To do running headsail change typically I would get on the tack to raise the new sail in the leeward groove then drop the old inside the new. That seemed to work best for me. Sometimes I would raise the new inside, tack and drop the old. Once new is raised I would switch lazy sheet to new sail. I also had occasion to lower old sail on outside. That worked too. And it worked to do the change while hove too. All-in-all it was an excellent system. I had four headsails - 90, 130, 150, 170. There is no substitute for having the right sail up for the conditions. Far superior to partial rolling. It's called roller furling not roller reefing for a reason?
The downside to the foil is that the sail is not as well contained on the
foredeck as it is with hanks. This was part of my thinking in not going
this way on my 10M. But on the 26 I did not find it to be a problem. I had
a length of shock cord that ran from the forward pulpit base back to the
first stanchion. There was a hook on it and I would secure the sail under
that by hooking it over to the other lifeline or a small padeye on deck. It
was actually a loop of shock cord so I had two lengths to use on the sail. You can see the shock cord in this photo of the bow cleats:
Bow Cleats
I don't have a good photo of the tuff luff on my web site but you can see it
in some of the photos here:
Sails
If I had another P26 I would go this way again. I thought it was great.
Maybe I'll switch my 10M someday. Doubtful but I could have bought the foil
and a new headsail for the price of the furler (harken).
Halyards
To make the most of the Tuff Luff you really need two jib halyards. I converted to internal halyards and added a second jib haluard. See details here:
Conversion to Internal Halyards