So what was the final outcome
And why if this started in January is the first post in end of April ?

Tobias,

I so agree with you   No brainer!  

Jonathan, you may have violated the letter of the Rule but not the spirit.  The discussion during the Mid-winter Regatta made it clear that those who wrote the original Rule did not intend it to prohibit roller furlers without foils.  It was my understanding that the Rule was to allow roller furlers but prohibit foils for quick headsail changes.

At the Mid-winter Regatta at Lake Murray, S.C., there were two boats with non-foil furlers.  The issue was presented at the skipper's meeting.  Skipper's had the opportunity to protest prior to the first race.  No one protested.  As an aside, Midwinters are not sanctioned by the Ensign Class.  Thus, the Regatta is not constrained by many of the Rules that govern Ensign regattas.  

IMHO, and apparently the skippers at the Mid-winter Regatta, the devise does not give an advantage to the well crewed boat with the devise against the well trained crew without the devise. What the devise does do is remove the slippery genoa and the bungies that hold it down on deck.  This is a significant safety benefit for boats without a seasoned foredeck crew. 

The safety factor, especially for newbies,alone (IMHO), justifies the change in the rule, but there is an added benefit.  The genoa is neatly furled on the headstay instead of crunched down on the deck under bungie cords.   The genoa should last a lot longer furled on the headstay.  

The initial cost may be a little daunting (about $1000) but when you weigh the initial cost against the benefits, crew injury or overboard from slipping on deck, early replacement of genoa--in the long run it may be cheap.

I'm sure voting for the rule change and I would appreciate your doing the same. Thank you for your consideration.

This proposal is a great adjustment. The design has many advantages using a furler that does not require a headsail with a luff tape/ foil.

Cheers,
Tobias Biedenkopf
Ensign #1033
Das Boat

I have sailed with a roller furled hanked head sail for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons competing in both regional and national regattas before realizing that I was breaking the class rule for furling head stays. So I strongly support this rule change.

Pete Kogut has described the Bartel continuous line furler in his article on the website. That system works well and the forestay rotates making the rolling of the sail very nice.

I looked at furling the standard hanked number 1 and number 2 foresails to eliminate the need to drop them on the deck during the race and to get this big genoa quickly out of the way of the spinnaker airflow.

So I designed a low profile drum furler with a fixed forestay that doesn't rotate, but the drum spins on stainless bearings.
The head of the sail is attached to a Harken hoistable furling swivel part number 464 similar to that used on J70, and the tack of the sail is attached to the furler drum. A furling line is led from the drum back to the cockpit.


The tack of the sail ended up in the same position with or without the furler drum and the sails perform the same and are standard Ensign hanked sails. The roller furling relies on the hanks rotating about the stationary forestay so it works well when the sail is unloaded (sailing downwind).

This furler drum was made in a machine shop so is not currently commercially available. If enough people are interested we could get a few made but probably buying the Bartels continuous line furler makes more sense.

But furling the Ensign hanked sails is definitely doable and very worth while.

So please support the rule change 

I wrote a product review which has been posted on the ECA website:
"A Roller Furler for Hanked-On Sails". Click the link to it on the Home Page.
It explains the many advantages of using a furler that does not require a headsail with a luff tape/ foil.

Cheers,
Pete Kogut
Ensign #856
The White Lady

Proposed Rule Change for the Ensign Class Association

Roller Furling: Part II, 9 L

Name of Proposer: ECA Governing Board

Proposal Date: January 2019

Discussion Cut Off Date: June 1, 2019

Anticipated Membership Vote: June 2019

Rationale:
      

Regarding Roller Furling Systems and Headsails…

Proposed changes seek to address the following:

1. Current rules were unintentionally written in such a way as to mandate that head foils and luff tapes MUST be used on all installed roller furling systems. At the time of the rules’ writing, no commercially available roller furling systems came WITHOUT a head foil, which is a situation that has changed. The rule has been re-written to also include boats with roller furling systems that do NOT incorporate a head foil, whose headsails are NOT fitted with luff tape, but instead are attached to the forestay using hanks made of metal and/or plastic (just like the headsails on boats lacking roller furling).
   
   
2. The current rules fail to specify materials and weights for roller furling headsails other than the No. 1 genoa. Materials and weights for the No. 2, Working Jib and Blade should also be specified.
   
   
3. The current rules unnecessarily reiterated specifications on maximum size, and inappropriately removed “minus tolerances” for roller furler headsails. Not having a minus tolerance makes it possible to build roller furling headsails of any LP, and therefore a minus tolerance should be specified.
   
   

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CURRENT RULE: (Too much change to indicate change areas. The rule has been re-written.)

Part II, 9 L. ROLLER-FURLED HEADSAIL: An optional roller-furled headsail may be fitted instead of the headsails with metal and/or plastic hanks described in sections H., I., J., K. of this rule. A roller-furled headsail, if fitted, will conform to the following rules.

1. A roller-furled headsail shall be fitted with a luff tape and will be attached to the forestay by a operational head foil and roller-furling hardware. The design of the head foil and roller-furling hardware shall be optional.

2. Except for the UV protecting fabric at the leech, all roller-furled headsails shall be made of Dacron, 4.5 ounces per running yard, 28 ½” wide. (Width for weight specifiation only). An exception is provided for the UV protecting fabric at the leech. The selection of UV protecting fabric is optional.

3. The maximum size of each roller-furled headsail shall be governed by the maximum measurements provided in Rule 9. I of this part.

4. The minus tolerance on all dimensions is unspecified. Luff, Foot, Leech and head to mid-foot dimensions are as necessary such that the sail will properly furl but in no case will any maximum dimensions provided in Rule 9. I be exceeded.

5. No additional halyards may be fitted. The jib halyard and its fittings must conform to the specifications found in Rule 7 of this part. The attachment point of the jib halyard tang shall not be altered.

6. The length of the forestay is as specified in Rule 6 of this part and includes all roller-furling hardware.

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PROPOSED RULE CHANGE: (Too much change to indicate change areas. The rule has been re-written.)

 

Part II, 9 L. ROLLER-FURLERS AND HEADSAILS: A roller-furler of optional, above-deck design may be fitted to the forestay. The use of a roller-furler system, if fitted, shall conform to the following rules:

1. Headsails for roller-furler systems that incorporate an operational head foil shall be fitted with the appropriate luff tape, and set through use of the head foil.

2. Material, weight and size specifications for roller-furled headsails are defined by Part II Rule 9 H., I., J., and K. An exception is provided for any UV protection fabric applied to the leech. The selection of UV protection fabric is optional.

3. No additional halyards may be fitted. The jib halyard, its attachment point, hardware and fittings must conform to the specifications in Part II Rule 7.

4. The length of the forestay is as specified in Part II Rule 6 and shall include all roller-furling hardware.

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Best regards,

Bud Brown
#1085

ECA Rules Vice Commodore