff tube, and independent tack and halyard swivels (using no fewer than four Torlon bearing races) which allow the sail to start furling in the middle, where it has the greatest depth.
The MkIV Ocean uses the same robust alloy construction but with a heavier swivel and torque tube (the part that connects the foil and drum). The drum can’t be dismounted, while the foil is stronger and has just a single groove on the basis you won’t be whipping different jibs up and down. Harken is at pains to point out that its Ocean foils are not as ‘treetrunkish’ as they used to be. “They also have a round foil shape, which gives a nicer furling aspect for those big cruising jibs,” said project manager Steve McMahon.
All Harken units require a £140 toggle, in addition to any link plates, but the advantage is the ease of adjusting the forestay – just a few screws and you’re in. It also produces a handy electric conversion package for size 2 and 3 furlers, with hydraulic power for sizes above that. Harken describes the installation of the electric units as an “easy upgrade”. Both sizes use the same motor, which is rated at a powerful 800W on a 12V system or 1200W at 24V.
Selden Furlex
Furlex claims to be the world’s best-selling jib furling system with a full range of manual, under deck and electric furlers for dinghies, keelboats and yachts up to 65ft. They are ergonomically designed with stainless steel detailing and composite bodies, and you can remove the drum for racing.
The foil sections have a light groove in the leading edge, said to improve air flow into the sail. And the headstay that passes through the foil is run through a plastic sleeve which ensures that it is kept central to the foil, insulated from chafe and corrosion, across its entire length.
Selden has adapted the Furlex to work on its new 42V Selden Bus system, which makes it easy to control from the cockpit and integrates well with the plotter. The motor has a relatively low current draw of some 10-25 Amps under normal conditions, but it packs sufficient torque (up to 135 Nm) to deal with furling in strong winds and heavy seas. There is also a cut-out if the load is too great and a manual override – just in case.
The smart thing about this system is that each motor in the network of winches and furlers has its own control unit, which means that there is no need for heavy cables running back to the house battery. You can also upgrade from an existing manual furler to electric for £2,200.
Schaefer
Priding itself on the strength of its gear, Schaefer jib furlers are built to be bluewater gale-proof and long-lived. They are machined in metal and have the added benefit that they fit over your existing headstay and turnbuckle, reducing the cost of installation. The cage is in stainless steel, while the drum splits in two for easy mounting. Torlon bearings in an open race are incredibly hard-wearing and maintenance free.
Schaefer furlers are always manually operated, and sized for boats from 16ft to 65ft. Director of sales and marketing Steve Majkut says there are clear advantages to staying manual for as long as you can. “Manual systems are great because if something is misaligned, such as halyard wrap, you will instantly feel it and know something is wrong,” he says. “My worst phone calls are when someone says, ‘I put the furling line on a winch and I heard a loud bang’.”
Reliability is what makes his furlers stand out. “Our systems are designed to take you anywhere you want with no worries about your jib furler. Many competitors use injection-moulded parts to keep their systems light. Unfortunately they do not hold up to the abuse on the bow of a boat and break if hit with a spinnaker pole or being stood on. Our drum, torque tube assembly and our drum plates are all machined aluminium with three rows of Torlon ball bearings. They only need an occasional freshwater rinse – no need to grease the drum or upper swivel.”
Built in the US and available in the UK through Sea Sure.
Reckmann
Reckmann is synonymous with superyacht furling systems, but its manual and electric ranges are also suitable for smaller boats from around 35ft LOA. They are very high spec, all in mirror-polished stainless steel jib furler drums and the choice between aluminium or carbon foils. Reckmann claims its aluminium foils are 25 per cent lighter than the average, while offering better torsion resistance. Like most of the systems detailed here, maintenance is absolutely minimal.
For a premium product, you pay a premium price, with the manual system costing the same as other brands’ electric model. It is, however, a thing of beauty and strength. “Above all, our systems are very powerful, reliable, compact and very durable,” says Reckmann CEO Marcus Schuldt. “Another advantage is that we have the possibility to adapt even standard systems to special requirements on the boats. We are very flexible in this respect.”
CDI
This small Canadian concern specialises in furling devices for main and jib, with a fully manual range for boats with headstays up to 8mm (c40ft LOA). There are lots of unique features to the CDI furler, so it was a shame that the company wouldn’t return messages. Among its USPs is a plastic furling drum, and a luff foil made of PVC rather than the more standard aluminium. CDI trumpets the fact that PVC is both lighter and more flexible, but it is presumably more susceptible to damage as well. CDI has also found a unique solution to the problem of halyard wraps – building a dedicated halyard into the system. Fitting instructions were complicated, and it wasn’t clear how robust a solution this would prove. Pricing is similar to other units, but you’ll have to buy from Canada, which will entail additional tax and customs charges.
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