Adding rollerfurling to my 5.5's JIB :D

Well, I'm going to add RF to my 5.5 SL with Spin to make it a bit easier (possible?) for me to single hand with the chute. Trapping + main + jib + trying to stay in footstraps + working spi is a bit much for me!

Anyhow, how is it rigged? What happens to luff tension? What about the forstay?

maybe I should just go Uni when I'm going to use the chute, and forget about the RF?

last but not least, what kind of performance drop would I see by adding the furling equipment?

I searched, but couldn't find much in the way of answers about my nacra.

Thanks in advance!

What is "RF"? Does that mean roller furling? If so, I didn't know there was roller-furling for spinnakers.

John Suares had a roller-furling chute on his 5.5uni "Gerridae" sailing out of Biloxi, MS

After his death, the chute vanished. There's a lot of people would like to find it. All I remember about it is that it had a REAL large drum

Jay

Sorry, my origional post wasn't very clear.

I want to add roller furling to the JIB, to make it easier for me to handle the spin and main!

sorry for the confusion, sometimes my hands don't type everything my brain is trying to say.

No, I am the one who is sorry. I didn't notice that you specified the jib in your original post subject line.

Personally, I think all jibs should be roller-furling, but purists don't like to do it partly because it tends to sort of "set" a pocket up front based upon the direction it is furled.

I changed my P-18 rig to a roller furling jib recently. I had the batten pockets re-angled to 45 degrees to allow the sail to roll okay. I haven't seen any performance hit or noticed any problem with the sail fluttering due to the change of the battens. Keep in mind that I don't race, just sail for fun, so I wouldn't necessarily see those little changes that a more high performance sailor would notice.

I'm glad I made the change. The boat is now much easier to deal with when on the dock and launching from the trailer. I also have that little piece of mind that comes from knowing I could reduce sail if the wind suddenly came on too big.

Sheldon
P-18

I have roller furling on my jib. I bought Harken RF swivel & drum. I made forestay & halyard/block thing myself.
It works really well, except I had to "reverse" the furling direction to make jib furl nicely around the zipper, compared to natural direction the drum seemd to be set up for.
Luff tension is still my problem, I'm going to make a 3:1 tensioner at end of halyard, just haven't rigged it yet, I'v beed racing uni this spring.
I had my sailmaker make "furling battens" for me, now the sail furls nice & cleanly, with no ugly little battens poking out higher up.
I also had him build a "snorkel" device to protect the jib, which I can leave on the boat, furled.

You might wnat to check out Patrick Ragen, he has 5.5 with furling jib, and helped me out a few times with ideas.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ragenpl/nacra/nacra.htm

also check this old thread
http://www.catsailor.com/forums/sho...sts&Main=194&Search=true#Post205

if you're single handed and going to fly the chute, I would leave the jib completely off the boat. However, if you had roller furling, it would give you more flexibility in different wind conditions.

You will loose the ability to adjust the luff tension from the water with a roller furling sail unless you do something fairly controversial (it can be done). Most guys with roller furling adjust their luff tension on the hard and leave it.

Your forestay will need to be shorter. I would order a new one so you still have the old one if you wanted to go back for any reason. The Nacra forestay will work just as it is if you shorten the bottom end of it. Install the upper swivel between the mast hound and the forestay. Simply measure the distance between pin holes on the roller drum and the swivel and subtract that from the overall forestay length. You will need to get a little creative with how you cleat the jib halyard. Some have a plastic cleat sewen into the tack of the jib. I'm in the process of adding roller furling to my 6.0NA and I think I'm going to setup a small pulley that will clip to the end of the halyard. The clew will attach to the chain plate with a pin like on other boats. A line will tie to the end of the halyard, then through the roller part of a jam cleat w/ roller attached just above the furling drum, to the pulley on the halyard, and will lock back in on the jam cleat. That will give 3:1 purchase on the luff tension and hopefully be enough.

What kind of line are you guys running through your roller furling drum? I've tried using 1/8" dacron that Murray's recommends and have had nothing but problems. When I want to furl the jib on the water, the line gets all bunched up in the drum and won't feed.

Any suggestions? Was there a trick that I missed when I originally fed the line in? Should I use a different line?

TheoA,

I have a Nacra 5.5 with Roller Furling Jib.

I will post some photos, but it will take few days to get to it. Sorry. (Check after 6/15/03) (if in a hurry, send e-mail and I will send some)

I just finally got a digital camera so will post some of my Nacra upgrades. I have
- Roller Furling Jib.
- Spinnaker (bag launched).
- Tramp cleated jib blocks (Removed cross tramp jib wire).
- 16-1 main downhaul.

Photos will be accessable from here:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ragenpl/nacra/nacra.htm

Some info on the roller furler:
- My front stay was shortened by about 5 inches to account for the lenght of the roller furling top and bottom units.
- The jib halyard slides back down zipper when installed. "sister clips" are used to remove extra halyard line once raised.
- The jib just barely fits because of the space lost due to the roller furler. My mast is raked back some to get full extension on adjuster to stay. My jib would have to be shortened to put mast up straight. I have heard Nacra jibs vary some so ...?
- A Harken 435 roller furler set was used.
- The roller furler uses a 3 to 1 downhaul setup. Cleat is hooked to adjuster above roller furler. Small block is attached to end of Halyard once raised. (Line from upper block becket, down to lower block on adjuster, back up to upper block, down to cleat on adjuster)
- Jib mini-battens were moved to be in-line with wire, vice horizontal to allow better rolling.
- I keep boat stored mast up so have sock to cover jib when rolled. It was a H-20/21 roller furler that I purchased then modified.

Sounds like a lot of work, but it was not to bad, and it was well worth it. Recommended upgrade.

If you are *serious* about racing, I don't think there is a hugh impact, but I would keep your old stay and leave the furler off when racing buoys. You might keep on if distance racing to have flexability in changing wind conditions.

Let me know how your solo chute work goes. I have been tempted to try it myself, but worry about needing an extra set of hands if something gets tangled.

Patrick
ragenp@yahoo.com

My Nacra roller furling jib pictures now posted.

They are at nacramania.com

It's soooo much clearer now! THANKS!!!!

Thank you for posting your modifications. In my research before I bought my 5.5 I noticed a severe lack of information out there on the net. As soon as I start screwing with a good design (I always do) I will share as well!
Thanks,