When the drifter is furled, it snakes down and coils compactly onto the deck or directly into a bag, without the drama of the sail flailing around and chafing on deck, or accidentally slipping over the side into the water.
Code zero vs genoa full#
Quick-release, stainless snap-shackles are built into the head swivel and furler-drum component parts, so the rig is easily connected, disconnected, raised or dropped, all under full control. The drum, which is grooved, grips the endless furler line without slippage yet its friction isn’t excessive. The clever design of the furling drum allows for the endless furling line to remain conveniently in place, on deck, after the sail and furler have been stowed away. They are constructed of anodized aluminum and stainless steel. The component parts (both the furling drum and the head swivel) are precision engineered. It affords one-handed operation, even under loads imposed by a fresh breeze. The Facnor FX-1500 is rated for up to 590 square feet of sail area, and so it can handle the task with ease. On Anna, the drifter is 450 square feet (about the same size as our heavier 100-percent headsail). The square footage of the sail will determine the size of the furler (or model number) required for safe working loads. This can be done from anywhere on deck or from the ever-popular safety of the cockpit.
Code zero vs genoa code#
In open-ocean conditions, or in gusty channels, straits and sounds, our Facnor code zero furler can be handled by one person, with very little effort. We chose the Facnor FX-1500 series, code zero furler, because it is well-engineered, proven technology. And a strong padeye fitting, positioned toward the forward end of the the bowsprit, for attaching the tack of the flying drifter. Since the drifter has its own built-in stay, of low-stretch Spectra sewn into the luff, all we needed were two additional fittings to rig the drifter: a fitting to accommodate the external block and Spectra halyard, positioned about one foot below the masthead. Our preference was to rig an endless-line, code-zero type furler to handle the job of flying the drifter. A Solent stay can also be rigged to accommodate a second hanked-on headsail.
The drifter also has the ability to drive the boat on any point of sail - not just a limited reach - and this is, in our opinion, the biggest draw over that of a large asymmetrical spinnaker (which may be two to three times the size of our drifter and more powerful on a reach, but not nearly as versatile, overall).Ī drifter can simply hank on to a headstay without an existing furler. With a moderately-sized drifter, the total square footage of the sail plan can be adjusted effectively, in increments.
And, once again, it can work quite effectively on its own. For upwind work, it may be combined with mainsail or mainsail and staysail. It can work downwind, as one element in a double-headsail setup (either with or without the addition of the mainsail), and it can work, capably, all by itself. In very light air, our drifter is certainly our most versatile sail. And it’s surprisingly effective over a large range of wind angles: from 45° to 180° off the wind, close hauled to dead downwind. When our heavier, 9-oz Dacron cruising sails stall out, too heavy to be effective in much less than five knots of breeze, the drifter goes to work it will fill and hold its shape in the slightest wind. Upwind, downwind, any time the air gets light. A 100 percent, bi-radial cut, drifter does the job on our Tayana 37 cutter Anna - it’s a lightweight headsail, constructed of 1.5-oz nylon and can be used on the open ocean or along protected coastlines. A versatile, light-air sail can keep a heavy-displacement rig moving, or drifting under control, even in a breeze just two knots beyond dead calm.
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