When shopping for headsail furlers one can find a wide variety manufacturers such as: Pro Furl, Facnor, Harken, Hood, Bamar, Schaefer, Reckmann, Reefit, CDI; as well as a wide variety of prices. So where does quality and low pricing find a happy marriage? How can one possibly make a decision that’s worthwhile with all of those options? Well, that’s where we come in. The Hood SL line of products have been around for what has to be at least 8 years, and yet this furler really hasn’t caught on as a popular request (We think this is mostly due to poor marketing but we’re here to help :-)).
Now, this isn’t Hood’s premium line (probably why they don’t talk about it much) but the market has hungered for a good quality, budget friendly, cruising furler for quite some time. Especially since the loss of Harken’s Cruising Unit, perhaps one of the best bangs for your buck up until about 8 years ago (maybe more). It was when a customer insisted that we install one of these Hood furlers on his boat, about five years ago, that we first fell in love with this thing. So, after some 5 years of installing mostly these furlers over any other brand, we thought it high time to take Hood’s little secret and let it out of the closet.
Just like our two other favorites, Schaefer and Harken, Hood SL Furlers feature heavy duty 6061 anodized and powder-coated aluminum construction for maximum reliability and performance. They come in two model sizes, easy peasy, the 707 for boats from 25′ to 33′, accommodating forestay wire sizes from 3/16″ to 9/32″; the 808 for boats from 34′ to 46′, accommodating wire diameters from 5/16″ to 7/16″.
This Hood furler is yet again another product supports our motto, “safety and functionality through simplicity”. The system is simple to install, furl, reef, hoist, douse and most importantly to us…maintain. What more could you ask for? Combining a proven design with state-of-the-art materials, the 808 and 707 SL models are a user-friendly and here to stay. Not to mention, we’ve been installing these quite a lot over the years and discovered them to be rock solid and without any issues. Customer’s have been nothing but satisfied.
So if you have a question about pricing, product information or any of our other products for that matter, please don’t forget to leave us a comment below or just give us a call. We are here to help. At The Rigging Company, questions are always free of charge.
If you’re in town, stop by our new location and look at our furler displays and give them a spin yourself.
Thanks for the read. See you next time.
~T.R.C.
