Furling Jib Installed

It’s been a while since my last post…but fear not, the blog and the ultimate goal, has not been abandoned! 🙂

I’ve had a busy summer in my personal life and as a result I haven’t spent as much time sailing and working on the boat as I used to. I have been working on a couple projects, though. One of those projects was installing the roller furling jib.

This furling jib was in a storage locker under the starboard berth and remained there until recently. The prior owner told me about it when I purchased the boat and said it had never been installed, so he didn’t know the condition.

With the help of a fellow Hunter 25 friend who occupies the slip next to me, I decided to install the furling jib. The jib was fairly easy to install. It’s the style that uses the forestay as a guide and the jib halyard to haul it. Total installation time was less than 30 minutes! I ran the furling line along the starboard side to a cam-cleat that was already installed.

After unfurling the jib for the first time, I discovered the sail is in very good condition, with only a few very minor pinholes. As expected, there was some rust staining on the sail, but other than that the sail and the furling equipment is in great condition.

The only issue I have right now is that the jib sheets are of a larger diameter than I need or want, so I’ll be changing those out in time.

Obviously, this setup will help greatly with single-handed sailing, so I’m looking forward to getting out soon and getting some wind in the new [to me] furling jib.

Here’s some photos of the jib, furled and unfurled.

Furling Jib Installed

Sail unfurled

Sail unfurled

The sail tack, unfurled. Notice rusting from being stored.

The sail clew, unfurled.