Question:

I have a beautiful Westerly Oceanranger 38, hull and deck laid at Waterlooville but beautifully finished by Meridian Trust in Portsmouth.

She wasn’t launched until two years after Westerly last went under in 2000.

She has in-mast furling which I thought would make life easier as I got older, which it has, but I have two real issues with it.

Firstly, it sometimes jams when I need to get that huge piece of cloth away in a blow, and secondly, she offends my racing pedigree and I liken it to sailing with a large roller blind hanging from the mast!

Have I got any option if I want to swap back to slab reefing other than a new mast, rigging, boom and new sails?

Simon Davis

Answer:

John Brown of Allspars replies:

The short answer is probably not, I’m afraid.

For those with a retro-fitted mast-furling system then it is possible to remove and effectively revert to the old system, and all your are left with is a series of holes running where the system was attached.

It does not sound like that is the case in this instance.

Beware that many boats with in mast furling do have a separate track for a storm trysail, but this is not designed to take the loads of a mainsail and will not work for you.

Sad to say it, but I think you will need a new mast if you really want to revert to slab reefing.

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