Dave Barker explains the Bartels genoa furling/reefing system

Dave Barker takes a close look at the Bartelsgenoa reefing systemMany Wayfarer sailors have recognized thepotential advantages of jib/genoa furlingsystems, and some have taken the furtherstep of investing in reefing furler systems.(The principal difference between the twois a reefing spar fitted at the luff (leadingedge) of the sail.) Typically a purely furlingsystem enables the sail to be used either fullyunfurled or fully furled (‘on’ or ‘off’). Anythingin between risks having the upper part of thegenoa unfurl in the breeze, which would bedisconcerting and potentially dangerous. Bycontrast the reefing system allows any fractionof the sail (or all of it) to be furled away(‘continuously variable’), with the spar preventingthe upper part of the sail from unfurling.This means that within seconds a singlesail can be reduced in area from a full genoato the equivalent of a jib, or even a storm jib,or nothing at all, and anything in between.For owners without a full set of cruising sailsthis could represent a significant financialsaving compared to the cost of buying separategenoa, jib etc., partially offsetting theinitial cost of the reefing system.The Bartels systemOne particular reefing system is that made bythe German firm Bartels (www.bartelsgmbh.de), which a number of Wayfarer sailors(including me) have now purchased. Therehave been sufficient enquiries made to existingowners about this to suggest that a shortarticle about the Bartels system might be ofinterest and would perhaps answer some ofthe questions that prospective new ownersmight have. I make no apology for strayingoccasionally from analysis to opinion, asthis article has been written based on myexperience over the past two seasons as anowner. I will examine the various componentsof the system in turn:The Furling DrumThis is a high quality component, madeentirely from stainless steel. It is almostcompletely enclosed, so there is no risk ofloose turns from the furling line droppingout and becoming tangled. (Arguably ridingturns could be hidden within the drumand therefore be more difficult to untanglethan with some of the cage-type drums; inpractice I have never known this to happen.)The bearings seem to be of high quality,and the variant supplied for Wayfarers has a“collapse load” of 20kN or about 2 tonnes.Apparently Bartels feel that the bearingsrun more smoothly under loading, but theyseem fine even without. It may be worthmentioning that this furling drum could beused in a non-reefing furling system, perhapswith a view to upgrading to full reefing infuture (when your sails eventually need to bereplaced, for example.)The drum is attached to the bow fitting by aclevis pin. The exact arrangement dependsupon the type of bow fitting. Mine is the twopartchannel type; I have added a (modified)shroud adjuster (see photo) to extend therange of possible attachment points for thefurling drum as well as the painter.The Spar/FoilThe luff spar/foil is actually a two-partaluminium ‘aerofoil’ section. The front partis just 16mm across at its widest pointand is hollow in the centre to house thesupplied forestay, which is enclosed in aplastic sleeve, thus isolating it from the spar,avoiding galvanic corrosion, and maintaininga tight fit, which also contributes to theoverall stiffness of the spar. The rear part ofthe spar slides into the front part and has aconcave slot at the back to hold the leadingedge of the sail. When fully assembled thetwo sections of the spar together measure23.5mm from front to back. The slim natureof the spar and its aerofoil section shouldhelp to minimise any loss of performancecompared with a conventional sail.At the lower end of the spar there is acut-out to allow the sail to be fed into theluff groove, and ateach end a sort ofcap fits over the endof the spar. The sail isattached at the headand the tack by a smallring welded to eachof these end caps.This is illustrated in thephoto (below), whichshows the top of thespar, the end cap(with black rope attaching the sail to the ring)and the top swivel separated for clarity.A robust clevis pin passes through the endcap, forestay terminal and top swivel. Thesupplied length of the spar (over 4500mm) ismore than adequate for a Wayfarer genoa,but there is still plenty of room between thegenoa halyard mast sheave and the topof the spar. This is the gap that would bespanned by a safety wire, if fitted.Incidentally, the aluminium profile only comesin lengths up to 2m, so obviously the sparhas to be supplied in several lengths. Theyare pre-cut to the exact total length requiredto match the supplied forestay, and cannotbe shortened without replacing the forestay.38wayfarer news WINTER 2008 ISSUE 114

The Top SwivelAgain this is a high quality component, withsmooth running bearings (even without loadin my experience) and a ‘collapse load’equivalent to the drum, i.e. 20kN. The swivelfits between the top of the spar and the endof the genoa halyard, and has a generoussizedoval ring to which the halyard can beattached with a shackle etc. in the usualway. (The swivel allows the sail to be furledor unfurled without introducing twists intoOther factors to discuss with your sailmakerinclude:-1. Compensating for the unusually high tackposition caused by the furling drum.2. A shaped lightweight foam insert sewn behindthe bolt rope to help take up the fullnessfrom the middle of the sail when it is partlyor fully furled. I decided to try such an insertand duly specified this when getting a newgenoa made, but it has not been a total sucthehalyard.) A good quality swivel is importantin any furling or reefing system, butsome of the cheaper versions are not reallyup to the job and tend not to work properlyunder load. This one is engineered to workwell under load, and does so. As with thedrum, the swivel supplied in this systemcould be used as part of a non-reefingfurling system with a view to a subsequentupgrade.The ForestayArguably one of the biggest advantagesof this sort of system is the fact that theforestay is enclosed by the luff spar (asdiscussed previously). This removes asignificant potential cause of frustration,namely the tendency for the foresail tobecome wrapped around the (separate)forestay when furling the sail. A numberof well-publicised techniques have beendeveloped down the years to minimise thisrisk, but surely none is more effective thancompletely enclosing the stay.Seasoned cruisers will already have spottedthe possible flaw in this argument,namely the absence of a separate forestayshould anything unfortunate happen to thedrum, the enclosed stay, swivel, shackle orhalyard. However I should mention at thispoint that the wire used for the forestayis 4mm in diameter rather than the 3mmkind normally used as Wayfarer genoa luffwire, so the cross-sectional area is almostdouble that of the usual stay wire. This, andthe high specification of the drum and swivel,significantly reduces the chance of failure, soit could be argued that there is no need for aseparate stay.The halyard, however, is more vulnerable,and not just to the possibility of breakage;there is also the potential for it to be releasedaccidentally or absent-mindedly, so a ‘safetywire’ between (say) the forestay attachmentpoint on the mast and the oval ring on thetop swivel has been proposed as a sensibleprecaution. If the spinnaker halyard is notrequired while sailing this could take theplace of the safety wire, and has the advantagethat it can be adjusted or even releasedwithout taking the mast down. Better stilla dedicated halyard would have the sameadvantages and would leave the spinnakerhalyard free for the spinnaker, whilst afloat,and for hoisting a genoa UV cover when notafloat. Some may feel that there is no need toworry about a backup of any sort; after all werely on just one shroud on each side of theboat, with no backup. This is the sort of decisionthat has to be made individually by eachowner, taking into account the sort of sailingundertaken and the possible consequencesof gear failure.[The remaining components are not suppliedby Bartels, but for our purposes need to beconsidered as part of the same system:The SailAs mentioned, the genoa fits onto the sparby means of a concave groove in the back ofthe aluminium section. The sail needs to havea luff rope (bolt rope) of suitable diametersewn into the leading edge rather than theusual luff wire. The groove has a maximumdiameter of 5mm within the extrusion, whichdictates the bolt rope diameter, (not forgettingto allow for the thickness of the sailclotharound it). A good sailmaker will be able toconvert an existing sail, although this maynot furl as neatly as one designed for thepurpose; this is because the standard sail islikely to be cut too ‘full’ to roll neatly aroundthe spar, free from creases. A purpose-madesail can be cut flatter than usual, and canhave the other modifications to the head andtack, such as the addition of tape loops (below)or cringles for sail attachment ‘designedin’ from the start.I originally requested cringles for attachingthe sail to the spar, but the sailmaker (MikeMcNamara) was very reluctant to use thismethod, preferring to use tape loops (mainlybecause they are flexible, I think). Because Ileave the sail on the spar virtually all the time,this works well. The lower tape loop is tiedclosely to the lower end cap ring, with strong2- 3mm line. The upper loop (at the headof the sail) is attached to the upper end capring, and pulled just tight enough to take theslack out of the sail’s luff without introducingany vertical creases, before being tied off. IfI wanted to adjust the luff tension regularly,it would be necessary to shorten the uppertie a little to leave room for this adjustmentat the lower luff. (It is important to rememberthat luff tension and rig tension are entirelyseparate parameters.)An alternative method (which I would guesswould work better with cringles than tapeloops) would be to fix the lower luff (tack) anduse a halyard passing through the upper endcap ring to raise the sail and maintain/adjustthe luff tension. This would have the advantageof ease of adjustment, and would makeit possible to remove the sail independentlyof the spar, even afloat if necessary, makingthe sail potentially available as a trysail, asdescribed elsewhere. (This kind of genoa isparticularly suitable as a trysail because italready has a luff/bolt rope, which can be slidinto the mast groove.)39Find all the latest news at www.wayfarer.org.uk

cess, having taken on a permanent curveacross its width (from being furled away inthe same direction for so much of the time).This disrupts the airflow just behind the luff,particularly on port tack, and makes the telltalesappear to lift more or less constantly.(It would be simple enough to remove thefoam – it’s held in place by a sort of ‘blister’or patch of extra sailcloth (below), whichcould be unpicked and removed.) Thisproblem seems to relate to certain types offoam, as others have reported no curvature,even after several years.The Sail CoverIf you are likely to leave the genoa and sparrigged on the boat for more than a fewdays it is important to protect the exposedparts of the sail from UV and wind damage.I suppose it would be possible to have asacrificial strip fitted to the leech as is oftenthe case with yachts, but this fairly quicklystarts to become tatty, and is still visiblewhen sailing the boat. A separate cover canbe hoisted into position using the spinnakerhalyard (as mentioned previously), and willideally be made from a breathable materialsimilar to some types of boat cover. The sailcover doesn’t need to be much more than along tube with either a full-length zip or velcroto enable it to be fitted around the furledsail in situ. If using a zip remember to attachthe cover with the zip closing downwards!My cover has three webbing straps (white inphoto) around its girth, one at each end andone in the middle. There also needs to bea means of attaching the halyard at the topand a tie-down at the bottom.A good sailmaker should be able to makesuch a sail cover for a very reasonable price.I recommend dark blue as it doesn’t showthe dirt!Transporting & handling the sparWhen not fitted to the boat the spar isslightly vulnerable to damage. Although itis much stronger than it looks it could fairlyeasily be distorted if subjected to careless oraccidental force. I carry mine strapped tightlyunder the mast when trailing the boat.I prefer to leave the genoa on the spar tominimise the number of times the sail is slidin and out of the luff groove. The disadvantageof this is the slight curl which the sail(and foam strip, as discussed) acquires overtime. I use the sail cover to protect the sailwhen trailing; if nothing else it helps to keepthe sail clean. The furling drum can remainon the bow fitting, and it’s then an easy jobto re-fit the spar once the mast has beenraised. (If using a safety wire to the mast’sforestay attachment ring this needs to berigged before raising the mast.)Unfortunately I have no personal experienceof bridge-shooting with a reefing spar, so Idon’t feel able to comment on possible solutionsto this problem, other than to say thatthe furling drum on Cockle has insufficientclearance below it to allow the mast to belowered with the drum in situ. Another situationin which the spar might be vulnerableto damage is during recovery from a capsize- specifically when righting the boat followingpartial or complete inversion by pulling upthe forestay. This is a well established rescuetechnique for power boat crews, but notkind to furling spars. Perhaps mast-headbuoyancy is the answer?Cost of the systemThe Bartels reefing system is well made, withhigh quality components, and in the opinionof several well-known cruising Wayfarers haskey advantages over its rivals, notably therobust stainless steel drum and top swivel,quality bearings and slender (but stiff) luffspar. All this comes at a price, and this is byno means one of the cheaper systems onthe market. (The actual cost is approximatelyequivalent to that of a good new mainsail.)For anyone who has already invested in aconventional set of sails (genoa, jib, stormjib) it may be difficult to justify spending thismuch on a reefing system, although as mentionedit is possible to modify a conventionalgenoa. I would certainly recommend thatanyone who already has a conventional setof foresails and is contemplating installing afurling-only system should at least considerselecting components that can form thebasis of a full reefing system.If starting from scratch the economics areslightly different, as the reefing system in effecttakes the place of a jib and a storm jib (3sails for the price of 1), and avoids the needfor potentially tricky sail changes at sea intothe bargain. The counter argument to this isthat there is no spare sail in case of accidentor damage to the genoa. Again each personmust assess his/her own circumstances andmake a judgement – all part of seamanship.ConclusionThe Bartels system is a good quality reefingsystem that has worked well for me overthe past two seasons. It is simple, robust,and well-designed, and allows total flexibilitywhen setting a suitable sail plan. BecauseI needed new sails the cost was easier tojustify, and I firmly believe that a dependablesystem like this positively contributes to thesafety of the boat. I strongly recommend it.ThanksMy particular thanks are due to TonJaspers from the Netherlands WayfarerAssociation for his considerableassistance with this article.Dave BarkerCockle W615140wayfarer news WINTER 2008 ISSUE 114