Posted: 24 Aug 2008 at 12:20pm
Hello All,
I have been unable to get my boat in the water this season as we have been busy with travels and hip surgery. At any rate I am wanting to do some modificaitions to safely solo sail next season as my wife has abandoned ship for good. I have looked at several furlers and due to price and the kind of sailing I do am interested in the CDI. Has anyone had good or not so good experiences with this furler? Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
Jack VanZandt
Olympia, WA


Posted: 26 Aug 2008 at 7:00pm
Hi Jack
Your post, an least on my screen, is incomplete.
Ron
webmaster


Posted: 27 Aug 2008 at 12:23pm
Ron,

It appears OK on my screen. Let me know if it continues uncomplete on your screen. Thanks, Jack

Jack VanZandt
Olympia, WA


Posted: 27 Aug 2008 at 5:32pm
Hi Jack
Full post now looks ok. Weird... Marionette does not have a furling jib - I think about it but...
Ron


Posted: 29 Aug 2009 at 10:45pm
Hi Jack!
I installed a 150% genoa on a CDI furler this spring. I'm well satisfied!! My friend Oly and myself installed at dockside. (do at night when you don't have an audiance.) Only lost one pin overboard, and only snanged once trying to thread the front stay.
The directions are clear, and useful if read! Operation, great.
The only difficulty I have expierienced is winding in the sail in extra heavy wind. A little heavier gauge rope on the winding spool would be easier on the hands. Actually more expieriance would have kept me out of that situation! Good luck with your choice!
Les Bailey
Sechelt B.C.
Kapt. Krusty


Posted: 30 Aug 2009 at 5:57pm
Hi Jack

I have a CDI furler on Robin Lee. So far, no complaints whatsoever. The installation went very well, and the function of the unit has been flawless.

Les is right, a heavier furling line is better. I believe CDI recommends a 1/4" line. OUCH. I used 3/8" and it works fine.

I think that the CDI furler is a well engineered product, and a great value.

Erik Evens
Los Angeles, CA
"Robin Lee", Yankee Dolphin #118


Posted: 06 Sep 2009 at 1:31pm
Thanks so much for the feed back. I ended up purchasing a Schaffer furler only because it was on sale making it less expensive than the CDI. It works fine and makes my single handing a much safer and easier experience.
Jack VanZandt
Olympia, WA


Posted: 07 Sep 2009 at 3:17pm
Jack, Krusty and Erik
We have consolidated your posts on a new technical page. Could each of you advise here on the Forum what model/version of your CDI and Schaefer furlers you have? And what you did for the design of your sail? Thanks
Posts from others encouraged
Thanks Webmaster


Posted: 08 Sep 2009 at 1:36pm
Hi Ron

I have the CDI Flexible Furler FF4 on Robin Lee. I purchased my system as part of a package deal, including my new mainsail and a new 135% genoa, from JSI Sails, who is a CDI reseller. My genoa was cut by JSI exactly to fit the furler, and has white UV protection cloth at the foot and leach.

The CDI furler can be user installed without much difficulty. It comes with a complete, illustrated installation manual which is well written and thorough. All my questions were nicely addressed in the manual.

The headfoil for the CDI FF4 is rigid plastic, and comes in a big roll, and you have to unroll it and straighten it before installation. This is pretty easy, but a bit of an awkward task that takes some room to maneuver. Be prepared when you order your furler, because when it arrives, you have to uncoil the foil within a day or so, or you risk a kinked foil. The extruded foil is shipped long, and you cut it to length. Straightening the foil takes a day or so. After that, the installation went very smoothly...a nice afternoon project.

The CDI furler is a rigid-luff system with an integrated halyard, which means that the foil is loaded in compression by the halyard tension, and the entire luff, including head sheave and halyard, rotates when the sail is furled and unfurled. This has advantages and drawbacks.

The biggest advantage is in simplicity. There is no complicated swivelling head component, and this eliminates the biggest hassle of roller-furling: the potential of twisting and fouling the jib halyard.

The associated drawback is that it's difficult to adjust halyard tension on the jib. To do so necessitates a trip to the bow, and the adjustment entails tensioning or loosening a lacing at the foot of the sail. The CDI should not be regarded as a preferred option for racing - adjusting the halyard while under sail is difficult, and should be regarded as an at the dock, set-it-and-forget-it setting. I'm considering replacing the lacing at the foot with a small turning block and a cleat attached to the side of the top of the drum, to make the adjustment a bit easier.

My FF4 unit is NOT ball-raced. It turns on a large Teflon bearing which works beautifully. They offer ball-bearings as an upgrade for an additional $170 or so, but I haven't found any need for them under normal loading.

I've been very pleased with the CDI. It's well engineered, and functions as advertised. As a single-hander, it's a great blessing to be able to come into port and furl the sail away with no worries.

Ron, I'll send some pictures of my installation when I get the chance.

Erik Evens
Los Angeles, CA
"Robin Lee", Yankee Dolphin #118


Posted: 20 Dec 2010 at 1:22pm
I'd be interested to hear how furlers have been working for people, particularly the Schaffer unit. We had a CDI on our Montgomery 17 and were very happy with it, with the exception of the install, which was a pain (50% my fault, 25% the rigger and 25% by design). Which Schaffer model have folks used and how is it working out?

And second, how have folks routed their furling lines to the cockpit?

I had just about gotten the M17's running rigging perfect for single handing when we bought the Dolphin, which is gloriously original. Now I'm starting over and am interested in what other folks have done.

Thanks!