[Rhodes22-list] New Mainsail & Handling System

[Brad Haslett]

We took the CoraShen out today with a non-sailor onboard (but as far as
anyone knows the only female Chinese airline pilot in the US) and had a ball
despite some 'issues'.  First issue - my mainsail was tired five years ago
when I bought the boat and today she gave her 'last full measure'.  There's
no point in wasting anymore thread.  That wasn't really a big surprise but
the timing could have been better.  The starter (or starter switch) on the
diesel genny has become more and more cantankerous during the last season
and decided today that if the main quit, it may as well go on strike as
well.  We did still have the fabric genny so that was our ticket home.  I
put Wen Yu at the helm and she immediately fell in love with the challenge
of a constantly turning river channel, shallow depths, barge traffic, fickle
winds, and didn't mind at all that there was no beer on board for what was
supposed to be a short day.  Except for the beer part, she seems to be a
natural born sailor.  Purely by happenstance, I ran into the co-worker who
rescued me from my grounding a couple of years ago at the sandwich shop
prior to launch, and he joked that he'd keep his cell phone handy since he
was aware of my track record.  I was about to make the call for help for a
tow through the narrow channel to the marina when for 'shits and grins' I
tried the diesel again.  She started - temperamental bitch!  That part of
the problem is easy enough to solve.  The mainsail issue needs some further
research.

Does anyone remember off the top of their head the name of the relatively
inexpensive behind-the-mast mainsail furler we discussed a few months ago.
Was it Somerset Sails?  I'm starting to think that a preferable system may
be to go with a modern track system like  Strong Track  and perhaps the
MackPak from Mack Sails.  Most of the mainsail furling systems are just to
expensive for a boat of my vintage and the aftermarket systems are just,
well, ugly.

Besides buying another Rhodes 22, any suggestions or experience?

Brad