New Mac 26 Roller Furling for Main

[Jimmyt]

Those two feeders are all that mine has. Getting the boom angle right and keeping the slot clean and slick is all I know to try. Also, if your bolt rope shrinks, that will cause problems. I had a new bolt rope put in a couple.of years ago. You can see why... also fouled the main halyard when I raised the mast and didn't notice it until we were in the bay. Just sailed with it.

[Estate Sail]

I bought my 26M from Mike Inmon at the factory in 2013. It came with Mike's main roller furler. I like it. I may lose a little performance, Oh well its not a high performance boat. I did have to replace the bolt rope due to shrinkage resulting in jamming. I use sailkote to keep the bolt rope moving smoothly in the mast channel. I have found that I need to periodically pull on the rolled sail as I lower it to keep it from jamming against the mast. I have not found it difficult to rig when I set up the mast. Overall I like it.

[BOAT]

I have found that for trailering, the furling boom is as fast or faster for setup/tear down than a conventional boom and sail. I keep the boom on deck, about 3 ft from where it attaches to the mast.

This is actually an issue for most of us jimmy because most of us do not have a big tall garage to store the boat so we need to take the boom off the boat or store it below decks. Most folks can't leave the mainsail exposed on the deck all the time in storage.

I really think Captain Mike Inmon's Mainsail Furler is still the best solution available if your going to try to furl your main.

The second best setup I saw was here on site - a guy has a footless main that also has no attachment to the mast at all - instead there is a furler mush like the genoa furler that goes from the top of the mast to the gooseneck. He furls his main the same way he does the genoa. Of course - his sail is really bad on performance compared to stock because he not only loses battons but also no proper bolt to the mast.

I suppose after that are lazy jacks but imagine the hassle that creates for trailering.

I just don't know the answer to this one - I think Captain Mike put out the best that can be done. If you don't like that one I don't think you can furl the main on a MAC any other way that would be better. I'm still trying to think of something but no ideas yet.

[Jimmyt]

I have found that for trailering, the furling boom is as fast or faster for setup/tear down than a conventional boom and sail. I keep the boom on deck, about 3 ft from where it attaches to the mast.

This is actually an issue for most of us jimmy because most of us do not have a big tall garage to store the boat so we need to take the boom off the boat or store it below decks. Most folks can't leave the mainsail exposed on the deck all the time in storage.

I really think Captain Mike Inmon's Mainsail Furler is still the best solution available if your going to try to furl your main.

The second best setup I saw was here on site - a guy has a footless main that also has no attachment to the mast at all - instead there is a furler mush like the genoa furler that goes from the top of the mast to the gooseneck. He furls his main the same way he does the genoa. Of course - his sail is really bad on performance compared to stock because he not only loses battons but also no proper bolt to the mast.

I suppose after that are lazy jacks but imagine the hassle that creates for trailering.

I just don't know the answer to this one - I think Captain Mike put out the best that can be done. If you don't like that one I don't think you can furl the main on a MAC any other way that would be better. I'm still trying to think of something but no ideas yet.

Is my furler not the one Mike Inmon was selling? Since it came with my boat, I don't really know the history of it. It looks like the one in the video Russ posted.

Behind mast furling doesn't appeal to me, but apparently some folks like them. They would be fairly simple. I don't like in-mast furling for fear of what would happen if it got fouled inside the mast.

I like boom furling, at least the idea of it, and if the boom is open enough where it can't foul the sail to the point it can't be easily untangled. The one I have is completely open, and not as attractive as I would like. A little more enclosed would look better. The more I use it, the more ideas I get for improving it. Don't think I can substantially improve it without a fairly extensive redesign. Will have to see if the desire and lack of other projects come to a point where I decide to give building one a try.

Until then, I'll keep using it and studying it... no it's not necessary for me to be on deck, I just can't see the feed and what's going on with the front of the roll without being up there.

[BOAT]

Yes, your furler is the Mike Inmon furler.

In that picture if you let out some mainsheet the sail would have been much easier to raise (or lower).

Do your stanchions have sliders or something?? What's that black thing on them?

I want everyone to notice the huge size of the topping lift in that picture

*You forgot to take the noodles off your spreaders)

No I never mentioned that you need to be on deck to use it - when I used it I did everything from the cockpit working two lines at the same time very much like a genoa furler. I am still very curious about that harken flux capacitor you seem to be messing around with a lot.

What I did say was that you were leaving the boom and sail on the deck when TRAILERING and STORING. Most of us can not do that but I do agree it would be a lot more convenient if we could.

(Who is taking the picture?)

I think it's probably the best furler your going to find for a MAC mainsail. The bolt rope is the best feature.

I really miss the performance of a bolted main and I am considering buying a second main with no slugs and no foot. I think a bolted footless main also might be easier to handle for raising and lowering the main because the position of the boom is irrelevant when the outhaul is released.

By the way - does that setup have an outhaul??

[Jimmyt]

Yes, your furler is the Mike Inmon furler.

In that picture if you let out some mainsheet the sail would have been much easier to raise (or lower).

Do your stanchions have sliders or something?? What's that black thing on them?

I want everyone to notice the huge size of the topping lift in that picture

*You forgot to take the noodles off your spreaders)

No I never mentioned that you need to be on deck to use it - when I used it I did everything from the cockpit working two lines at the same time very much like a genoa furler. I am still very curious about that harken flux capacitor you seem to be messing around with a lot.

What I did say was that you were leaving the boom and sail on the deck when TRAILERING and STORING. Most of us can not do that but I do agree it would be a lot more convenient if we could.

(Who is taking the picture?)

I think it's probably the best furler your going to find for a MAC mainsail. The bolt rope is the best feature.

I really miss the performance of a bolted main and I am considering buying a second main with no slugs and no foot. I think a bolted footless main also might be easier to handle for raising and lowering the main because the position of the boom is irrelevant when the outhaul is released.

By the way - does that setup have an outhaul??

Thanks. I thought it probably was an Inmon furler.

Actually, I may have been trying to take some belly out - which also would have been easier without all of that wind pressure on it. Whatever I was doing, I wanted a closeup view of it.

The port stanchion has a black ball bungee on it that holds my cockpit lifeline when I'm not using it (which I wasn't).

Don't judge a man on the size of his topping lift. Came that way from the PO. Hasn't made it to the top of the list yet...

Yes (actually pipe insulation); and when we ran upriver to dump the ballast and let the Etec take a deep breath, one of those came off. Fortunately my daughter saw it and we were able to gather it back up. Hate littering.

I know you said it could be done from the cockpit - I just figured you were gonna give me a wire brushing over being on deck.

My.baby daughter, now 23, took the picture. It is the first time we've gotten to go without a lot of other folks. Her mom was working. Love all three of my daughters, and it's nice to get to spend a little time getting to know what kind of adults they're turning into. Hard for me to do in a crowd. If the weather stays good, may try again soon. Pollen is really bad though right now.

I generally like it. If the roll didn't migrate forward as you furl, it would be fine with me. Fixing that may require a redesign. It seems the topping lift has to be used to raise the back of the boom to get the guide to pull the bolt rope away from the front of the drum. But, the bracket at the front of the drum won't allow much boom movement before it hits the mast. Probably just my technique... I'm still learning it. Basically only use it once to put it up, then 5-9 hours later to take it down. That day I used it three times, since we started off reefed.

Not too sure about a footless main, but have been accused of being a brainless captain.

Yes, there is a line in the outhaul position, but it is not easily adjustable. I'll try to get a pic if you would like one.

The front end of the leisure furl is the direction I'm leaning. If the rear is made such that the drum can slide fore and aft in the boom, then it's exactly what I'm thinking needs to be done. Plus, it is way more stylish... as you can see from the pic, I'm all about style...

Thanks for not picking on me too bad. Hope you're staying healthy. Since schools are out, and the youngest is a teacher, she's staying with us for a bit. We're all good so far. The other two are in health care related jobs in another city a bit north. Little more widespread up there. I think the oldest may have it now (her test results are not back yet). She doesn't have fever any more, but still doesn't feel very good. She's about 8 days in. One of the kids is sick, but has not been tested. Middle daughter is good so far.

[BOAT]

That why I commented the topping lift - the topping lift needs to be pretty tight to keep the sail from bundling up at the mast. The more stretched out and old the sail is - the more you need to raise the back of the boom when furling the mainsail. That will make the mainsail roll a little more to the rear as you pull out the rope rolled up on the back of the boom. It looks like someone already tried adjusting the topping lift. How old is your sail?

I hope all the kids get better soon. I know that corona the virus is heading to the south - folks in California are talking about virus in the south.

[Jimmyt]

Did Mike have an adjustable topping lift? Mine is fixed. I was thinking of adding another snap shackle or similar to the lift to give me a raised boom setting for furling. Yes, I've fooled with it, but it really needs two settings.

The sail is 2013 issue. I've had a sailmaker replace the bolt rope due to shrinkage. He advised me that the sail was still in good shape and should go a few more years. Anyway, it's in fair shape, but it ain't new.

Thanks for the kind words.

[Russ]

Don't judge a man on the size of his topping lift.

This needs to be a meme or a signature.

[Russ]

Did Mike have an adjustable topping lift? Mine is fixed.

From your photo, and thank you for that photo, it really demonstrates how this system works, your topping lift IS adjustable.
There appears to be a piece of line from the loop of the topping lift to the carabineer to the boom. You could easily add another carabineer higher up. That's how mine works. BWY added 2 clips on mine. One for sails up and another for more headroom.



My 2 hook solution.

[Jimmyt]

Thanks Russ! I’ll copy your setup if the boom allows me to lift it significantly.

If you zoom in, you can make out the vertical bracket that goes from the boom up to the roll. You can see that the boom and furler has twisted counter clockwise such that the vertical bracket might just go to the port side of the mast if I raise the back end of the boom. It’s flopping back and forth when I tack due to slop in the gooseneck connections. I’ll have to watch for wear over time.

[BOAT]

The Inmon furler raises the foot of the sail about 10 inches above the boom putting a lot of torsion stress on the gooseneck. Furling booms are not supposed to have a single gooseneck - they are supposed to have double or triple gooseneck because with in boom furling you are using the boom as the reefing cringle instead of a proper mast cringle so it really puts all the strain of the sail tack on the boom instead of the mast during the most stressful conditions - when the wind is so strong you need to reef.

Most in boom furlers use a double neck like this:



I learned my lesson the hard way on this one - I tried to make my own roller furling gooseneck when I first bought the boat.

(Man! was THAT a disaster).

[Jimmyt]

The Inmon furler raises the foot of the sail about 10 inches above the boom putting a lot of torsion stress on the gooseneck. Furling booms are not supposed to have a single gooseneck - they are supposed to have double or triple gooseneck because with in boom furling you are using the boom as the reefing cringle instead of a proper mast cringle so it really puts all the strain of the sail tack on the boom instead of the mast during the most stressful conditions - when the wind is so strong you need to reef.

I learned my lesson the hard way on this one - I tried to make my own roller furling gooseneck when I first bought the boat.

(Man! was THAT a disaster).

Agree completely with your concerns.

Got any pics of your furling boom? I'd be interested to see what you tried, if it's not top secret.

[BOAT]

You can read all about it here. A bunch of us were trying to do it way back in 2013 but we all gave up eventually. 'boat' was new and we had only been out about three times on it and I knew going out into the ocean in March or April was dangerous but we were lucky the times before but then it finally caught up with me - I knew better but was a dummy.


viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21815&p=263106&hili ... om#p263106

This link is a post from the guys way back in 2013. Most of the guys are not here anymore.

I miss mastreb and seahouse

[Jimmyt]

You can read all about it here. A bunch of us were trying to do it way back in 2013 but we all gave up eventually. 'boat' was new and we had only been out about three times on it and I knew going out into the ocean in March or April was dangerous but we were lucky the times before but then it finally caught up with me - I knew better but was a dummy.


viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21815&p=263106&hili ... om#p263106

This link is a post from the guys way back in 2013. Most of the guys are not here anymore.

I miss mastreb and seahouse

Unfortunately, most if not all pics are missing. Do you have a handy pic of what you tried? I saw your gooseneck fitting. I hate that it didn't work the way you wanted. If you don't have a pic, did you just roll the sail on the boom and put a rotating connection for the topping lift? What did you do with the main?

I miss them too. I read many of their posts when I was boat shopping. Seemed like good guys and contributed a lot to the knowledge base.