MacGregorSailors.com

I found this online and thought it was really cool. Nice, neat sail flake without any effort. I think this system would work great for anyone with halyards led aft and for those of us who reef frequently. Looks like there is no need to tie off the excess sail when reefing, since it just folds itself nicely at the boom and keeps it in place.
Dutchman Sail Flaking System
Anyone have one of these or saw one or have an opinion?

Leon

Add this to it and you have a neat system

http://www.sailcaddy.com/images.htm

I was out on a CS 30 a couple of weeks ago that had the Dutchman system. When ready to take in the sail, he just heads into the wind and drops the halyard. The sail automatically flakes and looks great. No sail caddy is necesary. He doesn't bother with a sail cover either so the beautifully flaked sail is always visible and I get jealous everytime I walk past it to my boat.

I don't think the light-weight partial batten Mac sail will be as easy to flake. A heavier full-batten main with lazy jacks will work almost as well. You just have to make sure you are straight into the wind and watch that the battens dont snag on the jacks.

I'm not considering this for my beat up, blown-out Mac sail. I plan to buy new sails next year, so I'm checking out all the bells & whistles. My new sail will be heavier and either be full batten or half batten with the top two full. Since I reef a lot, I'm trying to find the best reefing solution. One is the Dutchman. Another is the CDI mainsail furler... will put up a post in a bit. Ideally, I want an in-boom furler but we're talking at least $5k and the thing will weigh about 75 lbs..... not happening on my Mac.

Leon

He doesn't bother with a sail cover either so the beautifully flaked sail is always visible

Won't the sun destroy his sail if he doesn't use a cover? Do you recall if he had a full-batten sail?

Up here in the high latitudes are UV content is much less and our percent sunshine is also less...

My stock genny lasted four years with no cover, no UV strip - I caught a small tear on the spreader and it turned into a 25 foot tear in one second..

Of course, a racer might have been unhappy with the performance and shape of the sail ...I wouldnt know about that...

delevi wrote:I'm not considering this for my beat up, blown-out Mac sail. I plan to buy new sails next year, so I'm checking out all the bells & whistles. My new sail will be heavier and either be full batten or half batten with the top two full. Since I reef a lot, I'm trying to find the best reefing solution. One is the Dutchman. Another is the CDI mainsail furler... will put up a post in a bit. Ideally, I want an in-boom furler but we're talking at least $5k and the thing will weigh about 75 lbs..... not happening on my Mac.

Leon

Sounds like you will be happy with the dutchman and a new main then. I remember in Cruising World when Bill Lee was judging boats that he had a list of "go slow" items for boats, one of them was in-mast furlers without battens. After cruising a bit of cruising on my father in laws boat with in mast furling main I can see why - the sail shape just sucks plus you have the added weight of the sail at a higher point. I agree in boom on a larger boat is of interest.

I remember in Cruising World when Bill Lee was judging boats that he had a list of "go slow" items for boats, one of them was in-mast furlers without battens. After cruising a bit of cruising on my father in laws boat with in mast furling main I can see why - the sail shape just sucks plus you have the added weight of the sail at a higher point.

Yeah, I was considering the CDI mainsail furler, but had the same concern about loosing performance. I think the best way to go is the dutchman with single line reefing set up for each reef point. Now it's just a matter of selecting from the hundreds of sail choices out there.

In boom furling is not always the greatest thing either. Molly's dad's Hunter has in-boom furling and it works great 80% of the time. The big problem is that the boom needs to stay very level so that it furls up nicely. If it doesn't furl tight, then it won't all fit in the boom.... So you have to play a bit of a game of keeping just the right amount of tension on the main haylard while furling.

The big advantages over in-mast furling: 1. if the lines get stuck, you can always cut the main haylard and let the sail fall to the deck...with in mast, you are in for some fun trying to wrap it around the mast. 2. Furling is pretty simple. 3. Sail is fully battened

My only experience with the Dutchman system was a charter. I charted a Catalina 30-something for a daysail in Charleston Harbor and out into the Atlantic. I asked the charter a few questions about the system and they didn't have too much good to say. They said it worked reasonably well, but just more lines you need to worry about when raising/lowering the main.

Won't the sun destroy his sail if he doesn't use a cover? Do you recall if he had a full-batten sail?

Sorry, been away for a few days...yes, the sun will detroy his sail...he doesn't seem too worried.