Tips for rigging and operating a roller furler

billveno83

Member
I’m looking for any suggestions for properly rigging a roller furling jib on my project J/24. Haven’t yet stepped the mast on this boat - and I am hoping that the forestay length and other ‘adjustments’ I have read about for a roller furler have been properly made.
Any tips or cautions would be most welcome. Thanks!
 
Not sure if you have purchased one or not yet. If not, I would recommend one by Harken, they are far superior to the lesser quality/"price point" furling systems. Again not sure if you are using an existing sail cut down or starting with a new sail. If cut down will need to be sized correctly (shortened, etc.), luff tape added, UV added or sock/Melges 24 style jib sock to protect when not in use. Better option as always, is purchasing a new sail fit to the furling with the options mentioned (UV, etc.) already installed. A Harken lead block kit is also useful for the furling line. Of course everything I just mentioned costs dollars and on top of that you have the dynamics of the "Covid Supply Chain World" which can cause delays. So will hold good thoughts that these steps are already done and with proper equipment as mentioned above.
With regard to using the system, most folks are hard on the wind/wait too long to furl. I would suggest a couple of things. First furl early rather than late, get the boat at about a 130 AWA to keep the apparent wind lower/unload the sail/get a less tight furl on to the system. Also make sure the backstay is tight. Think of it this way, you are furling a piece of fabric onto a foil. So if that foil is shaped like a boomerang because it is blowing hard and the backstay is eased it will be a lot harder to do than if the foil is straight/like a yardstick. Good luck in your season, hopefully the ice will leave us soon.
 
One additional thought. Not sure if you have pulled the trigger on all the above or what might be driving the process. As a general statement the J/24 is designed for 4 people-200lbs each on the rail to provide stability. If you are sailing shorthanded (such as I am when I go out with myself and significant other) the boat tends to heel more than needed when the breeze comes up. As a result I had a Dacron #4 jib built (smaller than the class blade) and have found it worked great when sailing with less crew/day sailing. It was not super costly either, 5-600ish pre Covid.
 
Thank you so much, Thomas! Sorry to be slow in responding to you very thorough and helpful messages. This is what makes the J/24 owners association so great - plenty of help when you need It!
As it turns out, my boat came with a Harken furler, but the mast hasn’t been stepped since I bought the boat, and I have’t ever used a furler before, so your comments are very helpful.
I presume the forestay has been sized properly and - given the right placement of the mast base on the keel, I should be OK (we shall see).
I had lots of experience tuning my J/30 during the 31 years I owned her, but the J/24 is new to me.
Many thanks for your help!
 
No worries, happy to help! Am thinking/guessing/hoping that the Harken unit is all assembled/ready to go by a marine industry pro. If so you should be good.
One small point would be the #1 and #3 track positions are a little short (but fine for their intended use of a dedicated sail), so there may be an issue getting a good lead on it when you are furled to a #2 sail size. Also in all honestly, it has been a few years since the boat has been in the water and I don't recall if the number 3 sheet lead ran inside the shrouds, split the shrouds or ran outside, so that may also be a factor when the sail is in use and rolled in a bit. One final tip for furling is you might either have a sailmaker add or get the material yourself and add a short vertical draft stripe material to the front of the sail along the foot in a few places that would correspond the the #2 or #3 size sail. I had this done on a previous boat and it was a handy quick reference to see, "ok time to furl down to the #2 size sail (the first stripe) or #3 size (second stripe)."
Enjoy the boat, I know I love mine even thought it has been a few years since last use.
 
Tom -
Thank you for your insights - especially on the jib track positions. I have removed the tracks to repair wetness in the balsa core, so the final track positions are somewhat flexible.
Also, I have new Schaefer tracks that are a bit longer than the OEM tracks, so I may be able to position the cabin top and cockpit tracks to cover the range of jib ‘sizes’ using the furler to better cover the range of #1 to #3.
I also really like the idea of marking the jib foot to designate the #2 and #3 sizes.
I restored the mainsail reefing lines and jammers at the gooseneck so I can reef that down if necessary. Same setup as my J/30 had (as are many of the boat’s rigging and control features), so I feel pretty comfortable with ways to avoid becoming overpowered on windy days.
All good stuff! Thank you again for your help!
 

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