Slab Reefing Headsail vs. Furling Gear

yesterday I closed off saying 'nah' to curling headsails. then, as often happens, I experienced a little flood of information to d  with furling that's already making me reconsider my feelings about furling headsails.

CASE ONE: Shoal Waters.
If you've never heard about Charles Stock or "Shoal Waters" then I  suggest you Google them. In short AS was built from scavenged bits and pieces and completed in 1063. Charles intensively cruised the SE coast logging 70 00 miles on his 16' plywood sail boat.Charles' passed away (c. 2003) and Shoal Waters pass e on to its current owner Tom Smith who continues to cover every square foot of the Thames Estuary and neighbouring estuaries. They are often seen drying our in muddy creek beds waiting for the tide.

The point of telling you all this is to put to you that this little engoneless boat has probably been sailed more miles than most on coasts and up rivers and creeks. So what is the headsail arrangement on Shoal Waters? Well she is cutter rigged, with bowsprit and has been fitted with two furling gears from the time of her launch.

CASE TWO: Seraffynn
Larry and Lin Pardy need no introduction; "Seraffyn" was their first sail boat. At the moment I am reading "Seraffyn' s European Adventure", and although it's dated, they fitted slab reefing to their "lapper" (a headsail that continues past the mast). The Pardy' s praise for this system is effusive; mostly due to the speed, safety and convenience of "changing" the headsail without the need to unhank or stow the lapper, before hauling the working jib up forrard, hanking it on and rehoisting it.

So, there are two massive votes, one for furling one for slab reefing. How do these for with Bohemian and I?

Boho' s fore-deck has been stripped of the pulpit. I removed a perfectly good pulpit to reduce the number of holes in her fore-deck by 12, and because I could not stand seeing headsails getting chewed upon the railings, lifelines and fittings. Both headsails had signs of chaff, the working headsail had a foot long scar and stitches. While I don't believe that working Boho's  foredeck at sea  is any less safe than other Folkboats, I do feel that limiting time spent on the foredeck is a "good thing". Both reefing systems fit this requirement, but barring major gear failure furling gear would probably get the nod as the best system to reduce time on the foredeck.

Then applying my sailing philosophy and throwing in a few home-truths; I have no money and I like to live simply, so I tend to favour systems onboard that are both cheap and simple.

On face value slab reefing seems to come out on top; add a clew, tack and reef points, when the need arises you ease the backyard and sheets, go forward and clip the tack and crew, tie in the bunt and re-hoist.Furl reefing is much more simple in practice; ease the sheet, pull the furling line, but it's more complicated and expensive to set up.

there are occasional horror stories with furling gears, the bearings collapse or more often the furling line overruns and jambs making it impossible to lower our reef the sail. But this is rare, and familiarity with the gear can prevent overruns. a cruising man of some considerable experience, Captain Fatty Goodlander has experienced furler "issues" during his 200 000 plus sea miles, but ?maintains that furling is best. As he's "lazy" and budget conscious (like me), I reckon Fatty' s judgement carries a lot of weight (ahem).

Further questions: how much does adding reef points cost, what costs are associated with buying a used furling gear and adapting existing sail ?

I'm not saying it all comes down to just dollars, I just need to know the costs before making an informed decision.