|
click on logo FURLBOOM -- THE SMART WAY TO SAIL A product review
by James Hill The world of yachting has seen a number of innovations over the years which have helped to make sailing easier and more enjoyable. However, if we were to pick one item that has made one of the largest contributions to making sailing and boat handling more user-friendly, it would have to be sail furlers. The advent of really efficient headsail furlers was a major factor in the development of yachting in the last 15 or so years. Such devices pioneered by companies like Hood and Furlex really helped yachting move ahead because it simply made sailing a yacht all that much easier. Being able to quick furl the sail away totally, or reef it partly was a huge gain in terms of crew effort, time and safety. Such furlers were not just great for cruising sailors, but also enabled the charter yacht industry to bloom because it was suddenly possible to handle big sized yachts with just small numbers of crew. Mainsail furling was a natural extension of the headsail furler. Ironically, we had boom roller reefing as far back as the 1950's, but the early systems were very crude and generally resulted in a very poor sail shape when the sail was reefed. The yachting scene moved from roller reefing to the jiffy or slab reefing system when it arrived back in the early 1970's. Grand Prix racers still use it today. The jiffy reefing system has the one merit of being very simple and effective in getting a reasonable control over the shape of the sail when reefed. However, it takes a fair bit of skill to master the system and it generally takes a few crew to do properly and safely. This is especially so when trying to lash the excess sail to the boom when deep reefed. Meanwhile, various yachting product companies have since worked on trying to come up with a modern and efficient way of furling the mainsail. Hood was again at the forefront of this development and in the mid-1980's, came up with the first workable in-mast furling system. The In-Mast System worked well enough to a point, but the problems can be many. It is expensive to build since you need a special spar from scratch. Not only that, the mast furler tends to reduce sailing performance because you can't have leech battens. This means not only less control over sail shape, but also a loss of sail area through the adjustment and there are problems with the furling spar banging from side to side downwind. But by far, the most disturbing things with in-mast furlers is their severe effect on ultimate stability (as well as pitching and rolling) because of the large increase in weight aloft and their tendency to sometimes jam up with the sail half in or out of the mast to the extremes where a crew member has to go up the mast with a knife (usually in bad weather) to cut the mainsail away. Obviously most yachtsmen aren't happy with the idea of a mast furler, especially those who own cruiser/racers. These boats are often as busy social sailing as well as racing and want performance and ease of handling. This was the natural market area for a good, workable boom furler that allows the sail to have a good shape when full size, a good shape when reefed, and to be easily furled away when the sailing is over and the boat is back in its berth or mooring. The first of these modern systems seen in the 1980's did have their problems in terms of reliability and appearance and weren't broadly accepted by cruising sailors, or the charter boat industry. There has been a number of other boom furlers on the market since but all have suffered from one problem or another. Poor design and engineering, difficult and expensive installation, high initial purchase costs and no adjustment for the foot of the sail has made for buyer resistance and kept conventional slab/jiffy reefing popular standard choice. Obviously the yachting world needed something better and finally it has arrived. It's FURLBOOM, a system that was designed, developed and built in Australia in conjunction with Hood Sails. The system is not only brilliantly efficient at keeping the mainsail shape perfect and adjustable at all times, but is also gives yachtsmen the huge advantage of having a boom furling AND a full battened mainsail. To the typical weekend racing sailor this is like having your cake and being able to eat it too! FURLBOOM -- THE FUTURE No it's not the only modern boom furler to take a fully battened mainsail, but arguably it's the best in terms of its elegant design, rugged strength, simple engineering and pricing compared to other units. Certainly one of the big attractions for Aussie yachties is that FURLBOOM is designed and made here in Oz and has been tried and tested in our waters. Joe Brookes, the man behind the design, is himself an experienced offshore sailor as well as yacht designer and builder. He has put literally years and years into development of the system which virtually gives the yacht owner the best of both worlds and is fanatically involved in seeing it accepted by the yachting community worldwide. . . . FURLBOOM allows you to carry an efficient full-batten mainsail and end up with a cleaner and better sail shape when the sail is reefed compared to jiffy or slab reefing. Easier too because you no longer have to go through all that work of dropping the sail, flaking and bagging after a sail. . . Instead, the sail rolls away quickly into the boom and is covered up by a slide-away weather cover built into the top opening of the spar. That means the sail is stowed away in a matter of minutes so the crew has more time to hit the club bar for a drink, or simply get home. Offshore it is a brilliant system because it takes virtually all the hard work, if not the danger out of reefing in high winds and big seas. It can all be done safely from the cockpit so you don't have the crew on deck. What is more, you'll reef even the biggest of mainsails with only one or two crew involved in the exercise. HOW IT WORKS The rolling mechanism is totally within the boom so the sail is protected by the spar as it is reefed or furled. The internal roller and tapered boom casing are also very cleverly designed in such a manner as to automatically adjust the luff and foot tension for upwind/downwind sailing. On a recent Pittwater sail test aboard a Buizen 40 I was amazed just how beautiful the sail shape remained whether we reefed in a little or a big amount of sail. In fact, it was possible to use the reef system in a short round the buoys race to great advantage. We simply tucked in the equivalent of one reef on the upwind legs when we were a bit overpowered and unwound the sail to full size on the downwind legs when we needed all the sail power we could muster. It was great fun to see this pilothouse cruising yacht burning off boats like Northshore 38s and Cav 25s. Called DUTCH COURAGE, she is owned and sailed by well-known boat broker Bill Rowell. This was the first production FURLBOOM fitted and has the extra convenience of electric power -- making it true push-button sailing. Says Bill, "Dutch Courage is raced three times a week as well as being the demonstration yacht for Buizen Yachts. When they first fitted the boom it looked too small, I wouldn't believe them that it had the sail inside. FURLBOOM is the best system available, it's user-friendly and the sail shape always looks right even when reefed. It not only performs beautifully but also looks great on the boat, and in fact, it actually enhances the look of the yacht. There are absolutely no compromises to this system and it is a joy to demonstrate to all potential Buizen clients." (Furlboom is now standard equipment on all Buizen yachts and is finding its way onto new Bluewater, Catalina and Hunter yachts). KEY ADVANTAGES Basically this system delivers a very efficient way to reef and furl the mainsail. It's easy to use and can be easily fitted or changed to manual mast operation, rope to manual or electric sheet winches from the cockpit, electric or hydraulic remote operation, all with manual backups in ease of failure. Either way, the system is a win-win situation for the racing and cruising sailor. Short-handed sailors will also love this system because it is such a labor-saver and is so easy to use in any conditions, whether it be day or night or howling winds or light breezes. The FURLBOOM system can also be very easily adapted to existing rigs, as you only replace the boom and not the mast, rigging or sails . . . The FURLBOOM system is also more reassuring to use offshore because it doesn't require drive shaft holes to be drilled from the front to back of the spar. The whole mechanism fits on the back of the spar, under the gooseneck so it has no impact on the spar's structural integrity. In fact, the whole system actually strengthens the mast. Boast stability is also unaffected. On yachts 40 foot and over FURLBOOM weighs overall the same as a conventional boom. Between 30 -- 40 foot, there is usually a slight increase in the weight of the boom, but on the plus side FURLBOOM is far stronger than the old, conventional boom it replaces. In many instances the righting moment of the yacht will improve a bit because the FURLBOOM system has less weight aloft in terms of batten cars, reef points, reef lines, lazy jacks, etc. The untidy conventional boom/sail cover is also gone, replaced by an inbuilt cover that simply slides out of the boom with drawcords. Long term it gives a performance advantage by retaining a better sail shape especially when reefed, and also looks after the sail so it retains its strength and shape for a lot longer. Mainsail life should be vastly extended because the sail is not crushed by reefing. Also appearance, safety and visibility when reefed is also greatly improved. For this reason, I can see many racer/cruising sailors switching to this system simply for performance reasons. The fact that is will also make crew life a lot easier and safer when cruising and social sailing will only be just another benefit. One can also see the keen offshore cruising sailors and short-handed racers going to this system as well. It is only a matter of time before this happens so don't be surprised to see FURLBOOM on Sydney Hobart and BOC racers in years to come. So, is FURLBOOM the next big step in yachting? As far as this writer and the dozens of FURLBOOM owners are concerned . . . the answer is a resounding YES. |
