# Add Roller Furling: Cost estimates



## hriehl1 (Aug 8, 2007)

I have a 28 foot, 7,000 pound sloop with hanked-on foresails on a 34-foot forestay. I am seeking some advice on adding roller furling. We are very casual cruisers / daysailers we'd generally opt for a simple, lower cost but still capable solution over a performance high-end solution.

So, my questions.

1. Can a handy person install one's own roller furling gear? (The mast will be down anyway this winter.)

2. CDI's units appear to be lower cost, but simple and capable. Thoughts?

3. What might I expect to pay to have a 130 hank-on genoa re-cut for roller furling use?

Any other thoughts / advice welcomed.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

1. Yes, if you're good at following directions and are good with basic tools, allen keys, plyers, screwdrivers, etc. you should be fine. 
2. They work just fine. I think everyone has a preference but if properly maintained (nothing on a boat is maintenance free) then all types should work. 
3. Is it a complete recut or just putting on a luff tape? Adding foam? This could vary widely but go with a trusted local sailmaker who will come out on your boat and look at the sail after it's cut. You'll pay upfront, but customer support later on is very important. 
My wild a$$ guess is around $4-500 without adding foam. 200 of that will probably be in labor for the luff tape. 

Be absolutely positive you want roller furling. A 28 footer is pretty managable with a simple down haul on a 130. A 150-170 headsail becomes a bigger problem.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

This one is reputed to be better than CDI but very inexpensive.
Alado Nautica USA Pricing Page

Harken is reputed to be the easiest to self install of the "real" furlers.

The CDI and Aladous do not have a top swivel which makes them much less expensive.
They work ok but you can get better tension and sail shape with a furler that has a top swivel.

In all cases you should check with your sailmaker to find out how much it will cost to remake your sail. It will certainly be a few hundred so you sail has to be worth putting that much into it.

Also if you head stay is not wonderful this is a good time to replace it as it will be hidden and harder to survey.


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

The install is easy enough DEPENDING on how many things you have taken apart and put back together 

It is fully possible to make catastrophic mistakes 

IMHP you will be very disappointed PAYING for a sail recut to furl as there is lot of hardware were the tape belongs and sewing on the UV protection is costly to have done

If you could DIY it MIGHT make sense 

The best bet is to seek out a used headsail


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Furlex provides a new forestay (and fittings?) with it's furlers.. usually a good idea to start with new anyway.


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## hriehl1 (Aug 8, 2007)

It is my wife, not me, who wants the furling in the first place. She thinks I'm gonna get tossed right off the foredeck some day. I am perfectly happy with a hank-on solution for our 3 headsails; 150, 130 and 110. The downhaul is a good compromise... we have one on our little 17 foot daysailer and can dowse that jib in 5 seconds.

I just need some ammo that says roller furling is expensive, hard to install and breaks all the time!


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

ALL of my previous boats had hank on headsails and boltrope mainsails

I also spend mucho time racing on other boats that require two men and a small boy to drag around all the 14 sails in the racing inventory

After 3 years with this setup you do NOT have enough money to make me go back to flaking sails


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

hriehl1 said:


> It is my wife, not me, who wants the furling in the first place. She thinks I'm gonna get tossed right off the foredeck some day. I am perfectly happy with a hank-on solution for our 3 headsails; 150, 130 and 110. The downhaul is a good compromise... we have one on our little 17 foot daysailer and can dowse that jib in 5 seconds.
> 
> I just need some ammo that says roller furling is expensive, hard to install and breaks all the time!


Looking for reasons not to: it will be expensive when you figure you will have to change the luff tape and add cover material on all three jibs. unless the the 110 has battens and then you will not be able to use it unless you go to soft or vertical battens, even more money.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Buying a furler and modifying the sails, even DIY when you can, will be the better part of a couple of boat bucks (ie $2K)


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

The first question with converting a sail is whether it is full hoist. As the furler system shortens the hoist, a full hoist sail needs to have its luff shortened to start. If so, you should just plan on a new sail.

If not, adding a luff tape, a UV shield and a strap (to get full hoist for the furling unit) should run $3-500.

Once you get used to roller furling, it can be hard to imagine doing without...

If you do it yourself, you had better be very good friends with the people who will raising your mast.


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## T34C (Sep 14, 2006)

If your reasonably handy it is an easy enough job. Read the directions thoroughly. Then read them again while looking at the parts so you can see how they work/go together. I installed a Profurl on my previous boat (Tartan 34), by myself, with the mast still up. Took about 3 hrs but was easy enough. 

I agree with Faster, plan on $2k +/- (and worth every dollar)


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## mstern (May 26, 2002)

I'm with Tommays; I was fine with my hank on jib, but once I put the roller furling on, it was like a revalation. I'll never go back.

I spent $800 for the whole thing: furler, hardware, and jib mods for an Oday 23. My sailmaker is a CDI dealer, and he knows he has to compete with the internet, so he offered to sell me the unit for whatever the best price was I could find online. 

For the furler (CDI), I had my sailmaker put the thing together for me. It didn't look difficult, but getting the foil to flatten out is really a two man job and I didn't have help readily available. I did the "installation" myself with the mast down. I had a luff tape and foam put on my jib, and I bought some stantion blocks to run the furling line back to the cockpit. One thing to keep in mind with the CDI: if your current headstay is already "long" (i.e., your turnbuckle is already adjusted to take up a lot of slack), then you will probably need to replace the headstay. The CDI uses the existing turnbuckle/headstay and if it can't be shortened enough to accomodate a portion of the furler's length, you will have to buy a new, shorter headstay. I had just replaced all of my standing rigging a year or two before buying the furler so I really didn't want to have to buy a new headstay; luckily, things fit just fine.


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## Vivid_Journey (10 mo ago)

mstern said:


> I'm with Tommays; I was fine with my hank on jib, but once I put the roller furling on, it was like a revalation. I'll never go back.
> 
> I spent $800 for the whole thing: furler, hardware, and jib mods for an Oday 23. My sailmaker is a CDI dealer, and he knows he has to compete with the internet, so he offered to sell me the unit for whatever the best price was I could find online.
> 
> For the furler (CDI), I had my sailmaker put the thing together for me. It didn't look difficult, but getting the foil to flatten out is really a two man job and I didn't have help readily available. I did the "installation" myself with the mast down. I had a luff tape and foam put on my jib, and I bought some stantion blocks to run the furling line back to the cockpit. One thing to keep in mind with the CDI: if your current headstay is already "long" (i.e., your turnbuckle is already adjusted to take up a lot of slack), then you will probably need to replace the headstay. The CDI uses the existing turnbuckle/headstay and if it can't be shortened enough to accomodate a portion of the furler's length, you will have to buy a new, shorter headstay. I had just replaced all of my standing rigging a year or two before buying the furler so I really didn't want to have to buy a new headstay; luckily, things fit just fine.


Can you tell me what brand and set up you bought? I am buying an O'Day 23 and want a furler


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

you want this one. CDI Flexible Furler FF2 (Maximum Headstay Length 28 ft.) | MAURIPRO Sailing good furler for that boat. you will want a flexible furler if you trailer the boat


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## mstern (May 26, 2002)

Vivid_Journey said:


> Can you tell me what brand and set up you bought? I am buying an O'Day 23 and want a furler


Wow, this thread is a blast from the past. That was a long time and a whole boat ago, so I'm not completely sure, but I think overbored is right and I had the FF2. I can see that prices have gone up quite a bit since I bought my furler. According to my almost ten year old post here, the current price for just the furler is almost what I paid for the furler (assembled), modifications to my jib (foam insert, luff tape, UV protection), furling line and stanchion blocks. I was very happy with the unit on my Oday 23. However, now that I have experience with the Harken on my "new" boat, I can see the downsides to the CDI more clearly.

You can't beat the price on the CDI. And the internal halyard and lack of upper swivel means you will never suffer the dreaded upper swivel wrap. But the internal halyard is ultimately the downside of the CDI as well. It's just harder to raise the sail with that thing than with a real halyard. And it's not as easy to keep the luff tension steady with the CDI. So if you plan to race or change your headsail at all, I don't think the CDI is the best choice. However, if you are on a budget and just daysailing and cruising, then the CDI makes a lot of sense. It did for me. And I still think adding the furler to my Oday 23 was the single best upgrade I made. It made single-handing that boat a breeze.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Vivid_Journey said:


> Can you tell me what brand and set up you bought? I am buying an O'Day 23 and want a furler


You probably do not need a furler on an O'Day 23. You can easily get by with a simple down haul on the jib which would pull the jib down from the cockpit. That would be way cheaper than buying a furler and a new forestay, and modifying the luff of your jib. Not having a head foil (for the furler) is also way less of a hassle if you chose to trailer the boat at some point. 

And while the CDI furlers are inexpensive to buy, they rely on an internal halyard that prevents being able to tension the luff of the jib properly, and the halyard set up allows a lot of halyard stretch. . I personally would never have one again. 

Jeff


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