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Image credit: Ronan Grealish

Reaching legs are an inevitable feature of coastal racing, and a good setup can produce some of the fastest and most stable sailing. We are talking about that range of off-wind angles, where an eased jib is no longer effective, but the TWA is still too tight for a spinnaker. This is where speciality reaching sails are needed. Exactly what these angles are depends on the boat and the wind strength, but for context lets assume a range of 060-120 TWA. 

It is up to us, sailors, navigators, racers, and adventurers, to act for the preservation of the oceans, our wonderful playground. Innovations are flourishing, attitudes and habits are changing, and builders and designers are now giving priority to the eco-design of boats and fittings, and to the search for more ecological materials. In this blog we shine a spotlight on the innovative construction technology in the Eco Concept furler range, and say congratulations to Karver Systems for doing their bit for the environment.

The NEXe from Profurl is an easy to retrofit electrically driven Code 0 ("Code Zero") or top-down gennaker furler. With the NEXe, you can furl / unfurl your sails, from anywhere on the boat, quickly with easily, and you will never have to manually furl your sails again!

How do I choose the right code zero or gennaker furling unit for my boat? Data from 8 well-known manufacturers is reviewed and conclusions drawn to help guide you to an appropriate unit for your needs. A quick review of the available data will tell you that sizing the correct furling unit for your boat is NOT an exact science!

If you have a 25-30ft sailboat and you are looking to boost your sailing performance with a code zero or asymmetric spinnaker then you will need a furler in the 900-1000kg working load range. There is a decent selection of different products available at this size, but which one should you chose? In this blog we run through the relative pro’s and con’s of the main contenders.