Association Forum - Furling jib sock

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

Furling jib sock

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

monty0
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
51 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/16/2007 : 21:59:25

I'm wondering of the pros and cons of a furling jib sock? Can they get fouled up on the furling set-up or get stuck on the way up or down?

Has anyone made one of these? I'd like to know the practicality of taking on such a venture. Where to get a pattern and the hardware and so forth?

Monty

1977 Catalina 25 #66 SRSK "Prana"

Edited by - on

Designwiz
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
59 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 01:08:21

Hi Monty:
I purchased one of these three years ago and have only used it a few times. In concept okay, in actual use, just not impressed. Had to have mine narrowed in width, apparently it was made for a 150 head sail, I have a 110 head sail. There was so much extra material that the wind made it flutter and I thought that the harmonics caused by the flutering in the breeze would eventualy created a problem with the headstay. After I had it narrowed I then had a hard time getting it up over the sail especialy by the area of the grommet where the sheet lines are attached. If I rolled the head sail up real tight to get a smaller bundle diameter it will go up okay. Because the grommets to raise the jib sock up are on either side of the zipper it pulls it up with the halyard off center and sometimes get hung up on the sail itself. Worked a little better when I put two metal links in so that the halyard didn't pinch off the top diameter of the sock due to the two grommets being forced together by the attachment halyard. All in all it was a waste of money. If you have one made I have three suggestions, one is have the grommets on the top placed 180 degees apart instead of stradiling the zipper, two is measure where your sheet lines will exit the sock and have them place the second lenght of zipper accordingly and third measure the diameter of your head sail rolled up and at it's largest point and pass that on to them so they will know how wide it should unzppered and layed out flat. Hope this helps and that I explained myself well enough.

Edited by - Designwiz on 04/17/2007 01:12:37

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 06:31:12

I love mine, it takes 5 minutes to put on and two to take off. I only use it when I leave the boat. My halyard clips through two grommets at the top and I have a tack shackle through two grommets at the bottom, it is quite taught. It has two zippers which meet at the sheets, (could meet anywhere of course), I use a tiny bungie that wraps around the sock at the sheets and holds the zipper pulls under tension. It does add windage but keeping it under tension helps a lot. I opted for a sacrificial dacron suncover on my headsail rather than Sunbrella, Sunbrella is so heavy and ugly on a sail I was grateful to have the dacron option, While the dacron will probably last as long as the stitching would on a sunbrella cover, I would need to replace my dacron in a couple of years instead of simply having old faded sunbrella resewn. The sock means my dacron will now probably last the life of the sail.

Edited by - on

crcalhoon
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
303 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 09:04:16

I had one once and loved it. But as I recall, it pretty well managed the descriptions given above, where the sheets exited right between the zippers. In a decent breeze it flogs a little. I sometimes took mine down if I thought it was really going to blow. Perhaps a little better fit would have prevented that, but on the whole, I liked it.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 09:44:18

The whole idea behind roller furling is convenience and ease of use. To me, using a jib sock sort of defeats the purpose.

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 10:42:25

I have my jib sock sewn on the furling jib.

Edited by - on

Russ.Johnson
Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
855 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 10:59:05

I have a C250 with a 110% jib and a CDI furler.
The CDI furler doesn't use the jib halyard, so it's easy to use it on the jib sock.
The original jib didn't have any sun protection so the jib sock was a good alternative.
I bought mine from Catalina Direct.
It has zippers at both ends which makes it easier.
It does flap in the breeze, so I tie a small line to the halyard.
Then loosely wrap it around the jib as I raise.
Usually 5 or 6 wraps then tighten after it's raised.

Russ C250WB #793

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 14:37:51

I had one on my C22 but am not gettting one for my C250. I want the furler for convenience and for me the extra 5 minutes at each end of the trip is enough to no longer use a sock.

Edited by - on

Designwiz
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
59 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2007 : 22:58:13

Russ's idea of attaching a line to the halyard and giving it 5 or 6 wraps around the sock to stop it from flogging in the breeze is a great idea. Wish I had thought of that brfore I spent another $50 to have it narrowed.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2007 : 06:25:03

I had the Harken furler on my boat and on the edge of the 135 jib was sewn a 12" of very light turquios sunbrella that matched the rest of the canvas covers so when I furled in the jib, the sunbrella was the last to wrap and protected the jib from the weather and UV. I can see using a sock with that. Cheers.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2007 : 08:17:45

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by djn
 I had the Harken furler on my boat and on the edge of the 135 jib was sewn a 12" of very light turquios sunbrella that matched the rest of the canvas covers so when I furled in the jib, the sunbrella was the last to wrap and protected the jib from the weather and UV. I can see using a sock with that. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Dennis,

The purpose behind the sewn on cover is so you don't have to mess with a sock.

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.