How attach reefing lines

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by sailboy21

nitpicking the angular relationships in my 2 minute paint picture? Wow...

Sailboy, sorry about that. That wasn't my intention but I can see why you took it that way.

We were really just discussing the proper attachment points for the reef line -- your illustration came in handy for discussion purposes. Thanks for posting it -- it succeeds at illustrating your point and it's far better than anything I could have drawn.

[Bene505]

Thanks Sailingfool and Tweitz. I can picture it now, with either the line tied back to itself (with half hitches, I would think) or with a bowline around the boom. Come spring I'll have to try both methods and see.

tweitz -- what you describe matches the diagram in my manual. My main doesn't have the built in blocks. My setup is different than the manual.

Also the boat is setup for double line reefing, done at the mast. (Dogs on the boom, no mast or deck hardware to bring the lines down and back.) I'd have to add some hardware to bring the lines back to the cockpit. That would make sense, so I'll hold off on getting reefing hooks.

The new deck hardware is going to be below a bunch of other things on the priority list (harness, tethers, jacklines, life raft inspection, rudder bushing double-check, keel rust, radar, adding a 3rd reef to the sail). I do like the idea of having the 1st reef stay at the mast and the second reef done from the cockpit. And the 3rd too, if so equipped.

[davidpm]

You once sent me this picture. Did you get it from your manual. Add a fairlead and maybe a block and you could do the same thing.
One line instead of two.

[sailingdog]

A double-line reefing system is probably a better choice IMHO. YOu can read why it is here.

Originally Posted by davidpm

You once sent me this picture. Did you get it from your manual. Add a fairlead and maybe a block and you could do the same thing.
One line instead of two.

[Bene505]

David,

I'm not sure if the dogs on the mast end of the boom would make a single-line system workable without having to be replaced. And if a double line system is better, it would be better to rig that up, IMHO.

Since I have to go to the mast to lower the main, I'll need to make some modifications there too. So this is probably a project for next winter. I'd love to get your take on which pieces of gear to buy and how to go about mounting them. Then I'll start collecting the pieces between now and then.

Regards