Holmatro’s new ‘Furl Finder’ Automatically Adjusts Furling Booms

This new push button auto-adjust system for hydraulic boomvangs offers maximum ease and control when furling your mainsail. Press the furling button, and the vang automatically moves to the proper boom-furling angle, eliminating the guesswork normally associated with this task.
This is one of the latest innovations of Holmatro Marine Equipment to make sailing easier. By simply pushing a button, a sensor monitoring the position of the boom activates a compact hydraulic system that moves the boom up or down to a predetermined furling angle. When the boom is in the proper furling position the crew is alerted by a green LED. Mainsail in-boom furling may then proceed. When sailing, the system acts as a normal push button system to move the vang up or down as desired.
Standard position indicating vangs have a digital numeric display. While sailing, most vang adjustment is made by observing sail shape, not by watching a numerical display. With a numerical display, a value has to be known and remembered. The display may not be readily visible or may be hard to read.
With Holmatro’s new Furl Finder you simply press a button to automatically position the boom for furling.

The development of in-boom furling systems such as the Forespar LeisureFurl and Reef-Rite, has been a real boon to cruisers who want the convenience of a roller furling main combined with the performance you get from a fully battened, high roach sail. But in-boom furling requires a sure hand and exactly the right angle to the boom (89.5 degrees) to allow the sail to roll evenly around the mandrel inside the boom-no easy task. Enter Holmatro’s simple and elegant solution. The new hydraulic vang has its own small hydraulic pump and a simple push button control panel that can be mounted in the cockpit near the helm. The vang can be eased or tightened with the push of a button for better sail trim. But, when you want to reef or furl the mainsail, all you have to do is press the “furl” button and the vang automatically sets the boom at exactly the right angle. Voila. No guesswork, no ugly sail jams and no fuss. Now, the in-boom furling sail will do its job exactly the way the designers meant it to. For more information, go to www.holmatro-marine.com.