When we were in the Bahamas last winter we noticed several boats with in-boom furling systems. The first two we noticed were at the marina in Spanish Wells where we checked in. The system on these boats were made by Schaefer Marine and the owners both liked them. We had known about in-boom furling for years but had never seriously considered it until we began talking about it with people who had it on their boats. As the name implies, the system works by furling the mainsail on a spindle within the boom.
The advantages of in-boom furling are:
-practically unlimited options for reefing the mainsail
-no lazy jack lines to snag when raising the mainsail
-no reef lines to sort out
-no sail cover
The disadvantages are:
-the expense
-the need to carefully maintain proper tension on the halyard and furling line, and maintain proper angle of the boom to ensure the sail furls evenly on the spindle
-the boom is heavier
I believe our interest was piqued when we arrived in the Bahamas because there was a period during our passage when we had two reefs in the mainsail (as much as was possible) and it wasn’t enough for the conditions we had. If we had had in-boom furling we could have reefed the sail to any point where there was a batten in the sail. In other words, we could have made the sail much smaller to give us a much more comfortable ride.
We looked at information about the Schaefer system and also talked to Matt and Marty from Runaway who have the Leisure Furl system. By the time we left the Bahamas we decided we wanted to purchase the Leisure Furl system for Breeze On. The primary reason we chose Leisure Furl over Schaefer is noise. The Schaefer system has a track attached to the mast that rotates to allow you to raise and lower the sail from any wind angle. Although that sounds like a great idea, the space between the track and the mast creates a whistle when the wind blows. We can always tell when we are near a boat with a Schaefer furling system when we hear that whistling noise. George decided it would drive him crazy.
Since our mainsail needed to be replaced anyway, and a new mainsail is needed for Leisure Furl system, we decided that now is the time. Within a few weeks of arriving home last spring we had Steve Madden from M Yacht Services come to take measurements on Breeze On and give us an estimate. We ordered the sail and the system and have been waiting ever since for them to be ready for installation. It is finally time. This weekend we are sailing up to Annapolis and they will remove our mast on Monday morning. We will stay in the area on the mast-less Breeze On while they assemble the system. By week’s end, we hope, they will put everything back on Breeze On and we will be shown how to use the system.
On another topic, we still don’t know whether we are going to the Bahamas this winter. We very much want to go but the restrictions the Bahamas has in place to manage their recent COVID outbreak make it very difficult to get their by sailboat. The prime minister has said they will be easing the restrictions within the next few weeks. We will reassess if and when they do.
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