32000 Around the World with Leisure Furl with Jopie Helsen
“When I got the boat (Sky) it had a Stackpack on there and I looked at all the lines up the mast and in the cockpit and I said there’s no way I want all that. I’d had Leisure Furl on two previous boats, and I liked it, so I had a new carbon Leisure Furl installed instead.”
“When you are doing ocean sailing like that, we did 32,000 miles, you want it to be safe, but also easier so you don’t have to have everybody on deck.”
“In the 32,000 miles of ocean sailing we’ve done, the only thing we had to do to the system was to have a new luff tape installed half-way around the world, in Brisbane, Australia.”
“The biggest advantage for us was being able to reef all the way down, especially in the Indian Ocean, where we were down to 3 reefs and a staysail.
“As for reefing the sail downwind, we found out that you don’t need to turn all the way into the wind to reef. All we would do go to a beam reach, drop the traveler down, and over sheet the jib. That would backwind the front of the mainsail enough to take the pressure off the front of the mainsail, allowing us to reef it down without fully turning into the wind and seas.
Of course, reefing the mainsail when dead downwind against the deeply sweptback spreaders popular on modern boats and catamarans is actually dangerous, because you have to drag the sail across the spreaders with force. No matter what mainsail system you have, putting excessive sideways strain on any spreaders, and their bases, is a recipe for a dismasting disaster.
I own a boat yard, and we had a customer who was ready to sell their boat. It was Bristol, nice boat, and I asked him why? He said they were getting too old. I said, if I could show you how to sail that boat by yourself would that help? We installed the Leisure Furl on their boat, and they still have it 12 years later.
The one thing I like about the 57 footer I currently have is I can sail that boat by myself or short-handed because I have Leisure Furl
Every negative thing you ever hear about boom furling is always human error. If it’s set up correctly, and you learn how to use it, you don’t need to worry at all.
If I do it all over again, it will still be a Leisure Furl
“My latest yacht came with a retro-fit Leisure Furl® in-boom reefing system… Three years and several thousand miles on I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
I would remind Leisure Furl® (and relive the hard times) of SKYWAVE passage-making from New Zealand to Fiji in 1995 and of the winds that went from 10 knots to 45 knots in seconds, and how the Leisure Furl® system, in partnership with our Lewmar electric self-tailing winch, handled the situation easily. And I would remind Leisure Furl® of SKYWAVE running down wind and of reducing the mainsail from a full main to a small sail with two deep reefs, also in a matter of seconds. After arrival in Fiji, over a beer at the Royal Suva Yacht, I would have acknowledged that Leisure Furl® has significantly extended my sailing/cruising life.
Thanks to Leisure Furl®, I am no longer exhausted at the end of a passage from having to reef and unreef many times each day on my watch and on Barbara’s watch; I am no longer at risk from having to leave the safety of the cockpit many times each day rather than once each day to check for chafe; and I am able to sail faster and more comfortably because no longer is there any hesitation to reef or unreef-there simply is no work involved in the process-Leisure Furl® does it all. Wrap a line on the winch; open the rope clutch, push a button, and the sail goes up and down-really quite efficient and simple!
When we crossed the Pacific in ’92, I had to leave the cockpit many times each day, during sunshine and black nights, during good weather and bad, and each time during that twenty-five day passage I was a little more exhausted. Leisure Furl® has eliminated all of that!
When friends and family visited us during that first year, it was an effort to go “day sailing”, mainly because I didn’t want to deal with the mainsail. Take the cover off, hoist the mainsail, reef the mainsail, drop the mainsail, fold the mainsail, put the cover back on the mainsail to protect the sail from the sun. Leisure Furl® has eliminated all of that!
Jay Gould (Los Angeles, California)
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From the World
“Too old to be doing this”
This letter is for all of the “older” sailors that think they are getting too old to sail.
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You know, those day’s when you are hoisting the main and you start thinking about buying a trawler. Well, I thought that some day when I get that way I’d do the same thing. By the way, I’m 72 year’s old. My wife, Terry and I bought a brand new Tarten 4100 and equipped it with a Leisure Furl® system made by Forespar. What a great system. It has done to the mainsail what jib furl has done to the jib sail. It’s simple in function and beautifully built. Leisure Furl® has all of the great features that the ads talk about. Until you actually use the system, you don’t realize it’s true value. Several weeks ago my knee went out and there wasn’t any way I could function on the new sailboat. Well, my wife decided that this shouldn’t stop us. So off we went. She, weighing in at about 110 lbs. against over 900 square feet of sail was going to take me sailing. Well, that’s what she did. I was useless. We have a great sail and continue to sail while my knee heals after surgery. So all you people that say it’s too hard to sail, try thinking about the boom furl. In the long run it’s cheaper than buying a trawler and a lot nicer.
In August I went to a Boom Furl Rendezvous at New Bedford Yacht Club that was hosted by Forespar and other marine equipment manufactures. There I meet some great people. We sailed on other boats that had Boom Furling and was shown some neat tricks in handling my system. Bill Mosher, Alan Massey and Tom Peelen were really great. I can’t say enough about the good customer follow up that they demonstrated. I learned a lot and had a great time.
Keep Sailing,
Gus Sclafani (Northport, NY)
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Alan,
I want to write and thank you wholeheartedly for the rigging knife and sail bag you sent me upon my purchase of your Leisure Furl® system.
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The system operated error free on my Sabre 426 from the start…in calm weather and winds gusting to over 30 knots. Even when I mistook the topping line for the main halyard I was able to reset the boom position relative to the mast with ease to prevent binding when furling. You have a spectacular system and would recommend it without question to any prospective client.
William W. Burnham
Chairman and Director, Corporate Development
Trudy Corporation d/b/a Soundprints & Studio Mouse
Norwalk, Connecticut 06851 USA
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Hello Peter,
I am sending you this note, to let you know, how pleased I am with the Forespar boom furling system.
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I just came back from Hungary where I used the system a lot. It performed very well all the time, just as you said it would I also wanted you to know how pleased I am with the help/assistance you and Bill gave me with the shipping and the installation process. Everything went great.
Sincerely,
Imre Berecz
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Dear Bill,
wanted to write you a thank you note for the products we have on our 2006 Catalina 440.
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Primarily I wanted to let you know how the Leisure Furl® has worked over our now 14,500 mile journey which includes sailing through the Roaring Forties of the southern Pacific off the Chilean coast.
The option to have a Leisure Furl® was one primarily of cost in the beginning, but now we see this as a safety feature not a convenience or performance option. While the fully battened main does make the boat sail better under all conditions the biggest advantage is being able to reef quickly and easily. Our boat carries a 3 year old and a 6 year old which means there is only one person driving the boat most of the time. In gale force winds we can reduce sail, maintain speed and reduce heal keeping everyone smiling during our more than 50 overnight sails in the past 18 months.
All things on boat break, but since Tony did his tune up on our rig we our Leisure Furl® has worked flawlessly in all conditions. One of the advantages we did not anticipate was the wear on our mainsail. Our mainsail looks near new and with very little wear on the stitching despite the fact this sail has been up and down hundreds of times. Surprises like this are always welcome as we are a budget oriented sailing family.
Thank you for all your efforts to make this affordable. I think most sailors think of this system as only for the Hylas, Morris’, Hinkley’s, but it’s not just for show, it really works even 2200 miles offshore when things have to work. Our ‘price point’ point Catalina is the envy of all the Swan’s and Halberg Rossy’s we have run into here in southern Chile who look at our rig with a quite awe. Little do they know it’s a bargain.
We have a big year coming up, 9,400 more miles by December 1st. I’m sure we will have lots of things to fix, but we are confident that our Leisure Furl® system will work great no matter what mother nature has to throw at us.
Best Regards,
Glenn Maddox, S/V Red Thread, Catalina 440 #33
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As recreational day sailors and occasional cruisers of the California Coast and Channel Islands, we wanted to thank you for our Leisure Furl® system.
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We have used your system 4-5 times a week for the last 1 1/2 years and it has been infallible. It has worked to perfection. We feel safe and secure, even when we get caught in conditions over our heads, and in any circumstance, the convenience is always to be enjoyed.
I have often thought, suppose my doctors were to say to me, “We can do this heart operation that costs 10 to 15,000 dollars and you will be able to sail for another 20 years”. I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute.
I feel that in addition to safety and convenience, Leisure Furl® can take the place of bum-tickers, worn out cartilage in our joints, muscular strength that just isn’t there any more and extend our lives in an activity that is so enjoyable, we never want to quit doing it.
Best wishes,
Tom and Elaine Jackson (Port Huenema, California)
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Our Leisure Furl® Coastal, in boom, mainsail-furling system has been installed on our Catalina 30 for approximately six months now.
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We could not be more pleased. The system has worked flawlessly from the day it was installed. It has given us the confidence to sail short-handed in conditions where we would have hesitated with a conventional reefing system. My wife especially likes not having to deal with the sail ties and the dirty mainsail cover.
The design, engineering and production quality of the Leisure Furl® Coastal system is better than other systems that we looked at.
Sincerely.
William E. Garrett, Jr., CPM
President Inter pacific Asset Management
Westminster, California
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The Leisure Furl® system on the new Apogee 58 “Sea Leaf” has been a resounding success.
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Hi Fritz,I couldn’t be happier with the Leisure Furl® and the rig you built. Quality work all the way around. I love it!
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And thanks again for taking the time to explain how it all works. Your clarity and patience are much appreciated and the red spot is a God send. I am passing on your good information to anyone who steps aboard as most folks don’t know the intricacies of that system, which once mastered, is the best.
Take care,
Tim
To the wonderful folks at Forespar:
Leisure Furl® brought back the fun of sailing.
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The big main on our prior boat, a Sabre 42, was getting too much for just my wife, Kathy, and I to handle. I took a chance and had Chuck Poindexter’s Sound Rigging install a Leisure Furl® boom. The resultant ease of handling our main reignited our love of sailing. It eliminated the “tension convention” associated with reefing and dousing the big main on the Sabre.
With our new confidence in hand and in anticipation of retiring and spending more time on the water, Kathy and I started looking for a new and larger boat. With the help of Bob Snyder and Howard Taylor of Dodson Boat yard in Stonington CT, we found our dream yacht, a Hinckley So’Wester 51, that did not have an in mast furling main. We bought her in 2005 in Newport Beach, CA. We trucked her back to Dodsons and began a major refit. Once again Chuck installed a Leisure Furl® boom. UK Halsey made us new sails. And the dream stays alive.
Being able to readily furl both the main and the genoa means we do it sooner, which keeps us in control and in the cockpit.
Thanks to Leisure Furl® we have had many more days and weeks of sailing – cruised to new places and met new friends.
Sincerely,
Emmett and Kathy Harty (REGULUS)
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Bill,
My wife and I took delivery of our 48′ Tayana, Hokulani. Early in November we began our cruise to Mexico. Read More Over the next two seasons we put over 7,500 miles traveling as far south as Acapulco and north into the Sea of Cortez (including the “Bash” home each year). Our Leisure Furl® system worked perfectly. For the most part, it was just the two of us on board. The comfort of being able to raise, lower and reef the main sail from the safety of the cockpit really put our minds as easy no matter the time of day or sea conditions. To be able to easily handle the full batten main and maintain efficiency on all points of sail added to our cruising experience. We have had absolutely no wear, chafe or jamming problems. I highly recommend the Leisure Furl® system.
Don Cole, S/V Hokulani
“This may be the smallest boat (26′ Chrysler-1978) that you have ever put one on. I hope that I have the record! I did it because I sail single-handed a lot and I can control everything from the cockpit without having to go forward. When I go out, I can set the sails in 5 minutes or less with no problem. It’s great for me!”
Richard McGann
If this long overdue letter was written to the “product” LEISURE FURL®, rather than the developer/seller, I would begin by thanking Leisure Furl® for being there and operating “above and beyond the call of duty” during times of turmoil and stress.
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It actually works in all kinds of conditions; the sail looks perfect and even Mrs. Leaf is now perfectly comfortable reefing on her own! I am happy to report that two major articles have been written and will be published in upcoming issues of SAIL and YACHTING magazines. Unfortunately, scheduling made it impossible to get the boat to Annapolis for the boat show which starts later this week.
