For years, serious sailors dismissed roller furling, claiming its convenience simply didn't outweigh the sacrifice in performance. Then too, the earlier systems were sometimes less than reliable. But design changes and improvements in headsail furler/reefers have made a dramatic impact on their popularity. And let's face it, a lot of those hard-core racers of yore are now just a little older and some even admit that they like the convenience of roller furling. The fact is, for many sailors, the ease and convenience of roller furling means they get out more often and spend more time under sail.

If that isn't enough to convince you, here are nine more ways to justify the expense, courtesy of Marty Rieck of Harken.

1. Larger Boats with Smaller Crews With a furler, the genoa can be reefed or stowed from the safety of the cockpit without the physical effort of dragging sails onto the foredeck, so a small crew can sail a large boat, or a moderate size boat can be single-handed. If you cruise as a couple, consider how much time you take turns single-handing; roller furling would be like having another crew member.

2. Larger Headsails Some sailors choose a relatively small headsail as their primary genoa, because the difficulty of changing down in heavy air does not justify the light air performance. With an efficient reefing system, you can choose a primary genoa that allows the boat to sail efficiently in light air.

3. Larger Genoas for Night Sailing Single-handed or short-handed boats typically reduce sail before nightfall, because approaching weather changes may not be visible and because sail changes are more difficult in the dark and often require waking the off-watch crew. With a furling system, you can leave the full-sized genoa up when the wind is light, and when the wind comes up, a headsail change becomes a simple, one-person operation from the cockpit.

4. Storage Few cruising boats offer convenient storage for bagged or unbagged sails. No one likes to fill the cabin with a sea of wet cloth that can't be properly stowed until the boat is back in port, where the sail can be dried and folded.

5. Flexibility All-purpose reefing genoas cover the middle of the wind range very well, but there are times that specialty sails are required for enhanced performance. Spinnakers and Gennakers® are easy to set with a furling system. After they're flying, the genoa is rolled out of the way, ready to reset before the spinnaker is struck.

Every boat needs a heavy air jib for extreme conditions. Most boats, particularly coastal cruisers, will reef the all-purpose genoa when the wind strengthens, but the heavy air genoa is necessary because it offers efficiency in the upper end of the wind range that an all-purpose genoa cannot. Usually it will be set before the boat leaves the mooring. When the wind is already very high, start with the heavy air jib and reef it if conditions deteriorate further.

6. Better Visibility Efficient genoas are cut close to the deck, where they obscure visibility ahead and to leeward. Since most sailing takes place within a few miles of a harbor, visibility is important for safety and peace of mind. Resist the temptation to permanently reduce your sail area by cutting the clew high to gain visibility. By reefing the genoa a few turns when you're near a harbor, sailing at night or approaching an area with navigational hazards, you'll gain visibility.

7. More Sailing Did you do more motoring than sailing on your last cruise? A furling system can't guarantee wind, but it makes it easy to take advantage of what wind there is.

Frequent raising and lowering of the headsail to meet variable conditions becomes tedious. With a furling system, there's no big investment in labor to set or lower the genoa. The helmsman can usually set the sail single-handedly.

8. Improved Boat Handling Skills Instead of performing crucial maneuvers like docking, mooring, and anchoring under power, you can use a furling system like an automatic transmission to make slowing down and stopping much easier. This allows you to practice your boat handling skills under sail, which becomes invaluable when your motor fails.

9. Slowing Down The ability to reef the genoa means that you can slow the boat easily, yet retain the ability to accelerate instantly when conditions change.

In or near a harbor or channel, you can use the reefed genoa to slow the boat and improve your visibility. Then, as you clear the harbor, you are instantly ready to roll out the genoa and accelerate away.

When sailing offshore at night, reefing allows you to tailor your ETA for a landfall after sunrise. You simply take a knot or two off your speed throughout the night to make daylight landfall and avoid parking in an uncomfortable seaway for a few hours waiting for sunrise.


Marty Rieck is Harken's General Sales Manager. His article, "Living with Roller Furling", first appeared in Sailing Magazine's April 1991 issue, and is excerpted here with permission.