Roller furler for Jib

Last night at work I made a Roller furler for a Jib that I bought off FleaBay for $75.
The Sail is 14 ft on the leach, 12'9" luff and 5'9" foot (about 37 sf)



and has the following features:

Tack Thimble



Head thimble



and Battens...Battens?



I made the furler according to these instructions...sort of. http://navigatorjoel.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-build-roller-furler-for-under-40.html Instead of using the wood and stuff inside I made it all stainless steel except for the housing which is white PVC... off white now that it is all dirty. I'll put up some pictures Monday when I get it home...I still have to do a couple of final touches...bloody work interfering with the important stuff.

Somebody comment on the battens...in a Jib? I am not too familiar with jibs...having never used or owned one before but I don't recall ever seeing battens in any of the pictures of them I have seen.

Now I have to build a boat for my newly acquired piece of cloth.

 

Its relatively common for jibs to have battens-even full battens but not for roller furling. Thanks for the info on the homemade furler-fits right in with my project where I need to wind up line.

PS- you can either remove the battens when you furl or have a sailmaker remove the amount of roach necessary to make the jib set w/o battens or have the sailmaker install longer battens parallel with the furled sail so it can be rolled with the battens in place.

 

Doug, if Steve sends the jib to a sailmaker it is no longer a $75 sail.

Brainstorm:He could try some mylar strips in the batten pockets to see if that would work and still have the ability to roll up.

Second brainstorm; Ditch the jib and build a boat that is monorigged. Jibs are only for the purpose of giving a bored fore deckhand something to do. (lets see if this last bit sets of a firestorm of denial)

 

Should we call you CatAbout?

Agreed a single sail is about as simple as you can get, but a jib does have some advantages. Flying off wind sails from a cat rigged Bermudian is difficult to say the least, so you're stuck with what you've got, which isn't the case with a sloop or other headsail equipped rig. Okay, I'm done.

These home made furlers abound, some are pretty clever and cheap too. They work great for small craft with light loads, but they quickly run into a strain wall, once the headsails get some size to them. You can switch to heftier hardware store attachments or start buying replacement pieces from the manufacture's offerings (like double bearing thrust bearings and swivels). I had good and bad luck with home made units. My 22' tall rig sloop, easily tore up a well built home made unit, while my 23' ketch with it's slightly smaller headsails, is able to carry the furler. I'm not sure of the size threshold, but you start pushing it around 100 sq. ft. (100 fore triangle).

 

Well... sorry for the delay...couldn't do anything Sunday night with it so I polished it off last night. Here is the furler... Parts, partially assembled, assembled and with a can for size comparison:











I should have broke out the TIG just for looks but I was lazy and used a stick instead. Not the greatest of welds but I was trying not to warp things too much...as it was I had some hammer work to do to flatten the cheeks of the drum after welding the centers. The whole thing is made from bits and pieces I scrounged at work plus a PVC pipe cap I had laying around.

Oh...and I bought another sail...55 sf low aspect ratio marconi for $40... new! off of Flea-bay. Gotta stop browsing there, it's putting a dent in my wallet.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAYTON-MARI...338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6f024bd2

 

No problem...I saw that years ago and it stuck in my mind... a quick application of Google-fu and there it was.

I posted this same thread over on WB and Todd Bradshaw (sailmaker) told me how much and where to cut after removing the battens...I have a place local that can sew it for me so I should be set...once I get up the nerve to take the scissors to it.

 

Take a hot knife to it.... instead of the scissors.

 

Steve, Like many others I have enjoyed watching your last couple of builds unfolding here. Does this mean there is a new design underway to be loacted beneath your latest aquistion........ ?

 

Well I do have something that I will hopefully be starting in the next few weeks but that sail isn't part of it. To me that sail was a bargain and I am hoping to get a collection of rigging and hardware together so I have it on hand when the muse clobbers me over the head. This will be tucked away in the "I have just the thing for that around here somewhere" box. I plan on building a few masts, rudders and daggerboards/leeboards/centerboards over the winter too...just so they are on hand and handy for future builds. Oh...and that is a Lateen sail I found out...similar to a Sunfish rig...I'll have to draw up something it could be used on.

 

Actually...It is bigger than I thought and I am thinking I will use it for my daughter's boat, freeing up the other sail. I can use that one, a 60 sf sail currently rigged as a Sprit sail but actually a Gaff sail with the Jib for a Gaff Sloop of about 95 sf total. This would do nicely for the build I am contemplating.