[Brian Duff]

Sailor,

I am not sure off hand which mast is on the Lafitte 44, and that will have some bearing on just what areas are in need of improvement. My guess from your description that it is likely a Z-spar/Isomat type system. Other systems will require different attentions than listed below.

The upgrades we make to ease operation of in-mast roller furling are as follows, and probably in this order of priority (presuming all pieces are working now)
-Tune mast with very very little pre-bend
-Replace sheaves in boom with bronze bushing sheaves (finding 'off the shelf' ball bearing sheaves is not usually possible, and not needed when good sheaves are made- as in zephyrwerks.com)
-replace blocks on boom, mast base and deck organizers with ESP blocks from Harken
- replace both furling and outhaul line with low stretch and smaller diameter line (except on 'worm drive' style in-mast spindles, where line size must remain the same)
-replace the car on boom for ball bearing car (last because its most expensive to do, and really the car is not a big friction source when used correctly)

of course none of these things will solve the problem you have if the bearings of the furling unit itself are dirty, or broken, or if the unit is not used correctly. Make sure the vang is loosend off (but not free) so that the leech is not strapped during unrolling, as this will make friction at the car, and all other points, that doesn't need to be there. Also having wind in the sail loaded will increase friction and make furling difficult, as well as the last few feet of un-furling.

Course you could get an electric winch, as on a 44' boat manual drive is really too much for most sailors anyway.

Good Luck !