Low Cost Barton Furler
As a river sailer who enjoys "potting" about on the Potomac, I have
always felt that the CDI furlers are a bit of over kill for an 18 foot
boat like the Potter. My midwestern Lutheran upbringing just won't
allow me to spend that much money on such a frivolous gadget. Before
I bought the GraceII I had a Siren which had a small plastic roller furler
that worked very well and didn't require significant sail modifications
aside from having to bind the sail to the wire luff. Somebody on
the Potter list pointed out the Barton furler in the Defender catalog and
I finally decided to buy one to play with. I received the parts yesterday
and decided to post this temporary web page in case anybody might be interested
in the details.
I have seen these furlers on a number of small boats, typically Flying
Scotts (which carry as much, if more sail that the Potter) and lots of
Cats and other daysailers. It is probably not the best unit for white
water sailing, but most of us Potter folks are more into messing about
in boats on Sunday afternoons with the family than making heavw weather
Atlantic crossings. The barton furler certainly isn't
in the class of the CDI units, but it's a whole bunch cheaper....
The Barton Furler has, in my very limited opinion, a number of advantages.
-
Low Cost, Furler Drum $50
-- Swivel/Rotary Joint $30
-
Will handle sails up to 100 square feet --
not a problem with the '19
-
Minimal sail modifications (must bind sail
to luff cable at head and tack)
-
Simple foolproof design
-
Made in a country that was on our side during
WWII
The photos below show the Barton Furler and swivel/rotary.
The only catalog that I have seen that carries the Barton
Furler is Defender, but the US distributor David Brady DAVID@imtra.com
has pointed me to a number of US outlets. I ultimately bought mine
by mail from Layline in Raleigh NC (800-542-5463) and had the hardware
four days after my phone/mastercard order.. Barton UK has a limited
web page at http://www.tecc.co.uk/marine/barton/index.html
From Page 326 of the 99 Defender Catalog
Dwyer Chainplate
The Barton unit is similar to the low cost Harkin units
that are available in most of the major catalogs like Boats US (p 258).
The Harkin units (below) are a bit more expensive, but probably also a
bit more rugged. The Harkin drum is about $90 and the Swivel/rotary
about $57.
Click
here to go to the installation
drawings page
"There is nothing
- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing
about in boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really
to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether
you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you
reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're
always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've
done it there's always something else to do, and you can do
it if you like, but you'd much better not."
Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), Wind in the Willows
Disclaimer: I have no financial connection
to Barton or their US distributor. I just think this is a neat item.