There were problems with it, however, and they took a long time to solve. Three years ago, CDI’s dominance seemed about to change when Harken announced its first Heli-Foil, which used a PVC luff extrusion with an inner polypropylene sleeve over a braided stainless steel core. Nevertheless, the addition of UV inhibitors should give them adequate life spans. Plastic won’t corrode, of course, but is subject to ultraviolet attack. Thirdly, cost is less, making furling more affordable for owners of small boats. It is of particular concern to owners of trailerable sailboats who handle the mast a lot. Secondly, the PVC can take a fair amount of abuse and is not as easily dented as rigid aluminum extrusions, an important consideration for any owner when stepping and unstepping the mast. More and more boat owners are buying furlers from mail-order houses and doing the installation themselves. First, unlike rigid aluminum luff extrusions, which are shipped in lengths of about 6′, and must be connected with splices or link plates and fasteners, pliable plastic extrusions are one piece and require no assembly. The advantages of the plastic luff are several. Indeed, CDI has made a living selling furlers to owners of smaller boats, especially so-called “trailer sailers.” And while the other major manufacturers, such as Profurl, Harken, Hood, Furlex and Schaefer, have long offered their standard furlers in small boat sizes, and even some simplified models such as Hood’s Line Drive, none tried seriously to compete with CDI’s PVC luff extrusion. The number was drawn down a bit by the 25′ average size of boats equipped with CDI Flexible Furlers. In the Novemissue, we again updated the group, highlighting the new Hood SeaFurl 5 and redesigned Furlex.Īverage boat size in the 1995 reader survey was 32′. (CDI) and Famet (an older system) at 100%, followed by Profurl, Schaefer, Harken and Furlex. At that time, 77% of all survey respondents said they would buy the same furler again, led by Cruising Design Inc. In 1988 we undertook a comprehensive evaluation of available models and followed that in the May 15 and Jissues with a follow-up evaluation backed by a reader survey, which showed marked improvement in performance, reliability and customer satisfaction. Practical Sailor has tracked the evolution of headsail furling for many years. Jams, once the bane of furlers, are much less frequent. And thanks to improved designs, the sight of a tattered furling genoa flogging itself to death also is disappearing. Furlers keep the crew off the bow and reduce time spent sail handling. Hanked-on sails, while having certain advantages, are disappearing in favor of roller furling jibs and genoas. The development of reliable headsail furling must rank high on any list of devices that have significantly changed the way boats are sailed in the past two decades.

Cdi furling systems for sailboats