My friend Hans, who advised me while I was writing the article on the tragedy aboard Escape, took me out on his Farr 56 for a demo of hoisting, reefing, and furling, using his in-boom automated mainsail-handling system.

Hans is an incredible resource, since he has owned boats with slab, in-mast, and in-boom furling, as well as being a deeply experienced ocean sailor, including countless trips to and from the Caribbean over decades, and five trans-Atlantics in the last few years—two with slab reefing, two with in-mast, one with in-boom.

I will be sharing his wisdom on all three systems and how to choose which is best for each of us, in an in-depth article.

With fractional rigs we are way more interested in how much pumping the adjuster down has shortened the backstay and bent the mast than we are the reading on the pressure gauge (within reason). That’s why the marked batten.

Click on images to enlarge

You see people taping messenger lines to halyards, but that can lead to tears when the messenger comes off inside the mast.

So way better to put a flemish eye, sometimes known as a reaving eye, in the bitter end of all halyards and internal reefing lines.

The key to success is that the eye should have no bigger diameter than the rope, so a normal splice does not work.

Or, if you suck at rope work as much as I do, get a good rigger to do it for you.