Harken Small Boat Furlers - From 14ft Dinghy to 30ft Sportsboat
by Phil Anniss 1 Jan 2021 01:00 PST
Harken Small Boat Furler equipment © Harken
Harken have a dedicated range of furlers for dinghies and keelboats up to 30ft (3mm, 5mm and 6mm diameter forestays). These are what upffront.com would term "structural furlers", in that they are an integral part of the main forestay. These systems are designed for furling only and cannot be used as a jib reefing system.
The core of the range consists of three standard above deck drum sizes and three under-deck versions.
| Furler Kit | Individual Part Number | Wire Dia. | MWL | Clevis Pin | Weight (g) |
|---|
| Part No. | Drum | Swivel | H-Swiv | (mm) | (kg) | (mm) | Drum | Swivel | Hoistable Swivel | Total |
|---|
| 434 | 163 | 162 | ‑ | 3 | 227 | 6.4 | 142 | 74 | ‑ | 216 |
| 435 | 165 | 164 | ‑ | 3 | 431 | 6.4 | 142 | 74 | ‑ | 216 |
| 483 | 165 | 164 | 464 | 3 | 431 | 6.4 | 142 | 74 | 82 | 298 |
| 477 Under deck | 477L | 164 | 464 | 3 | 431 | 6.4 | 680 | 74 | 82 | 836 |
| 436 | 208 | 207 | 465 | 5 | 907 | 7.9 | 386 | 261 | 252 | 899 |
| 493 Under deck | 493L | 207 | 465 | 5 | 907 | 7.9 | 1201 | 261 | 252 | 1714 |
| 478 Under deck | 478L | 478U | 482 | 6 | 1361 | 11.1 | 2296 | 431 | 477 | 3204 |
Above Deck Furler Kits
There are x3 above deck kits for 3mm wire forestays. The 434 low-load kit (drum and swivel) is the smallest of the range and intended for dinghies up to 16ft.
The 435 standard kit (drum and swivel) is almost identical except it has a higher working load of 431kg and can be used on monohulls up to 20ft and catamarans up to 18ft.
An additional 438 kit has the same drum and top swivel as the 435 but includes what Harken calls a Hoistable Swivel (labelled "H-Swiv" in table above). At Upffront.com we would call this a Halyard Swivel as its purpose is to allow the use of a standard jib halyard on a structural furling forestay, so that the jib can be raised/lowered without disconnecting the forestay.
The largest above deck version is the 436 kit which has more than double the working load of the 435 and is designed for a max wire diameter of 5mm and suitable for monohulls from 20-25ft, and multihulls from 18-23ft.
Under Deck Furler Kits
The Harken under deck furlers are all about maximising jib luff length and keeping the jib foot flush with the foredeck. The compromise is an increase in weight (which is a factor of 2.8 and 1.9 for 3mm and 5mm wire diameters respectively). Designed as a more permanent structural installation, all the under deck kits (labelled "UD" in the table above) include Hoistable swivels.
The smallest underdeck kit (477) is for 3mm wire forestays and monohulls up to 20ft. The mid-range underdeck model (493) is designed for boats from 20-25ft (5mm wire) and the largest (478) is for 6mm wire forestays on sports boats from 25-30ft.
On the 478 kit there is an optional upgrade to a high-performance swivel (207HP) which is the same size as the standard 207 top swivel, but has needle thrust bearings to improve performance at high loads. This is designed for use in top end sportsboat fleets.
All these kits are available in individual component parts which provides an extensive range of options for 12-14ft dinghies up to 30ft performance sportsboats.
You can find all these products on Upffront.com here or by searching for the Harken part number (with an "H-" prefix e.g. H-478).
If you have any questions about furling systems or have a project you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact us at or via the furling enquiry form.