> Do any on this list have personal experience (pro or con) with a jib
> furler of any manufacture on a Potter 15 in seriously inclement weather,
> or direct knowledge of successes or failures under adverse conditions?
In a fit of something or another I replaced the original cheesey,
skimpy furling line on my CDI with a nice piece of slightly larger,
fancier line -- the original was rather hard, had a tendency to
kink, and just didn't look very good.
The new line jammed reliably every time I tried to furl the sail,
regardless of the conditions. The worst case was a fairly long sail
down the south San Francisco Bay to San Leandro, in small craft
advisory conditions. The wind eventually built up to a pretty fierce
level, with a heavy chop on the quarter that was knocking the boat
around 90 degrees sometimes.
Fortunately I had decided to furl the lapper before it got to that
stage, so, though I did have to go forward to unjam it, I wasn't
terrified.
After some months like this I finally got a clue, and replaced the
line with thinner stuff. There wasn't much difference in size, but
the slightly larger line was enough to just overfill the drum when
the sail was full out, which would cause the line to jump the drum and
jam.
I made the second replacement a few months ago, and I haven't had any
trouble since.
Of course, my schedule has been such that I have had barely any
opportunity to go sailing over that time, either.
-- Kent Crispin "Do good, and you'll be kent@songbird.com lonesome." -- Mark Twain P-19 #855, Peregrine