jmecky wrote:
I don't think modern roller furlers have springs. They simply don't need them. Some have electric motors to furl the jib but wind is what normally unfurls them or a jib sheet in light wind.
I just checked and you're right. I figured that since my only experience with furlers was a 1996 era and a 1983 era, the modern ones would be more complex. Realistically they just seem to have much better bearings, and sometimes a slight recoil mechanism, but nothing that actually works to wind them up. And electric motors are cheating. Thats like replacing grinders with motors on yachts...
Great, I'm only a few years out of college, and already going off about "back in my day".....