Supporting furler for trailering

[normo]

Getting ready for the first road trip and first sail on my recent 26X purchase. My first boat with roller furling. Hope it is worth all the agravation I'm having doing mast raising and lowering drills on the trailer.

For trailering, I would appreciate proven approaches to support the portion of the furler that extends beyond the pulpit. Something that can be accomplished in a minute or two tops. I don't care what it costs. Well......

I currently have the drum and a few feet of the luff lashed to an aluminum tube which is lashed to the mast. For this one task I used up the entire 20 minutes it is supposed to take to get the entire boat in or out of the water. Oh well, as I recall, the fastest setup/takedown time for the Stiletto was 4 hours or so.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I've used this for years. Just a simple 1x3 board with a small piece screwed to it in the middle that slides in the slot at the mast base and keeps it from sliding side to side. Keeps the furler straight at all times. Bungee the furler to it out front and bungee it between the furler and the mast at the back part. Takes about 30 seconds to put on or off.

[Richard O'Brien]

6' of aluminum. Stuck in the Genoa cover, and zipped up. That's it! When I feel more support is needed, I tape it up in four or five places with Electrical tape. This hint was given to me by Craig at "The Anchorage" in Lyons. Colorado. It's cheap, you can tear it off easily, and it's easier than hanging on to bungees, although I use those too.

[Chip Hindes]

I use an 8' piece of 4" diameter PVC pipe. With a saw (circular works great, saber would work, too) cut off about 1/3 of the pipe longitudinally to form a 2/3 circular tray. Lay the furler in the tray so it supports it all the way forward to the drum, rest it on the bow pulpit then bungee them both to the side of the mast, two bungees, one near the pulpit, one near the aft end, one or two minutes. It's not necessary to bungee the furler to the tray in front of the pulpit, so it's all done while standing on the foredeck. You can bungee the tray to the frame rail on the trailer when it's not in use.

I've seen that some take the extra effort to make special mounts for the tray and fit it to the top of the mast. It's symmetrical, looks nicer, takes longer but isn't a bit more functional. I've gone well over 7000 miles with this setup and it works fine.

My PVC was left over from a plumbing project so was essentially free, but you can pay anything you want for yours

[Jack O'Brien]

K.I.S.S. Not needing another piece of anything else on the boat, I use the mast raising gin pole bungied a couple times around the mast and furled sail with ball bungies. Works for me.

[piratecliff]

If you have the mast raising kit I use the included aluminum pole to support the roller furler. Three Cinch'it's (www.bwyachts.com) hold the pole, sheets and furler in place. Works great. and I always know where the pole is.

After raising the mast, the pole will bungee to the mast.

In my case, it doesn't have to be stored below as it has a role for trailering.

Cliff

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

My gin pole always stays bolted to the mast step all the time and I wouldn't want the hassel of having to take it off. It's always there, bungeed to the bottom of the mast when the mast is down for trailering or bungeed up to the front of the mast when the mast is up. The bolt is never removed. Likewise the raising block and tackle is always connected to the pole. I have a snap shackle for a quick connection to the deck.

The wood like I use or a plastic tray like Chip uses is quick and simple.

[waternwaves]

I dont know about the length of everyone elses furled jib/forestay. but mine unclips and moves 3 1/2 feet up and quickclips to the replacement eyebolt on top of the mast for trailering, this allows the furler drum pin to clip to the mast carrier mount on the pulpit, and no additional parts other than the carabiner I lock on as an extra safety. quick, no extra bars or messing with the extending the furler, adds less than a minute to clip it back.

I also dont unclip the top until I have unclipped the drum, since I can then slide the mast forward a bit to move the mast top over the cockpit instead of back over the transom, cuts down on me handling the mast raising pole over the water and deck...( my previous method of supporting the furler)

[norbert]

i simply lay the furler in a big s-shape on the deck and reattach it to its chainplate on the bow. it is a flexifurler isn't it ?

[waternwaves]

Without tyeing it down very tightly, it is very lively at 65 mph, and the deck does not have good points to anchor it easily and uniformly, using bungees or the fulrer lead keeps it tight and still., so that is why I still keep it tight to the mast

[norbert]

i tie it to the mast and to the lifeline or lifeline stanchions. no problem so far. but i admit that i did not trailer long distances in the last years.

[normo]

Thank you all for taking the time to share your solutions.

This forum is terrific.

[Jeff Ritsema]

I learned one tip from Dan at Powersailing Center that has beenuseful. Instead of using bungees or tape, I use plastic wrap that is similar to household Seran wrap, available at any office supply. This is on a spool that is like an oversized lint roller. You simply take a few turns around whatever you want to bind together- takes a little practice but really works well. No storage of entangled bungees. No residual adhesive from tapes. Easy to store. I still keep a few bungees of the type Duane uses for those times I can't use the wrap.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Wow...lots of great opinions on this one. I think I may be changing my system of a small length of 3/4 inch pvc

For this one task I used up the entire 20 minutes it is supposed to take to get the entire boat in or out of the water. Oh well, as I recall, the fastest setup/takedown time for the Stiletto was 4 hours or so.

Normo, don't listen to the pundits. IMO, anyone who can setup/teardown their boat in 20 minutes is not doing at least 75% of the work that you really have to do. Also, they are probably using hanked on sails (with none of the really convienient stuff for sailing), so they are not including the time it takes to set up the furler, run all the lines, feed the sail slugs into the mast, putting up the bimini, dodger, etc. etc. etc. There is also a lot of time just tying and untieing things to make it secure enough to trailer. If I rush, I can get it all done in about 1.5 hours although that is a pretty big improvement over the 3-4 hours it used to take when I first got the boat. And really...is it that much fun to rush it? I tend to fiddle around with all kinds of tangential stuff when I'm doing this sort of job...

Ok, flame away folks...

[trapeze]

If I rush, I can get it all done in about 1.5 hours although that is a pretty big improvement over the 3-4 hours it used to take when I first got the boat. And really...is it that much fun to rush it?

Im glad to find that I am not the only 1-1/2 hour guy. Thought I was some kind of big screw up!