Image credits: Bamar
Hailing from Northern Italy, Bamar are over 40 years old and on a mission to create sleek, performance orientated furling designs that aim to ‘partially automate sailing operations’. In this blog we will take a look at Bamar’s RLG EVO range of continuous line, code 0 furlers, and their key features and benefits.
As the marine division of a much larger engineering company, Bamar utilise extensive experience and resources in the production and design of large, complex, and often custom, superyacht systems for which they have won many international awards. However, all this knowledge and expertise has been condensed into their standard ranges of manual, electric and hydraulic furling systems for smaller yachts.
The RLG EVO-CODE
In line with their goal to “automate furling systems”, the majority of Bamar’s product catalogue displays a 50/50 mix between electric and hydraulic systems for mainsails, genoas. code zeros and staysails. However, to complete their extensive furling portfolio they include a range of manual genoa reefing furlers and the RLG EVO range for code zeros and asymmetric gennakers / spinnakers.
On the face of it the RLG-EVO furler looks very similar to other continuous line furlers; cut-away holes in both drum cover and drum, a slot in the drum which allows quick easy loading and unloading of the continuous furling line and quick release pins. However, there are some key distinguishing features which sets Bamar RLG EVO apart from competitors in this category.
- For their “no-compromise” approach, all key components are machined from solid aluminium blocks. There are no castings or plastic parts in these furlers to ensure structural integrity, strength and durability.
- Based on years of experience of bigger systems and their use/abuse, Bamar use very high quality and deliberately oversized furler bearings to ensure that even at maximum recommended working load the drum and swivel are guaranteed to turn freely. This is a common problem with lower quality systems which save cost by using lower spec parts which may wear out faster and fail at lower than expected loads.
- They have gone for a basic, minimalistic design which focuses on reliability and performance. For example, the subtle design of the grooves in the drum provide maximum grip on the furling line, even in the harshest conditions.
The result is a no-frills but very well engineered furler. Bamar have chosen to prioritise quality, strength and durability over weight, in the RLG EVO design, so it is not the lightest on the market, but even at the highest loads it will be a consistent performer.
Tried and tested
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The image above shows an EVO 20 drum, with a 5T SWL, which was deliberately under-specified on a 80’ race yacht in order to test the products limits. For this size of boat, with a Code 0 stay of more than 30m, any furler manufacturer would recommend an 8T SWL Code zero furler, as a minimum. However, over 5 years of hard use, whilst the unit did show signs of wear, it continued to furl perfectly and never caused any issues.
It could be argued that the Bamar RLG EVO furlers are over-built, however, if you are looking for a quality, well-engineered, reliable product that will last your cruising lifetime, then the Bamar RLG EVO-CODE could be a good choice. The range has 6 furlers with safe working loads from 2000 - 15000 kg for boats from 30ft to 90ft.
If you have any questions about Bamar code zero and asymmetric furlers, please feel free to email us at support@upffront.com, or click the link below to see our full range:
