The Karver KF V3 range is now available at upfront.com. With this latest iteration of their popular KF furlers, Karver have moved away from dedicated top down drums in favour of a more flexible modular system.
This blog will outline the accessories available for the KF V3 range and help you identify what will fit best into your set up.
If you want to read more on the overall improvements that Karver has made to the KF V3 range, take a look at our blog here
KTS Top Down Adapter
With a dedicated top down furling drum, the sail is lashed to the tack swivel on the drum and the two live together, in the sail bag, when not in use. The use of a top down adapter means the removable tack swivel is lashed to the sail and frees up the drum for use with other asymmetrics or a code zero. The compromise is a little extra weight and marginally shorter luff length, but using one drum for multiple sails quickly makes up for these small downsides, even for grand prix race boats.
The KTS Top down adaptor is available for all Karver KF V3 furlers from 1.5 – 12t SWL (excluding the KF0.9). It should be noted that one size KTS fits both the KF4.5 and KF6.0 furlers.
Upper swivel fittings
Standard Lashing Eye
All swivels in the KF V3 range now come with a standard, simple, lashing eye for attachment to the halyard, preferably using a soft shackle.
2:1 Block
The use of a 2:1 halyard is common for code zero’s and this requires the use of a 2:1 block. The roller bearing sheave reduces friction during the hoist and provides fine-tune control of luff tension under high load.
The 2:1 block is available as an optional extra and it is a quick and simple operation to change out from the standard lash eye on your new KF V3 furler. See video below.
Drum Connections
K-SNAP Shackle
As mentioned in our previous blog, this cleverly designed snap shackle can also be used as a 2:1 friction sheave. It is wider than a standard shackle and has a rounded radius to reduce friction and wear on the line, when used as a friction sheave, but it is also ideal for clipping onto a soft padeye or loop on your bowsprit.
The Karver K-Snap comes as standard on all drums in the KFC Classic and KF Standard ranges up to 6.0t SWL.
Lash Eye
Above this size, and on all KFX structural drums, a lash eye is the default fitting on the bottom of the drum.
The Lash eye is designed for use on either the drum or swivel as a flexible solution for use with soft terminations.
3:1 Friction Sheave
When purchasing a drum with either a K-Snap or lash eye fitting, it is possible to pay a small upgrade charge (in the cart) to switch to a 3:1 Friction sheave. When choosing the 3:1 Friction Sheave as an upgrade, it will be factory fitted. N.B. All KFR Race drums come with a 3:1 Friction sheave as standard.
The Karver 3:1 sheave is a flexible solution for attaching the drum to the deck, and can be used either in a 2:1 or 3:1 configuration. They are most common when a halyard lock is used, to provide luff tension control via a tack line.
The retrofit of a 3:1 Friction sheave on a KF V3 furler requires an adapter which is sold together with the Friction sheave as a kit and is easy to install. See Video below
This robust modular design is a key feature and benefit of the Karver KF V3 range. Each attachment has been specifically designed by Karver to hold the full load of the furler that it is paired with. Strangely this is not always the case with some manufacturers fittings/attachments - you will quite often find that a connector shackle will have a lower SWL than the furler. The argument being that it acts as a safety fuse in the system......
How do I choose the modules that are right for me?
There are some general rules of thumb which can guide you to the correct fitting choice:
- Unless you have a 2:1 halyard the lash eye is the best all-round solution for swivel attachment. If you do not already have soft connectors on your halyards – you should take this opportunity to switch. See our previous blog here on the benefit of Soft connections.
- Unless you are a serious racer and up to the KF3.0 we would suggest the K-Snap is a great multi-functional fitting
- From KF4.5-6.0, you may still be using the K-Snap to attach a staysail furler to a fixed point on the deck, but at this size most of our customers are transitioning to a 3:1 Friction sheave. The 3:1 sheave is better suited to situations in which you would leave the furler mounted for longer periods such as when offshore racing. It also gives you more purchase for better luff tension.
Conclusion
Karver have re-vamped their successful KF furler range every 10 years and the V3 has been a significant and comprehensive step forward. Click here to view the Karver KF V3 range, available now on site.
If you have any questions about Karver code zero furlers, please feel free to email us at support@upffront.com, or click the link below to see our full range:
