It’s no surprise that the Facnor FlatDeck is the newest addition to the Upffront website: it’s the latest in genoa furling innovation.
Facnor are the self-professed ‘worldwide leader in designing and manufacturing furling systems’. Award-winning, the French brand possess over 30 years experience in the marine industry, providing furling systems for shipyards, ocean sailors and racers.
Consequently, Upffront are excited to launch Facnor’s revolutionary furling system on our website: the Facnor FlatDeck Furling System.
Evaluating the powerful Facnor FlatDeck System, it can be noted that the FlatDeck does not use traditional rope as the furling line. Instead, the furling system benefits from the use of a high resistance webbing. Because it is flat and smooth, the webbing stacks neatly on top of itself as it is guided uniformly onto the furling drum. This differs from traditional furling systems that use standard rope furling lines, where the placement of the rope on the drum is less controlled.
The FlatDeck’s systematically wound webbing therefore has three clear advantages. The first is that this unique webbing system eliminates the possibility of the line overriding. Overriding can prevent the sail from being furled, causing the headsail to jam. This presents a potentially dangerous situation that is best avoided.
The second advantage is the lower profile drum. Due to the methodical stacking of the webbing – which takes up less space - the FlatDeck possesses a lower profile drum than traditional furling systems. The lower profile drum means there is more space for the sail, maximising available luff length. According to Facnor, the FlatDeck offers approx. 200mm of additional luff length.
The final advantage of the webbing is the increase in power when furling. With the headsail fully unfurled the webbing is at its widest diameter. This increases power at the start of a furl, in comparison to traditional rope furling systems, just when it is most needed.
Considering the products available, the Facnor FlatDeck collection is comprised of a racing and a cruising range. The cruising range, which is suitable for boats 20 feet – 60 feet, consists of: FDC90, FDC170, FDC210 and FDC280, for forestay diameters from 5mm to 14mm and have circular aluminium foil sections.
The racing range, which is suitable for boats 26 – 60 feet, consists of: FDR110, FDR190, FDR230 and FDR310, for forestay diameters from 7mm to 12.7mm. These systems have much smaller diameter, and lighter, elliptical foil sections.
The FlatDeck kit includes the drum, internal turnbuckle fitting, short link plates, foil sections & connections, halyard swivel, webbing/rope kit and a set of fairleads.
If you have any questions about flatdeck manual genoa furlers, please feel free to email us at support@upffront.com, or click the link below to see our full range:
