Need guidance on how to rig a furling mainsail

[Chip G]

Well, I took the plunge and am now the proud owner of a G30. I am eager to take her for a sale but need some advice/guidance on rigging the sales. I have done a little bit of sailing in the past and am familiar with rigging sails. However, I have never run into a furling mainsail and don't really know how to use this particular rigging. Fortunately for me, the boat came with standard main, jib, and genoa as well as a furling main and jib. I think I am comfortable with the standard sail rigging but need some help in figuring out how to rig the furling jib and main. Was this a standard design for the 1974 G30? Anyone know of a website with pictures and guidance on how to rig this puppy?Thanks!Chip

[Ellis Rogers]

Which type of furling system do you have? In mast or in boom? Or is it a Dutchman system?Ellis

[jimq26]

You should find answers there. Grampian had boom roller furling for the main in the old days. You could also order genoa furling as an option.

[Chip]

Thank you for your reply. I am pretty new to this kind of thing so please forgive me if I am not providing sufficient information and feel free to ask if any further details will help. There appear to be two separate methods for possible furling of the main and one method for furling the Jib.Main Method #1:It appears that there is a roller attached at the tack of the mainsail. When the line attached to the main and rolled on the roller is rotated, the mainsail could roll up on itself to result in a sail that is one tall vertical roll of sail.Main Method #2:The boom appears that it could rotate to cause the mainsail to roll up on the boom itself. It looks like there could be some specially shaped "key" to put in a slot that is at the forward end of the boom. I am guessing that the rolling part of the boom could rotate if I had the right "key" to rotate it. I don't really know what type or brand of furling main this is but would love to find out.Jib:There is a roller at the bow of the boat just behind the mainstay. The furling jib has a very rigid luff edge... probably a wire inside the luff edge. It looks like there should be some type of rolling attachment at the head of the jib but there is just an eye for attachement of the head at this point. I think there must be a piece missing but I am not really sure.Thank you again,Chip

[jimq26]

The boom rotates (operated by a hand crank with a 3/8" x 3/8" square end) and the mainsail winds around the boom. This is an old fashioned way of reefing the main, and has long gone out of style. Nearly everyone now uses jiffy reefing. You could never get any reasonable sail shape with roller reefing. It's easy to install jiffy reefing, and you can still use your existing boom.The hand crank used for rotating the boom was custom made by Grampian. I have one sitting in front of me at the moment, and of course have no need for it anymore. Interested???Cheers,

[Chip]

Thanks JimQ. I would like to converse with you directly on the topic of the roller furling boom key. Please e-mail me at chipg_98 AT yahoo DOT com if you don't mind.Thanks again!Chip