Gary Peterson
Marine Guy
Charles,
I am not too familier with these three brands but I am partial to Harken - IMHO - when the wind picks up and I need to have trust in my furler to work easily and safely.
My opinion only!!
Gary Peterson
E381 QUIXOTIC # 507
I am not too familier with these three brands but I am partial to Harken - IMHO - when the wind picks up and I need to have trust in my furler to work easily and safely.
My opinion only!!
Gary Peterson
E381 QUIXOTIC # 507
Eeeeak
I have worked with all of these and find that they are a false economy. All three are prone to interesting failures, and are viewed as a liability at sale time, and sail time.
Harken, or Schaefer are really good units. You generally get what you pay for in this particular piece of gear.
Guy
I have worked with all of these and find that they are a false economy. All three are prone to interesting failures, and are viewed as a liability at sale time, and sail time.
Harken, or Schaefer are really good units. You generally get what you pay for in this particular piece of gear.
Guy
treilley
Sustaining Partner
I put a Furlex on my 35 and am very happy with it. You really should not be considering economy brands for a 32 ft. boat. Buy a Harkin, Profurl, Furlex, etc...or similar quality. There is a reason why those others cost less and you get what you pay for. Cost of ownership is a long term calculation and in the long term you will be more satisfied(both performance and cost) with a better unit. That is why you bought an Ericson in the first place. Otherwise you would be sailing a Macgregor
I have a Profurl so thats what I have experience with. Its a very nice piece and works flawlessly. There are some other notable offshore sailors who also like them. I don't see how you can go terribly wrong if you stick with a major player; Profurl, Harken, Schaefer, etc. RT
Mort Fligelman
Member III
Charles:
FWIW, I have to echo the refrain.......you will get what you pay for.....My sailmaker in Chicago insisted that I go with the Furlex on my Seidelmann 299, and it worked beautifully.....
There is a Harken on my E35-3......When I had a well known rigger in the south Florida area do my backstay adjuster I mentioned in passing that I wished the boat had come with a Furlex.......his comment...."all you have to do to the Harken is keep it well washed......the Furlex will go away if it is not kept properly lubed......
Again....FWIW
Mort Fligelman
Acapella
E35-3 1987
Boca Raton, FL
FWIW, I have to echo the refrain.......you will get what you pay for.....My sailmaker in Chicago insisted that I go with the Furlex on my Seidelmann 299, and it worked beautifully.....
There is a Harken on my E35-3......When I had a well known rigger in the south Florida area do my backstay adjuster I mentioned in passing that I wished the boat had come with a Furlex.......his comment...."all you have to do to the Harken is keep it well washed......the Furlex will go away if it is not kept properly lubed......
Again....FWIW
Mort Fligelman
Acapella
E35-3 1987
Boca Raton, FL
They don't get much press, but don't overlook the Hood SeaFurl 5. This is significantly redesigned from their older units, and received a very positive review from Practical Sailor a few years back. The units are very competitively priced from Defender and have a lifetime warranty:
http://http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|77896|299747&id=123968
Here's a quote from the Practical Sailor review,
"To see firsthand how it worked, we installed an early Sea Furl 5 on our test boat, Viva, last year, and were impressed with its quality and ease of furling, even under load. Prices have been reduced from the 2325/3250 models so that the Sea Furl 5 now is extremely competitive. The warranty is lifetime to the original owner.
The new Hood Sea Furl 5 is a significant improvement over the older Sea Furl 2325/3250 units and it is priced very attractively. In combination with its lifetime warranty to original buyer, it may represent the best value. We would not consider the Hood Line Drive of SL series for mid-to larger-size boats because they lack features we think are important"
and you can read the whole thing here:
http://www.pompanette.com/pompweb.n...a0b57f9dadd1b335852567b30060fb9a?OpenDocument
I've been using one of these units on Emerald for several years now, and love it.
Just another opinion, and worth what you paid
http://http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|77896|299747&id=123968
Here's a quote from the Practical Sailor review,
"To see firsthand how it worked, we installed an early Sea Furl 5 on our test boat, Viva, last year, and were impressed with its quality and ease of furling, even under load. Prices have been reduced from the 2325/3250 models so that the Sea Furl 5 now is extremely competitive. The warranty is lifetime to the original owner.
The new Hood Sea Furl 5 is a significant improvement over the older Sea Furl 2325/3250 units and it is priced very attractively. In combination with its lifetime warranty to original buyer, it may represent the best value. We would not consider the Hood Line Drive of SL series for mid-to larger-size boats because they lack features we think are important"
and you can read the whole thing here:
http://www.pompanette.com/pompweb.n...a0b57f9dadd1b335852567b30060fb9a?OpenDocument
I've been using one of these units on Emerald for several years now, and love it.
Just another opinion, and worth what you paid
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Buying an affordable furler.
Charles, Don't rule out buying a used upper end furler. I have two Harken units on my boat, a #1 & a #0 and found the #0 used by digging around (the #1 came with the boat). At the time I was told that I'd never find one used which I simply took as a challenge. The bottom line is that there are used units out there and if you look for a high end used one, chances are that they'll either be in excellent shape or need few if any readily available parts. As it turned out, the used one I bought ($400.00 as I recall) was in perfect shape and even now after many, many years, it still performs flawlessly. Begin your search by visiting the Consignment list at the Good Old Boat Magazine on-line site but don't rule out a thorough local search as well, the latter being how I got mine. With most things I buy regardless of application, I use as my guiding principle that I buy the best for the job because I only want to buy it once. So in your case, consider buying a good used unit and you'll probably only buy that one and not have to replace a lesser one on down the road. Good luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
Charles, Don't rule out buying a used upper end furler. I have two Harken units on my boat, a #1 & a #0 and found the #0 used by digging around (the #1 came with the boat). At the time I was told that I'd never find one used which I simply took as a challenge. The bottom line is that there are used units out there and if you look for a high end used one, chances are that they'll either be in excellent shape or need few if any readily available parts. As it turned out, the used one I bought ($400.00 as I recall) was in perfect shape and even now after many, many years, it still performs flawlessly. Begin your search by visiting the Consignment list at the Good Old Boat Magazine on-line site but don't rule out a thorough local search as well, the latter being how I got mine. With most things I buy regardless of application, I use as my guiding principle that I buy the best for the job because I only want to buy it once. So in your case, consider buying a good used unit and you'll probably only buy that one and not have to replace a lesser one on down the road. Good luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
chtaylor
Member II
Convinced!!
Thanks to all of you for your insights. You have convinced me that I will be better off spending more for a better product. So now I'm trying to decide between Profurl and Harken. I am leaning toward Profurl because I have always heard good things about it. I had a Hood on a previous boat (Hunter 33) and had trouble with it. I have ruled out Schaefer since it seems to be much higher in price than the others.
Thanks again,
Charles
Thanks to all of you for your insights. You have convinced me that I will be better off spending more for a better product. So now I'm trying to decide between Profurl and Harken. I am leaning toward Profurl because I have always heard good things about it. I had a Hood on a previous boat (Hunter 33) and had trouble with it. I have ruled out Schaefer since it seems to be much higher in price than the others.
Thanks again,
Charles
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RE: Convinced!!
Charles, First of all my wife reminded me that I paid $750.00 for the #0 Harken furler, not $400.00, sorry for the low ball price before (mental pause on my part I guess), but even at $750.00 it was quite a fair price. Secondly, something that you might want to consider when choosing a furler is uniformity of parts on deck. By that I mean that aesthetics are just as important to me as function so I choose to find another Harken unit because there was one already on the boat. Not only that but I then slowly replaced all the mismatched and cheap deck hardware on the boat with all Harken gear, something to consider in your decision of what brand to buy. Everything on the boat is now harken except for the original four bronze #16 Barlow winches and the two bronze #23, 2-speed, self tailing Barlow primaries. Regards, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
Charles, First of all my wife reminded me that I paid $750.00 for the #0 Harken furler, not $400.00, sorry for the low ball price before (mental pause on my part I guess), but even at $750.00 it was quite a fair price. Secondly, something that you might want to consider when choosing a furler is uniformity of parts on deck. By that I mean that aesthetics are just as important to me as function so I choose to find another Harken unit because there was one already on the boat. Not only that but I then slowly replaced all the mismatched and cheap deck hardware on the boat with all Harken gear, something to consider in your decision of what brand to buy. Everything on the boat is now harken except for the original four bronze #16 Barlow winches and the two bronze #23, 2-speed, self tailing Barlow primaries. Regards, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
Steve Murray
Inactive Member
Charles,
I purchased and installed the Flexible Furler on my previous 29' boat. What you gain in simplicity, you lose in sail control, weight and sail shape. The 35 III I purchased last year has a Harken unit and I notice a real difference in furled sail shape as well as friction in the drum. I think 28-29 feet is the upper limit for the CDI unit since the foil begins to twist and deform when furling or reefing in higher winds (or just when you need it the most).
Steve Murray
E 35 III 222
Charlottetown, PEI
I purchased and installed the Flexible Furler on my previous 29' boat. What you gain in simplicity, you lose in sail control, weight and sail shape. The 35 III I purchased last year has a Harken unit and I notice a real difference in furled sail shape as well as friction in the drum. I think 28-29 feet is the upper limit for the CDI unit since the foil begins to twist and deform when furling or reefing in higher winds (or just when you need it the most).
Steve Murray
E 35 III 222
Charlottetown, PEI