# single vs continuous line furling



## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

I've never used one of those with the large wheel continuous loop line furling systems. I thought, they are pretty slick and have allot less effort to roll in the head sail. it's seems they are not so slick for reefing the sail and only favored by racers?
I've a older Hood model available to me if I want it for nothing, I'm just wondering if it's worth the what I'd be getting it for.  Thoughts?


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

I have used the Hood system. Not a big fan; you have to maintain tension on the lazy portion of the line to get a proper furl. That usually means a two person job.


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

I think most people here want some abilty to reef the headsail VS just furling it


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## arf145 (Jul 25, 2007)

I have an old Hood furler on my 28 footer and we do reef with it. I would much rather have a single line furler though. We head up to reduce pressure and I've never had it slip even when mainly pulling on the loaded side. But that loop hanging around the cockpit is just looking to cause mischief.


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## ScubaSailorLA (Apr 21, 2011)

Some tension has to be kept on the slack portion of the continuous loop to keep it from jamming in the blocks. As was stated above, it makes furling the sail a two person job. I just replaced the old Hood furler on my O'Day 31, with a new Harken. I love the new one. I suppose if someone were giving me a continuous line system, I might consider it if it were the only way i could get a furler. Otherwise, I would avoid it.


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## PalmettoSailor (Mar 7, 2006)

I removed one from my C36. I wouldn't have one even if it was free. There used to be a conversion drum available, but as of about a year ago they only offer a credit. You might see hoe the money would work out. I cose to go with a Profurl and I'm much happier with it than the Hood unit.


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

I've seen too many sails unfurl in a storm while on a mooring as the line slipped on the drum from the vibration and shaking, resulting in major sail damage. One guy in my club has taken to raising a sock over his furled genny to avoid this from happening (again). I wouldn't take one for free.


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

arf145 said:


> I have an old Hood furler on my 28 footer and we do reef with it. I would much rather have a single line furler though. We head up to reduce pressure and I've never had it slip even when mainly pulling on the loaded side. But that loop hanging around the cockpit is just looking to cause mischief.


I've not used one of the continuous line furlers so this is just speculation on my part but I do believe that "reefing" with one is not a dependable situation to be in, you should either have the sail all the way out or all the way in. It seems to me there is insufficient tension on the line to hold a sail for a indeterminate time under pressure. As I say, just a detached observation, not an informed opinion.

If my powers of observation are any good, I would say these are best suited to storm sails or sails on a removable stay (code 0's, gennakers, etc) where the sail is furled and the stay is dropped to the deck and put away with the sail and furler in one. If you have the footage, watch how the crew managed their head-sails on those monster multis in the last America's Cup racing.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

thank you all! Decision made.. I'll save my pennies for a new single line furler.


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## mr-canada (Jul 11, 2013)

I disagree with all of you. I have a Hood 705 line drive continuous furler and I honestly can't understand why all furlers arent designed in this way.

A single person can furl or unfurl the sail as nobody needs to touch the sheets in either direction. You can reef (I have done so many times) all you need is a clamcleat somewhere on the deck where the continuous line is run. I have two, one for either direction, although there is really a small amount of load on the actual furling line, even when sailing with the rag reefed as most of the tension is taken up by the forestay itself as it should be.

With regards to the continuous loop lying around on the deck and in the cockpit, if you have your LD furling line configured in this manner it is done entirely wrong. The original kit from Hood includes a variety of peices to run the line to the cockpit using attachments to the stanchions. It is best practice to have a small wheel attached to the deck where the continuous loop ends so you can maintain a small amount of tension. The furling line will jam up in the furler's teeth and slip around if it is too loose, like many other lines on the boat.

I often sail with just a 150 genoa because the furler makes it so easy to partially furl and I dont have to hassle around with the main. This furler makes going out and coming back in so easy that it's a one person job even when I have capable crew.

Proper setup is key as with any peice of hardware on the boat. If you have one of these set up in a half-baked manner you will get half-baked performance which can be dangerous on the water. 

I chatted with a rigger asking why most people had single line furler systems. He flat out told me that it was because most people who ended up with these furlers didn't install the neccesary deck hardware and they found it difficult to reef. He looked at my installation and said that was the textbook way that this furler should be installed with those two clamcleats, the stanchion hardware and the wheel at the end.


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## RainDog (Jun 9, 2009)

I use a continuous line furler on my Catalina 27. We regularly sail in winds up to 40 knots and use it for reefing all the time. Never had a slip and it works great for reefing.

Only issue I have ever had was when I had a lot of sail out and the wind suddenly picked up (maybe from 25 to 40). I could not reef the sail due to the force on the sail. No matter how hard I pulled the line, nothing happened. I finally had to go forward and lay at the base of the unit and pull there. Then it worked, but was still hard.


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## mr-canada (Jul 11, 2013)

Did you check for halyard wrap at the top of the stay?

Only problems I've ever had furling or unfurling have been when the halyard wrapped around the stay. A very dangerous situation, eventually it weakened the stay until it snapped (luckily at the dock). I got a halyard restrainer/deflector installed and now wrap is a nonissue


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

mr-canada said:


> I disagree with all of you. ...


^^^^^^^^
I like this guy already. Welcome to SailNet! 

Any chance of posting some pictures of your setup and letting us know what you used for "a wheel" at the aft end of the system? Sounds like a nice setup and your use of two cam cleats is a "forehead smacking" (why didn't I think of that?) idea! I'm planning on doing a home-made continuous line furler for my drifter/A-sail and could use some visual tips, so if you can post some photos or a diagram that would be great.

MedSailor


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

I've got the same unit as mr-canada and other than a particulary stiff hard pull to furl and unfurl it works as advertised. The stiffness is more a matter of it being 26 years old and needing a good flush (you don't lube it). I will be replacing all the original guide blocks - a couple actually had flat spots. 

I have two cleats on deck to lock the lines when I want to reef, never had a slip. 

Having had both I think I'll stick with the continuous line - if it jams I can hand furl. If a single line furler jams (overwrap in the drum) you have to drop the sail, take the drum apart and rewrap. You can also run out of line on the drum before you run out of sail to furl. That can't happen on a continuous line.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

MedSailor said:


> ^^^^^^^^
> Sounds like a nice setup and your use of two cam cleats is a "forehead smacking" (why didn't I think of that?) idea! I'm planning on doing a home-made continuous line furler for my drifter/A-sail and could use some visual tips, so if you can post some photos or a diagram that would be great.
> 
> MedSailor


Selden is out with a fiddle block with dual cams designed for continuous line systems that's pretty slick...


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## mr-canada (Jul 11, 2013)

MedSailor said:


> ^^^^^^^^
> I like this guy already. Welcome to SailNet!
> 
> Any chance of posting some pictures of your setup and letting us know what you used for "a wheel" at the aft end of the system? Sounds like a nice setup and your use of two cam cleats is a "forehead smacking" (why didn't I think of that?) idea!


Lol thanks for the kudos. To reiterate I have two clamcleats not cam cleats. I dont think it would make any difference either way performance wise.

Basically it's the stock system shipped by hood plus two clamcleats on the deck, plus a closed-type mounted deck wheel (I'm not sure what those are called).

The loop goes through the teeth on the furler. There is a separator with two small rollers that the furling line goes through attached to the stanchion at the deck. A few stanchions later thers is a ring that the line feeds through also attached to the stanchion, then a few more and another separator with the two small rollers. From there it goes along the toerail at the cockpit with each side of the loop on either side of the winches (I have a self tailing winch and a regular one), then there's the two clamcleats facing in either directions so I can snap the furling line in there if I need to hold it fast. After the clamcleats there is a wheel bolted to the deck on the toerail almost all the way to the stern of the cockpit where the line feeds through, with just enough tension to keep the whole assembly from flopping around but loose enough to let the furling line be pulled out a four or five inches while pulling in either direction.

I dont have a series of photos of just the furler and given that there are 16 lines/sheets run aft making sense of the pictures would probably be more difficult than just explaining it. I didnt set it up myself, the boat was tweaked out by a guy who works for America's Cup now tweaking race boats.


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## mr-canada (Jul 11, 2013)

JonEisberg said:


> Selden is out with a fiddle block with dual cams designed for continuous line systems that's pretty slick...


I would take my rig over that any day - if you aren't short space on the aft cockpit rail. That line flopping around would drive me nuts... I have enough already ;-)


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## mr-canada (Jul 11, 2013)

Someone asked for a picture of how the aft end of my hood 705 is rigged. Note the two clamcleats going in either direction for reefing. Ignore the black bungee heading off the winch, thats just to keep me and my slipmates boats from banging against the dock. The portrait pic shows the guides that came with the system on the stanchions.


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## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

Eventually the teeth on the Hood drum wear down, and then they won't stay reefed no matter how the lines are cleated. The reefing depends on soft aluminum teeth to dig into the furling line. 

The current higher end Hood furler is similar to a Harken Mk IV. You can get it for a good price (half the cost of a Harken) when replacing a Hood continous line furler. The upgrade on my Pearson 28-2 was really worthwhile.


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## mikeysail29 (Jul 22, 2013)

I did the same upgrade to a single line Hood furler on my Pearson 28-2 as Alex W. It was definitely worth it. While I'm sure you can fiddle around with the continuous line system to get it to work OK, in my experience you are much better off with a single line system. You are less likely to have problems furling when you REALLY need to furl.


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## glymroff (Apr 2, 2009)

On my gal's Pearson26 we have a continuous line (old hood IIRC). We hate it. The line always jumps the wheel and jams or the line comes completely out. It does work a bit better if there is back pressure, however it still screws up. We have not had one sail where this does not happen.

At first I thought it was because the line diameter was to small. So I've tried two other diameters. No bueno.

The first chance we get to convert to a single line drum it will happen. Although it's pretty old and I'm not sure what to even (or where to) get a conversion.

Just my 2c


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## THEFRENCHA (Jan 26, 2003)

Totally agree with Mr Canada . Love my old Hood mine was getting old and I just refurbished it for about $100 Looks good for another 10 years.

The continuous lines is long enough to end next to steering wheel

Very easy to handle . Line will not mess in drum if you have a couple of guides on your stanchions especially closer to the drum .
Should not unfurl if you put some tension on the line and cleat it when at the mooring.


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## rlaskowsky58 (Aug 25, 2013)

we are thinking of getting a furler so this has been great information, thanks


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