Hi Arnold, When adding a furling system to our M17 I gave careful consideration to the Harken system as well. It has the advantage of being able to tension the luff. Best I recall (others will correct me if I am wrong) you will need to modify the luff of you jib, as the hanks won't work with either the Harken or CDI furling systems. Both systems use a plastic extrusion into which the luff of the jib feeds, much like a bolt-rope mainsail feeds into the mast. As you furl the sail it wraps around the luff extrusion. (They call it an extrusion, but it is made of plastic)
In addition, the luff needs to have padding strategically added in order for the sail to wind evenly over the extrusion as you furl it to a smaller size. Foam and rope are used to pad the first several inches of the luff. This greatly helps the sail keep good shape while furled. We argue amongst ourselves, but the general conscience among those I sail with is the furling headsails on an M17's are useful from around 90% to about 155%. (we argue over the 90% value!) One thing that caught my attention regarding the Harken system is the system is not meant to be trailered fully assembled. The literature at the time (~ 2 years ago) said the furling drum needed to be removed for trailering. It is a very nice systems and similarly priced to the CDI. I went with the CDI and have been very happy with it; turns out the luff tension was not as big of an issue as I supposed, as the luff is very stiff due to the boltrope and padding. I would say the Harken and CDI are the two most popular furling systems for small boats. Randy Graves M17 #410 ________________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Arnold Sharpe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:50 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: M_Boats: M-17 FURLING HEADSAIL Fellow sailors, I am considering a furling headsail system for my M-17 "Little Breeze". I was looking at the "Harken" small boat setups but one thing is not quite clear to me will I need to replace my existing jib or find someway to seize it to the forestay? Additionally, I enjoy flying my 180 Drifter in light winds, will this system make that impossible unless I install dual forestays. Any help would be appreciated. When I bought the boat it came with a spinaker which I have never used and never will, any idea how much I should ask for it on Craigslist? Regards...Arnold Sharpe...M-17 #265..."LITTLE BREEZE" _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
