I find it easier to shake out a reef than take one, and it's better to be safe than sorry.
I find it easier to shake out a reef than take one, and it's better to be safe than sorry.
@duck21
As others have mentioned, tying the buntlines to the boom is not recommended as it is too easy to get them tight enough to rip the cringles out of the sail. On my sails, both old/soft and newer stiff, never needed the reefed cloth to be tied up. It lays against the side of the boom and doesn't luff.
As for a single line system, here is what I've done. @Hayden Watson taught me this set up.
At the tack reef point and clew reef point I installed Harken Air Blocks which are very light. I used soft shackles to attach them to rings on the other side of the cringle.
I start the reef line with a bowline at the aft end of the boom positioned so the reef line goes straight up to the block at the clew reef point and back to the end of the boom, into the boom to the mast. It exits at the mast goes up to the tack reef point, through the block and back down to a block at the base of the mast, then back to the cockpit. I installed BB sheaves in the boom ends. This ensures the least possible friction.
My procedure, when I'm ready to reef, is to let out the main sheet. I then lower the main halyard to a pre marked point on the halyard for reefing. That mark puts the tack reef point about 8-10" above the boom.
I then pull in the reef line to a pre mark on that line. The clew end of the line pulls the clew reef point down to within 8-10" of the boom AND the angle back to the boom end applies outhaul tension to the clew reef point. The reef line pulls the reef tack point down to 8-10" of the boom.
I then sheet in the main. I keep the boat sailing under the Genoa while putting in the reef.
Keeping the tack points 8-10" above the boom keeps the reef line from rubbing agains the sail which would cause friction. Using all BB blocks also helps to reduce friction so the line tension is equal enough to tack and clew to provide decent sail shape.
I know that using separate reef lines for tack and clew allows better trimming of the sail but I'm very happy with my single line system.
Edit: I can put in and shake out a reef in under a minute while never leaving the cockpit.
Let me ask you a question then. If they are such a bad idea, why have they been used for hundreds of years, if not thousands?As others have mentioned, tying the buntlines to the boom is not recommended as it is too easy to get them tight enough to rip the cringles out of the sail.
I reef to the forecast, often before weighing anchor. I find it easier to shake out a reef than take one, and it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, my boat sails faster with less heel.
Let me ask you a question then. If they are such a bad idea, why have they been used for hundreds of years, if not thousands?
Again, they are not buntlines, they are nettles. And, they protect and preserve the sail by preventing it from wear by flogging.
"Clewlines and buntlines are lines used to handle the sails of a square rigged ship." (Via wikipedia.)
Buntlines are used to haul up the middle of a square sail when furling.
Reading the conditions of the waves was the primary means of telling the wind speed for centuries. The disturbances you are talking about at tidal convergence is not wave, that is rips and they look completely different from the wave pattern.That's a really simplistic model and does not hold true across environments (nor vessels or sailors). White capping is not a good indicator of wind speed except in fairly predictable environments where the wave period and height as well as fetch are known and consistent. Around here, we get tidal convergences that cause white capping in the complete absence of wind. True, decades of experience have allowed me to get a sense of what the wind is actually doing in the distance, but it has also taught me to wait and see what is going to stick.
Also, wind and waves don't always go together in predictable and consistent ways. In your area, it is fairly consistent. But, in many parts of the world (like my area), conditions are much more capricious. If you reef and shake out or add/remove sail every time you see a change in conditions on the horizon, you will do little else.
The advice to reef early is safe and sound, and that's what the text book says, but my point is that almost no one does this. In fact, I would say that the more experienced a person is, the less likely they are to actually follow their own advice on this. We know that we can handle it if things get a bit interesting, so are less likely to proactively reef, out of concern that conditions might stiffen.
I taught sailing for some time and would advise students to reef early because that is the safe thing to do. But, it most certainly isn't what is actually done, in practice. Not among experienced sailors. We all wait until the decision not to reef is conspicuously the wrong call. Don't believe me? Take a poll. If being honest, 9 out of 10 experienced sailors will admit to consistently waiting too long to make the decision to reef.
Ultimately, knowing whether reefing is the right call is something you only get to find out in retrospect.
Being one who has suffered for years from an undersized main caused by damage done to the main from the reefpoints being tied down, I am firmly in the better off without camp.I think the distinction that's perhaps getting muddled is that of the function -- some folks (definitely me, perhaps others who have damaged their sail) assumed those lines were there to create an artificial foot in order to preserve sail shape in a reef. However, based on others experience (damaged sails) and info from this thread I've learned that this the wrong use and trying to use the nettles [new vocab] this way is a bad idea.
The proper use of the nettles to keep the excess sail in place and keeping that sail from experiencing wear and tear is obviously not a bad idea, but is new information to some of us with a little less experience.
Doug
Very helpful video!Here is a Youtube video I made of putting in the 1st reef.
Sorry for the huffing and puffing and how long it took. From fully trimmed main to fully trimmed reef it took 51-seconds. It is ussually quicker than this but with the narration and being tired I was slow. This was the third time I did it because the first two times, the "cameraman" forgot to push the record button!
Also, I should note that in my frustrated state, I had forgot to lock the reef line clutch so the sail is properly trimmed @ 0:53 but is getting a bit loose in the next shot.
single line reef (youtube.com)