UPDATE YOUR BOAT ON A BUDGET
1 FURLING DOWNWIND SAILS
Furling offwind sails save handling a large sail from the foredeck, while boosting light airs performance. Most systems have a torsion luff rope, though some new sails don’t need this. Cruising chutes are generally furled top down, and flatter-cut Code Zeros have fixed luffs. A Code Zero fills the gap between white sails and cruising chute and provides extra power when sailing closer to the wind.
2 BOWSPRITS aren’t just for racing boats and are useful for setting furling downwind sails clear of the pulpit and guardrails. It’s easy enough to fit a retractable or removable sprit. Watch out for unsupported length though; any more than 18in (barely enough to clear some older raked pulpits) and you’ll need a bobstay to secure it against the luff tension. A Dyneema line tied through the anchor locker drain holes is one solution.
3 FURLING FAIRLEADS
Keeping friction to a minimum will reduce effort and stress on board.
Low-friction furling fairleadsn – single for conventional furling and double for continuous line furling – are available and while they have a little more friction than sheaved fairleads, there is less to go wrong,
