Question
Member Philip asks:
…The big problem I keep seeing is that the conventional approach just pulls downward on the sail, without maintaining any outhaul tension, which messes up the sail shape.
Do you – or anyone else here – have any proven ideas to address this problem?
Answer
You are right to be concerned since getting this right is critical to getting a good flat shape from the reefed main.
On a related subject, I have single line reefing for reefs 1&2 and I’m going to stick with it for now and try to make it work. One issue is friction within the sheaves on my boom. Current reef lines are 12mm poly double braid. I am thinking of going to a Dyneema or UHMWPE core double braid in 10mm for less friction and less stretch. Does this seem like a reasonable solution? I had thought of using uncovered Dyneema where the line runs through the sheaves but worry about chafe and UV.
Hi Jesse,
Yes, definitely go for Dyneema with Dacron sheath. We changed on the M&R 56 some years ago and never looked back: https://www.morganscloud.com/2017/12/09/running-rigging-recommendations-part-1/
And, no don’t use uncovered or strip it.
As to single line reefing, sure, give it a try, since you have it. But don’t beat a dead horse if it’s just not working. A really good rule in running rigging that has rarely failed me is:
simpler = better
The reason is, as you say, friction is an SOB that is really hard to overcome.
Here’s a real world example: https://www.morganscloud.com/2016/07/12/hoisting-the-mainsail-made-easy-simplicity-in-action/
I’m a big fan of Samson’s MLX3 line. Very low stretch with a polyester UHMWPE core, with the UV resistance of a straight polyester cover, without breaking the bank. And it has a cool gray color…not that I’d care about something as trivial as color.
And +1 for the timber hitch. Amazingly secure for its low complexity.
Hi Ben,
Sure you could use that line and it would work well in that application, that said, I’m a big fan of having the reefing lines in different colours and I see it does indeed come in three tracer colours, so even better.
Hi John,
Interesting, I am not sure I have ever seen double ended reefing lines before. I am curious as to when they are preferable? The only things I can think of are:
Eric
Hi Eric,
Yes, rare, the boat came that way and the boom was made by Sterns Yacht Systems back in the day.
Originally all three reefs were that way until I float tested one of the sheaves from the first reef and left it that way.
The big advantage is always reefing to windward, which I liked a lot, plus the ability to refresh the nip.
The downside is lots of complication and potential chafe inside the boom.
Our reef lines are double-ended. They go through cheek blocks on both sides of the boom near the clew, then forward through several sets of eye straps to a clutch bank and a winch on each side of the boom near the gooseneck.
It is visually a little less clean than running them inside the boom (which in our case would require new custom boom-end fittings).
But it means that we can always stand on the windward / uphill side when reefing, and the chafe points are different every time so the lines last longer, and if a line jams somewhere it’s all fully accessible while underway, and if hardware were to break on one side we can just tie the line off and use the other side’s clutch and winch.
Hi Matt,
Yes, I think there’s a lot to be said for that system, particularly that you can see everything.
I find ours to be ideal in almost every respect, except that the luff of the mainsail uses simple plastic slides, and the main halyard winch is on the cabin top. On a new build or a refit that had the budget for it, I would specify ball-bearing cars or a very slippery slide track, and would attach the halyard winch to the mast itself.
Hi Matt,
Yes, good call on moving the winch onto the mast on a cruising boat. Way more ergonomic for the reasons I detail in the linked article on simplicity.
One thought, you may wish to consider a Tides track. I don’t think they are up to hard offshore work, but I installed one on our j/109 and it’s one of the best changes we have made and, reasonable economic for what it is.
Maybe you can address the tack next. I’ve seen a lot of luff tapes strained aft. I know you have!
Hi Drew,
Good idea, thanks.
John,
Many thanks for indulging my question. These are the exact answers I needed.
Hi John,
You wrote:
“Once that’s right, it’s worth installing a small pad eye that the timber hitch loop runs through, to stop it moving fore and aft.”
It might be worth considering, instead of 2 or 3 padeyes, one for each reef, install a pin track (small boat jib sheet adjustment track) with cars with an eye big enough for the reef line. The track cars will merely be for positioning, so not every bolt hole has to be used for installation.
In this way, small adjustments can always be made when needed by moving the cars along the track and when a new sail is purchased, there will be no need to reposition the padeye: even if the sail is a “duplicate” there will be adjustments.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi John,
As a variation to the single-ended pennant method, it may be worth mentioning the use of reefing nappies. They involve a wide piece of very strong fabric wrapped around the boom. The fabric is wide, say 20 cm, under the boom and on its sides; it narrows down along the top half on each side of the boom to reduce into two strong loops at the top of the boom for the reefing pennant to tie into.
The idea is to spread the load on a wider area of the boom and to avoid point loads behind knots pressed against the boom. This has evolved from racing practices and is particularly recommended for carbon booms.
Hi Jean-Louis,
Sure, I saw those years ago on some 505’s for the mainsheet, when people were experimenting with large diameter very thin walled booms to save weight. And I have also seen them on very light Carbon race booms, as you say. That said, I’m guessing that most all cruising booms, carbon or not, would be thick enough that point loading from the reef would not be a problem. That said, if that’s what the boom maker wants, we should definitely do it, just like we must use Spartite, not wedges, on carbon masts.
Thank you John – this article for me is extremely helpful and timely having sheered a number of reefing lines as I continue to adapt from J24 racing to long distance cruising. Appreciate you and everyone that adds in – cheers!
Hi Edmond.
Glad it was helpful.
How tight do you have to get the reef line? I was under the impression that you had to winch it kind of all the way down to the boom, kind of like in the top picture, but most other pictures you don’t tighten it that much. I really struggle to keep the bunt of the sail from getting snagged by the reef line and getting pulled through the grommet on the sail.
I don’t see that much sail shape benefit from getting it all the way down to the boom (I can have the reef line terminated further aft to get a good angle), but I do like the fact that the boom gets higher up and away from the sea by getting it snug all the way up to the sail.
Hi Arne,
Generally a good rule is as tight as the bunt of the sail will let you. As you say, no really good reason to crush the hell out of the sail as long as the sailmaker put enough rocker in the reefpoints to keep the boom out of the water.