Jib furler

Hello everyone,
I'm sailing a HC14 Turbo in summer and don't have a jib furler but have the opportunity to buy a complete brand new hobie cat jib furler for 100$.
Furling the jib would save me a few minutes at every use of the cat and I would really appreaciate it.
My question : my current jib is in very good shape but doesn't include in its seams the front shroud (I have a shroud running from the bridles to the mast tang).
Would it be compatible with the jib furler or there is any risk to damage the jib or the jib couldn't roll correctly ? Or would you advise me to buy a new H14T jib with its integrated shroud ?
Thanks for your help on this and past experience !
Nicolas

You will need the upper fore-stay with swivel. Its a little pricey at $82. buying the whole furler kit for $100 would seem to be the way to go.

Hi Sunvista : the upper forestay with swivel is part of the jib furler kit I'm ready to buy. I'm just wondering if I need to buy a new jib with an integrated forestay wire or if I can keep my current jib (attached to the furler and to the swivel) while I keep the current forestay that goes from the mast tang to the bridles.
Any advice welcome !

I would have to say that your existing fore-stay is going to be about 15 inches too long - the length of the upper fore-stay with swivel. I don't see why you couldn't use your jib though with a new wire. On the other hand its not clear to me what kind of jib you already have that doesn't furl. I thought they were all the same. Is it a Hobie jib or something else? Maybe one of the Hobie reps can chime in.

There were/are a lot of aftermarket jibs for the 14. At first, Hobie Cat recommended against having a jib on the 14 (early '70s), but came out with their own jib kit in the late '70s. The Turbo class was officially recognized in the early '80s.

Some jib kits have halyards like the 16 that run down the mast - they cannot be furled. Some have halyards like the 18 - with a zipper luff. They can be furled.

The problem with the stock Turbo jib is you can't take the sail off the boat without dropping the mast. This led to the various "snorkel covers" that can be hoisted over the jib with the main halyard.

I don't see how you'd attach the furler and swivel to a jib without attaching it to the forestay and bridles. Do you have a separate stay that you clip your jib to?
If you some how manage to connect a separate stay with furler and swivel on it then I'd imagine it would be side by side with the forestay and would interfere when furling. There wouldn't be much clearance between the two stays as they would share a common axis formed by their connection with the mast tang and forestay so the furler would be pressed up against the forestay, and you'd probably kink one of the wires.

You'll need a 13' stay to attach the jib to. If you already have a jib then your stay is probably longer than that and you'll need to shorten it.
Tie the tack and head of the jib to the thimbles on the stay.
You'll need a short pigtail wire for the top to attach the swivel to and the other end to the mast tang. Then attach the bottom of the jibstay to the furler.
Then attach the furler to the bridles.
This should work, I can't see why it shouldn't.

If you can roll the sail by hand there is no reason a furler can't roll it. Try it out with your existing setup. Tie the tack and head to the forestay and simulate rolling it.

Thanks everyone for your repluy.
@xnomad : Yes, I have a separate forestay, it is not semed in the jib. I have some small plastic clips than maintain the jib to the forestay. At the top, I have a pigtail and the whole setup for an aussie jib setup.

Anyway, the seller seems to ignore my mails and is like "dead" so this project is in a standby mode until I can find another opportunity. In the meanwhile, I'll try to roll the job by hand in order to simulate the furler and top swivel, that'll give me an idea of the whole thing.
Regards,
Mathias

You can always get a Ronstan RF76 furler ($55) and RF78B swivel ($54). That's what I got and it works great. I finally converted to full 'Turbo' this week.

The furler attaches slightly differently, the hobie furler has a yoke so the bridles go on the side of the furler, the Ronstan attaches to the bottom and I got an extra schackle to attach the bridles to. I made my bridles 125cm long rather than the 'wire guide' length. That gave me a lot more mast rake. I got both Ronstan items from the USA even though they are from Australia they were half the price via the US!

I have a used hobie 18 furler and swivel for 60 + shipping. Im in San Diego.

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277