<div>On Sunday I went for a sale the wind was quite strong and I found myself in a bit of strife as I was solo. I was only using the headsail so I decided to pull it in and go with the engine

<div>What I would like to know is can a headsail furler be used half wound on so I have less sail area in strong winds.

yes and no!!

Some cheaper brands of furlers are just that, they really only effectively furl the sail from all the way in to all the way out, they give pretty bad sail shape when reefed. You can add a foam insert in the luff to help shape but they aren't as good as below....

Better brands have a tack swivel and when you get you headsail cut correctly they can actually be used to to effectively reef the sail.

My recommendation for a furler is always these
www.almasts.com.au/furling-systems/

Aussie designed and made, well priced and with great service and backup. And I'm even saying that even though they are in competition to me in the rigging game

I'm a great fan of the part-furled headsail. I cruise solo a lot, and for some conditions off the wind in 20+ knots, headsail only can be great. Wind a bit in or out to get the right amount of drive - no nasty gibes or reefing or other mainsail problems. Also, because the centre of effort is more forward it helps reduce the load on the tiller-pilot.

But with wind forward of the beam, more than a couple of turns will give you an awful baggy sail that performs fairly poorly, unless it's specifically cut for it with foam sewn into the luff.

Cheers, Graeme

Yara said..
Why not use the mainsail only, and reef that. Self-tacking too. If you have a small jib as well that will help your windward performance.

Yara, My boat just will not move on mainsail only. Missus and I went out last Friday in
a 20 knt breeze and decided to try mainsail only. Sure, we did move forward a bit but
it was so slow I lost steerage, I didn't even have enough speed to tack and go downwind.
However in 20 knts with a reefed mainsail and reefed headsail she flies along.

While we're on the subject of headsails I was given a sail that fits my boat albeit I have
to change the hanks to a bolt rope. The sail was made by Elstrom Sails. Anybody recognise
the brand ??.

Sam do you perhaps mean Elvstrøm? If so then Elvstrøm are a highly regarded sail making firm with many years experience in both racing and cruising sails.
The company was started by Paul Elvstrøm, four time Olympic gold medalist. As far as I am aware there is currently no Elvstrøm loft in the Asia Pacific region.

That is what it is designed to do you won't have as good of shape or point as high. But you are cruising not racing . Makes it a lot safer and easier don't forget you will have to moove your genoa cars as you furle to get the correct sheeting possition .Sunday was quite windy we got upto 45.6knts.