TECHNICAL FURLING MAINSAILS

Some sailors swear by furling mainsail systems, others swear at them. Graham Snook looks at ways to keep your furling mainsail in check.

- Graham Snook

Mainsail furling systems have come on a long way. Sails no longer need to be wrapped around a boom, nor does an in-mast mainsail need to be the hollow-leached, baggy triangle we first saw decades ago. Furling mainsails can now offer more sail area than a traditional slab-reefed mainsail. Be that as it may, every slabreefed sailor knows a horror story about in-mast or in-boom furling that is enough to make them steer well clear, while those that have furling mains wouldn’t put to sea without one.

There is little doubt that furling mainsails are gaining in popularity, even for serious offshore cruising boats. In 2018, 38% of boats sailing round the world in the World ARC had furling mainsail, and Hallberg Rassy reports that almost all new owners buying boats over 40ft opt for furling mains, with Discovery reporting a similar trend.

So has the reputation of furling mainsails been unfairly tainted, and are they more prone to user error, or have the systems ironed out the glitches? Whether you’ve got a furling main on your own boat, or if you’ll be using one when you charter, it’s worth knowing how to avoid the pitfalls of furling mainsails.

HOW DO THEY WORK?

In an age where we expect everything just to be simple and to work, letting off one line, and pulling another to make the mainsail appear or disappear sounds appealing, but what is the best way to furl the mainsail? Is there a correct way to do it?

‘Carefully,’ replies Jeremy White, of Elvstrøm Sails UK. ‘They’re mechanical systems and they need to be operated correctly.