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In-boom furling - A neat idea from Petitjean Composites
Article published on 01/04/2021
Contact the editorpublished inn°177may / june
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The roller booms of the 1950s/1960s never really went away. The rigs of multihulls these days feature more sophisticated in-boom furling systems from several manufacturers, where the sail rolls up inside the profile. Petitjean Composites is just one such manufacturer interested in mainsails that roll up in the boom, and they are launching a clever concept: to reuse existing aluminum booms but modifying them into a low cost in-boom furler.
The idea was first developed with a drum at the front and a sheet at the back of the spar. An offset boltrope track, accompanied by a stainless-steel guide, is fitted to the mast. For trimarans that require a downhaul, a vertical carbon part is available. Another solution: a furling kit with a fairing which fixes above the original boom. In this configuration, the mainsheet is attached in the middle of the boom. In all cases, the boom-turned-furler allows you to avoid climbing over the bimini, and to do without reefing lines and lazy jacks.
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