
Member, Ee Kiat asked:
I am wondering how can I adopt reefing off the wind for my boat.
I have a behind-the-mast furling main (old Famet roller furler) that came with the boat I bought used.
I am just wondering if the mainsail would be loaded to a point that it cannot be furled in while sailing downwind… …I fear the furling system can fail if the furling line is winched hard resulting in something unimaginable.
I have always rolled in the mainsail rounding up to wind… …because the sail is the least loaded. Any tips and comments that you give would be most appreciated.
The question got me thinking about furling systems. And that took me back three decades to when I bought the McCurdy and Rhodes 56 (M&R 56) and the previous owner delivered a couple of boxes of used parts, including not one, but two damaged torque tubes from the jib roller furler.
That memory together with Ee Kiat’s question made me realize that there is a fundamental fragility with all roller furlers, whether they be headsail, in-mast, in-boom, or aft-of-mast: