[Rhodes22-list] How to: A Trouble-free Furling Main | Sail Magazine

[Jay Friedland]

Hi, Tom,
I opted to work with Evolution Sails in 2014, may be still in Easton, MD.,
Scott Gibbs was the contact. They were good to work with, and the design
was unique for our boat, straight leech, and 2 vertical battens, 1/4” round
fiberglass rods, roughly at thirds, see attached photo, if it doesn’t get
stripped away.

Although I had some tweaks (more cosmetic than design- extended UV cover,
tack line, R22 numbers, etc.) in the beginning, it’s performed flawlessly,
especially this past year with Stan’s new outhaul car. I went through 2
previous outhaul car designs over the last 6 years, which made it a little
difficult to reef and furl in. The angle of the boom is critical to it’s
compactness in the mast, and it’s original stiffness took a few weeks to
settle in.

Over the battenless version, I reef & furl on a port tack, although it goes
right in when in irons or light winds (6-8 kts.) on starboard tack. It’s
about the same size and was the same cost as the Doyle version, and about
the same area UV cover. It is much stiffer than the single batten. If you
ever in the Ocean County, NJ /Long Beach Island area, I go out at least 3-4
times a week, now with masks, so a test sail is always available.

Jay Friedland
S/V Wanderlust, ‘97






On Jul 19, 2020, at 4:30 PM, Jesse Shumaker <jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com>
wrote:

Hi Tom,

The R22 IMF furls in the opposite direction as the illustration depicting
the Selden furling shown in the article.  There is a vertical batten that
is inserted into the UV resistant portion of the sail, which is the thick
colored section that sticks out when the sail is fully furled.  Forgoing
battens on the rest of the main seems to the price you pay in terms of
performance in exchange for the big benefits in terms of ease of using
IMF.  Horizontal battens are reserved for mains that hoist in the
traditional manner, or perhaps they could also be used on boom roller
furling, which seems to be less common than IMF.   I've not heard of anyone
else adding additional vertical battens and I'm not sure the mast would be
large enough to accommodate the extra size of a furled sail including
vertical battens.

I haven't yet sailed on a larger boat with IMF, but people who have used
those and then come on my R22 seem to be surprised about the ability to
raise and lower the entire system (boom and mainsail) with the pin going
through the gooseneck to the mast.  I suppose that's not an option on a
larger boat because of the extra weight.  It is nice to have a high boom
normally for plenty of room in the cockpit and to catch the most wind up
high, but then be able to lower it quickly in stronger conditions.
Lowering the center of effort reduces heeling.

Maybe Chris G. could provide some perspectives on IMF for the R22 vs. a
larger boat since he also has a Catalina 38(?) with IMF.

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Sun, Jul 19, 2020 at 2:39 PM Tom Van Heule <
tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com> wrote:

Hi, I came across this article today - and was searching in the archives
for any details - lots of talk on the IMF, but nothing explaining the
system (that I have found!).  Aside, Is anyone using battens? vertical or
horizontal?    Is the GBI system similar/different from the Selden
description?
https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/how-to-a-trouble-free-furling-main

It was a nice read to hear some support for IMF in either case.


--
Tom Van Heule
Intrinsic Programs
tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com
+1 303 525 5266
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