Reefing woes

[adamowens]

In the past month of daysailing I've had enough breeze to put a single reef in twice. I've rerun the clew reefing lines so that the go up and cross the leech and come down the same side of the sail. This really prevents the leech from bundling up under the loaded up reef line. Still, I'm not happy with the sail shape. With the reef lines running to the end of the boom I don't seem to have a good balance between outward and downward pull and it results in a fairly full foot and some odd wrinkles near the clew. It's not nearly as flat as I would like.
I have purchased two beefy cheek blocks and I am considering moving the reef lines to the side of the boom.
Before I drill holes in the boom, has anyone else done this and how did it work out? I am thinking of mounting the blocks about 6" aft of where the clew cringles would lay on the boom. Any advice?

Adam
PSC31 Journey

[sailingfool]

Moving the trim point forward from the back of the boom, is un-necssary and can't do anything useful. All the newer boom fittings I see simply have the reefing lines coming out of the endcap fitting. If you are not getting a good set, you have something wrong. Do you trim the reefing clew til it reaches the boom?

Do you run the bitter end of the reefing line around the boom and attach it to itself, for clarification you could carefully read the thread: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learni...youve-got.html

If so the reefing clew should both come to the boom and be pulled aft, giving a flat foot. Are you having trouble trimming the reefing line far enough? Do you release the boom vang? Use a winch if necessary.

PS - it is a woefully bad idea to install anything on the boom that has sharp edges...

[JohnRPollard]

Hi Adam,

A couple comments.

First, along the lines of what Sailingfool was commenting... It's a bit tricky to tell from your description, but it sounds like you are maybe bringing the bitter end of the reefing line back to the end of the boom and securing it there? If so, it would be much better to take that bitter end and tie it around the boom, just below and slightly aft of where the clew reefing cringle is in the sail. This will allow the reefing line to both pull the new "foot" aft AND down snug, which is what you want.

Second. I'm not sure I like the way you reave the reefing line. I much prefer it to go through the cringle from one side and then down the other side of the sail to where it ties around the boom. I've never tried your approach, but it seems like it would introduce a lot of friction.

Also, as for the blocks you've purchased: I do not believe you need them, at least not for first and second reef points. (It might be helpful to position the lead farther forward for a third reef.) But they definitely should be mounted quite a bit more than six inches aft of the grommet. Six inches aft is actually a good place for the bitter end of the line that is providing the downward pull.

One other general suggestion is to be sure to take up on the topping lift while tucking in the reef. Of course, you would ease mainsheet and vang first.

[adamowens]

The bitter end of my reefing line comes straight down from the cringle and wraps under the boom and is tied back to itself with a bowline.
It just seems that the downward pull is fine but there is not much "outhaul" with the reefing line.
Maybe I am not getting it tight enough. I loosen the vang and mainsheet but I have not tried taking up on the topping lift until I get the reef in.

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by adamowens

The bitter end of my reefing line comes straight down from the cringle and wraps under the boom and is tied back to itself with a bowline.
It just seems that the downward pull is fine but there is not much "outhaul" with the reefing line.
Maybe I am not getting it tight enough. I loosen the vang and mainsheet but I have not tried taking up on the topping lift until I get the reef in.

Oh, okay, that's good to know.

I think you'll find if you pull up snug on the topping lift, it will set better. Then ease it out again when you're happy with how it looks. Also, crank that reefing line real tight. Can you get it to a winch?

If you can get that bitter end secured around the boom a little bit aft of the cringle, so there is some "outhaul" component and not just downward, that will help too.

[FirstSightPS31]

When I took my test sail on First Sight last summer, the rigger made a big point of raising the boom with the topping lift before snugging the reefing line, so I assume this is a major factor in getting a good set.

[legarots]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

... for clarification you could carefully read the thread: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learni...youve-got.html

This link is broken. I think you need to remove the ../ from the URL. I'll repost it here.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learni...youve-got.html

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by legarots

This link is broken. I think you need to remove the ../ from the URL. I'll repost it here.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learni...youve-got.html

Thanks for fixing, interesting though is the link worked immediately after I posted it as I always test one...Yikes.

[stevemac00]

It seems like the forces on the cringle should pull down and aft. I had my old rigging blueprints scanned because there was so much useful information in them. Here is a link to my copy - look at the reefing detail.
http://sail-talisman.com/talisman/ps...ng%20Guide.pdf

[stevemac00]

Hmm. Link worked in preview (maybe the space). Try the actual link to paste.
http://sail-talisman.com/talisman/ps...ng%20Guide.pdf