Association Forum - To Hank or to Foil

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

To Hank or to Foil

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Ericson33
Admiral

Member Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/18/2006 : 13:59:02

I am going to out this in the General Section of the Site.

I have sold our Furler and I am now in the pickle of deciding to either buy a Harken Carbo Foil, Tuff Luff, Or just take the sails back to Kerr and have the Hanks put back on the sails that I just paid 300.00 to have taken off.

The money for the Luff system is around the price that I got for the furler, and the local dealer here can get me 40% off new Harken gear.......Personal Friend.

I am torn two ways, the boat is going to be raced, I know that the hanks are faster, leave the sail on the forstay, the only downside I see is when the spinnaker is hoisted some times the hanks catch the chute. I am use to having to deal with the luff, but its always a pain in the butt to raise and lower the luff, raising the sails always tend to get caught on the prefeeder, and dousing the sail flies free on the deck, re: bungee cord.......

So what do you all think?

C.S. McKillip
Ericson 33

Edited by - on

takokichi
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
321 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 14:31:15

There was a pretty good thread on this issue on Sailing Anarchy recently - it might be worth your while to find it. I can't get the search function to work right now, or I'd give you the link.

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3324 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 15:09:02

Chris - I'm one of the few C25 folks with a Tuff Luff. I highly recommend them as they give you a much smoother entry into the genoa and are (reputedly) supposed to give you a 3 sec/mile advantage over hanks and a good 15 secs/mile over a roller furler! The only drawback is that they don't collapse when you blow the halyard, and someone has to be on the foredeck to pull down the genoa and re-feed into the prefeeder ready to rehoist. However, if you are running a chute then you have a crewman already up there!
Derek

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 15:26:02

The boat I race on Ericson 38 has the luff system, I have removed my furler in foavor of hank on sails. The only advantage I can see to the 2 tracked luff system is doing a peel (ie changing up or down in headsail size). Spin up, spin down, I think its easier and neater with a hank on jib (stays attached to the forestay, can't get blown around). They claim the boat points better with the foil - smooth airflow, sail attached to forestay, no drag from hanks. Kind of same principle as a boltrope main (which I have and prefer to slides). If so its a 1% gain. I like the boltrope main for other reasons than improved efficency. I like the fact that you can't pop out a slide when reefing, don't need mast gates, and I like to store the sail rolled up.

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 16:22:56

When I had my Merit 25 I used a tuff luff (stock) for a while before I got my Harken furler. I put netting from my lifeline to my toe rail, from my pullpit to my mast and never had a sail get away from me. One trick is you do not let the last two feet out of the luff groove.

Edited by - on

crcalhoon
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
303 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 19:58:24

My 1979 FK SR came with Tuf Luff from PO. I don't care much for it. I can see the advantage for a purely racing boat, with a foredeck crew, but I used to single hand a lot, and although it can be done with the Tuf Luff, it ain't pleasant. I promised myself that I would sail it for one season just to see, so I will, but have a feeling that next year I will go back to hanks. Standard hanks with a downhaul has been my preference for years, and I don't see much reason to change it unless I were going to be a pure racer. My two cents.

Edited by - on

Ericson33
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2006 : 21:32:25

It doesn't matter if you are racing or not, I tend to look at the really fast boats and see what the are using. The J24's and the J22 OD Fleets come to mind. Just sit back and watch these guys come around the windward mark, Down goes the Genoa and up goes the chutes. I know for a fact that the Hanks are faster when it comes to crew work on the boat. Now can you gain that back by what you pick up in a mile? I think its all up to the crew and the Helm....

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 10:15:49

fast boats in our fleet don't round the windward mark, drop genoa and up spin. Spin is raised outside the raised genoa, which is dropped after the spin is flying.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.