My boat came with the Snapfurl CF500 Furler and a brand new headsail. Never really being a fan of furlers I never really took much notice of the brand of furler and assumed it was a cheap arse cheapie and I would put hanks on the new sail and get rid of it.
So last night I do some research on the Snapfurl and find it has been designed for smaller yachts has very good bearings and retails for over $2000 here in Australia, REALLY are these things that expensive? I am now in a dilemma stay with the furler as it's all functioning or go ahead and get rid of it .
The foil which snaps on to the forestay I assume will be damaged When taking off and no good,
but the drum and swivel will be still good these are popular with trailer yachts any suggestions?

Stick with the furler. If you ever have a problem then think about downgrading but I'm sure you will become a convert.

If you sail much solo you'll pretty quickly come around.

But if not, you should be able to remove the foils without terminal damage. I recently removed my very old Plastimo, and while the drum was stuffed the foils could easily be reused (I did in fact reuse one section). Even if there is some damage to the ends, they are aluminium and easy to smooth and drill new holes for re-rivetting. Main problem would be if they are not straight.

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wongaga said..
If you sail much solo you'll pretty quickly come around.

But if not, you should be able to remove the foils without terminal damage. I recently removed my very old Plastimo, and while the drum was stuffed the foils could easily be reused (I did in fact reuse one section). Even if there is some damage to the ends, they are aluminium and easy to smooth and drill new holes for re-rivetting. Main problem would be if they are not straight.

Snap furl has plastic foil snaps onto head stay have a look at this video

Ok, new one to me. Even better, no corrosion.

I've often come across Schaefer gear online and my impression is that its high quality, so that's a win for you. Having a plastic foil is interesting and saves a lot of weight up forward, and that's not a bad thing. Do you change headsails much? I'd suck it and see, I'm very happy with my furler set up, especially for solo.

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2bish said..
I've often come across Schaefer gear online and my impression is that its high quality, so that's a win for you. Having a plastic foil is interesting and saves a lot of weight up forward, and that's not a bad thing. Do you change headsails much? I'd suck it and see, I'm very happy with my furler set up, especially for solo.

Having now used the furler it doesn't take long to get slack with the convenience of furling so easy.
but I still like the shape of individual sails way more than the furler and less complication with moving parts.

Great, I guess you've solved your quandary then. Ditch it - being good quality, you should be able to sell it easily and cover the costs of setting up your sails for hanking.

Zzzz does the head sail have foam luff battens ? They help maintain a reasonable furled shape.

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woko said..
Zzzz does the head sail have foam luff battens ? They help maintain a reasonable furled shape.

Hi Woko no it doesn't , nice thought

Great units for small boats!
The only time I've had foil breaking issues is from the foil being coiled up too tight.

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rumblefish said..
Great units for small boats!
The only time I've had foil breaking issues is from the foil being coiled up too tight.

I am leaning towards selling it I think , just have to find some good second hand hanked sails

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Ramona said..
Stick with the furler. If you ever have a problem then think about downgrading but I'm sure you will become a convert.

Thanks Romona logic says to keep it