The Cunnigham is an invention of Briggs Cunningham, skipper of Columbia and winner of the 1956 America's Cup, as a way of tensioning the luff of the main without violating the class rules regarding maximum luff length, which could be exceeded by stretching the luff. So, if your sail is properl sized for your boat you should be able to tighten the luff with the main halyard. No need for a Cunningham, unless you are racing in a class with that rule.
Nit: heel.
Ditto with reducing friction on the reef line. I lashed my blocks to the dog bones.
That’s not such good advice IMO. You can use a Cunningham to bring the mainsail draft forward racing or not as I said.. Easy to rig. If the mainsail slips some in high wind, quicker to use the Cunningham to tighten the luff than “winching up" to try to get more halyard hoist. Ever use one?
Duh! Uh, have used since maybe about 1976 with Stephen Colgate on City Island, NY.Ever use one?
An old Garmin GPSMap740. PO installed it sometime before I bought the boat. But I wired in the wind data.
And I am probably past due to replace my reefing line…I noticed it is a bit crusty when reefed this weekend…
Mine's relatively new, but I know a lot of guys put blocks on there. Then, the blocks need maintenance, and can add to wear on the sail. So maybe six one, half dozen of the other. Whatever works!
It is always something, and always a compromise
Where I sail I think a second reef is necessary. I really like the single line reefing system. It had been abandoned on my boat when I acquired it, and I resurrected it. It required new line, and also two new "shuttle blocks," which were hard to find. It works really well. I can reef once, and then a second time, while single handing. That second reef is often necessary, it seems always when rounding East Chop off Martha's Vineyard, heading West into Vineyard Sound.It is always something, and always a compromise
I have thought about using one line for the tack and a separate one for the clew, as I think I could tension it correctly that way…but I really want to get the single line reef to work halfway decently.
I do not really expect to need a second reef (I will drop the sail, sail under jib only, or motor in if necessary). So I don’t intend to rig the second reef point (all the time)…I can move my blocks fair.y easily if I REALLY needed to Using the carabiners….But haven’t needed it yet.
Greg
Yes. But when it adds luff tension, some small amount of cloth gathers below the mainsail tack. It must. That displaced material is "replaced" by the draft of the mainsail moving forward some small amount. Also, FYI, the line to the Cunningham can be led aft to the cockpit via a turning block at the mast step plate, and through a rope clutch; etc.
We are adding to thread drift here so maybe this should be a new topic in the sail trim forum, but:
This thread may have drifted from the “discussion” of how to install a second reef point in an old sail to prevent rounding up hard in strong gusts, to one that discusses the actual.need for a second reef point when other options of gust control might be viable. But yes, those options depend on understanding sail trim, but do not justify a separate thread on sail trim b/c there is no issue there except, evidently, how one would use a Cunningham if on a racing boat by citing its origins, etc. (thread drift), rather than focusing on how its use might apply to the OP’s root issue of gust control. I commented that one can use the Cunningham to adjust the draft position of an old sail (#19), then in response we get a lesson on Cunningham history (#21) and halyard tension lacking useful testimonial on having used it (Cunningham) to adjust draft position, or some discussion of that, until much later (#35).
Yes I've done those things except for maybe "shorten headsail"? You mean furl it partially?
