Buyer's Guide
If you’re in the market for a new Oyster or an X-Yachts, you’re more likely to spec a furling mainsail than not these days. Easing the task of setting, reefing or stowing the main can extend your sailing years and simplify shorthanded sailing.
“It used to be on the 50-plus-footers, but we have been selling more and more on the smaller 40+ and even a 34 footer,” says Stuart Abernethy of X-Yachts UK. “We also retro fit two to three per year to yachts we look after – becoming more and more popular for the new trend of shorterhanded sailing, keeping the process of sailing less physical.”
Selden supplies a popular in-mast system, and MD Steve Norbury cites the example of a pair of identical Hallberg Rassy 42s on a passage race. One had slab reefing, the other had in-mast furling, and this boat won by a clear margin. “People with these systems reef a lot more,” says Norbury. “With slab reefing, you decide what the wind’s doing at Hamble Point and set for the day!”
Boom or mast?
Technology has naturally improved and become more reliable, but the basic debate hasn’t changed: is it better to opt for a system that furls the main vertically around a roller inside the mast, or rolls it horizontally around the boom?
“The majority of Oyster owners opt for an in-mast
