When we purchased Esmeralde I was 42 years old and although I felt some effects of age I still felt pretty invincible...(nl)We were racing (Newport to Bermuda) then and wanted performance first! We opted out of electric winches, mainsail furling systems and essentially anything that might slow us down (with the exception of the heaviest, most comfortable mattress in the v-berth I have ever slept on...some compromises have to be made after all...). Actually the idea of an electric winch just seemed wrong at the time, no thoughts about whether(nl)it would be faster or slower.

Several shoulder injuries, a few pulled tendons and a slowly developing hatred of flaking a mainsail perfectly (something that appears to be necessary for me if I want to sleep later) and we finally decided to forgo beauty and tradition and install a North Sails version of a "stack pack"... Not exactly a furling main but it does drastically simplify the setting and dousing of the main (without which we will simply not sail). It is much easier to use in day to day life. You simply open the clutch, watch the sail drop and zipper it in for the evening. The whole process takes just a couple of minutes...

While 10 years ago I would not have considered a furling mainsail, today it looks pretty nice.If you are considering a retrofit version I believe Shaefer and Forespar are the only names in town...A neighbor on our dock added a Shaefer system two years ago and raves about it.

Our solution is baby steps in that direction...