Do you reef?

[Colonel John W. Day]

Simple Roller Furling Main Reef Calculations

Ladies and GentlemenHaving done several of these for friends, I looked to see if there was a relationship between them. Math. Indeed there was. You can try these simple calculations, if you are interested. If you have one of the newer sails with a bit of roach in it, it will throw this off a bit but nothing to get excited about. The primary assumption is that the sail is full at 15 knots and you plan to start reefing then. Measure the foot of your sail. At 20 knots, use 75% of the foot's total length. At 25 knots, use 60% of the foot's length. At 30 knots, use 50% of the foot's length, and at 50 knots, go to the bar or use 30% of the foot's length. Mark these on the boom and you are ready to go. Hope this helps.D-DayHunter 380, Fox IIIP.S. MH ... sorry about the aero course last night on the email.

 

[jcherubini]

The necessity of reefing.

Anyone who has any serious experience in sailing knows that reefing is a mandatory skill, as so many of the experienced people on here have said. If you are not comfortable with your ability in handing or shaking a simple slab reef, I will reiterate what I've said about anchoring and man-overboard emergencies: PRACTISE. Not all your time aboard should be care-free and luxury. It is too easy to learn something like this whilst it is calm out to not be able to rely on your own confidence when you need to.On a boat up to about 35 ft I would say you should slab-reef by yourself in about 60 seconds, with a cremate on the halyard or helm in about 30-45. Practise till you can. Overdriving the boat in 25 knots or more of weather whilst pushing 5 ft of bow wave and rolling gunnel to gunnel in a quarter sea is NOT skippering, it is postponing an emergency, which is not what recreation is supposed to be about.JC

 

[jcherubini]

Reef points

Colonel Day has made some pretty good mathematical observations, but if there are no reef points at all on your sail and you want to know where to punch in a few grommets, it does not have to be rocket science. Figure about 15-20 percent of the total available mainsail area for the first one. Make the reef foot bisect the angle between the original foot and a line perpendicular to the luff where the new reef meets the luff (approximating a new foot). The next one should be the same percentage of the remaining area and at a similar angle. You should not need more than two unless you are going to sea without a trysail or spare main (which is oxymoronic).Only excessive sail roach needs to be considered or calculated in this-- most of the time it is not enough to worry about. And unless practice has changed in the last 15 years or so, designers, builders, and sailmakers do not consider roach either but calculate only the basic trinagle of the sail (to a taut topping lift but not aft of it). Besides where you would slab-reef I can't imagine there is any roach you'd notice at all anyway.Remember the grommets for your new reef points have to be reinforced plenty strong as they represent heavy-weather sailing. So whilst you are at the sailmakers remember he will probably know precisely where reefs ought to go-- and my dad himself tended to leave these details up to Skip Moorhouse or the late John Eggers and their lofts.J Cherubini IICherubini Art & Nautical Design Org.

 

[Wanderer138]

Additional value of reefing

I was told a while back that reefing early on Hunters and other boats with powerful mainsails reduces heel, decreases wetted surface, provides a more symmetrical hull shape underwater and causes less weather helm. All this can help your boatspeed. I now have living proof that this is true.I was out "racing" another H23 after work last night in about 15 kts of wind. They were reefed and I wasn't. They got a four boatlength jump at the start and were able to keep for about a mile and a half until the wind started to fade (the extra sail area now made a difference).The whole time I was chasing them I noticed that they were heeled less, pushed a smaller bow wave and had less weather helm. The lesson? Reefing is not unmanly...er..unpersonly? I got it...inhuman!PeterH23 "Raven"

 

[John Lynch]

Point of Sail called "Heave to" makes it Easy

Still excited 1 Day after sailing our new boat, 1981 H-27, during the sea trials of our survey. I have been on bigger and smaller, prejudice aside she was quick , responsive and I forgot my presumption to look into a cabin top traveller for the main. Reefing was a blast on her and she did well in 20 knots. The secret to reefing before you leave the pier,( do you really want people to see you reefing there, giving them no excuse but to wonder , scared already)?, is to "heave to". Either P or S tack prepare the crew for tacking, call out and steer as far to leeward as your wheel /tiller will allow. Tie off the tiller or tighten the wheel and adjust the foresail around the shrouds without any unnecessary chafing. You are set! The foresail you have now is backwinding the main and you are "sliding" to leeward slowly. To be crude, you have put the emergency brake on. Swim, eat , change CD's and then you can reef the main at your leisure.On a more serious note this point of sail, "heave to", is an excellent maneouver to teach your crew should the skipper become incapacitated or fall over board, especially if you only sail with your 1st mate/wife like I do. After the steering is set, she need only adjust the foresail sheets, gather her senses and plan a rational course of action. Much better than telling your wife,"If anything happens to me just drop the sails,...etc. Glad to be a Hunter owner.

 

[John Nantz]

Save your Sails

The good part about reefing is it will help save your sails from getting blown out. The sails that come with most new boats are low-bid and therefore can be assumed to be made of the less expensive sail cloth.Since the sail cloth weight is in increments it is possible the weight chosen could be on the light-weight side. New sails are expensive and if one can take care of their old sails by not letting them get blown out any sooner than they need to you'll be financially ahead.A reefing jib is more than just furling it in a bit - the sail looses it's shape quickly when it's furled a bit unless it's designed for that purpose.Reefing is one tool to help protect the investment in your sails.

 

[Bill]

First time

I just sailed for the first time on my newly purchased H34. It was a experience; as it gusted above 15-18 knots, she had a mind of her own and simply heeled way over then rounded up. She was totally unresponsive to the wheel. I'll be reefing early.

 

[Bob Camarena]

When in Doubt

If I'm wondering whether or not to reef before I go out, I reef at the dock. It's always easier to shake out the reef if it turns out that I don't need it than put one in. On the other hand, putting one in isn't that tough once you've practiced a few times. I have a reef hook at the gooseneck and a rigid vang which helps a lot. I've toyed with rigging up single line reefing so I can do it all from the cockpit, but haven't got around to it yet.

 

[Al Sandrik]

Think I reefed down 4 times this winter...

I wound up buying a neat little gadget from an article in Sailing Mag that is a 4 or 6 foot stretch of line with a jam cleat at one end (Reefmaker I think its called). Makes reefing a snap, I think I put a reef in 5 minutes in 20 knot winds the other day (with my girlfiend at the helm, which is a challenge in its own right at this point in her learning curve). Best part is each one only cost $4 or $5 dollars, what in sailing is that cheap these days (other than the wind and waves)?

 

[Tom]

Reefing the hard way.b

I have a '71 catalina 27'. I have been reefing it with individual ties in the grommets, but I noticed that there are several eyes on the bottom of the boom. I am sure that this is for single line reefing, but I have no idea how to run the lines. The manual is no help, and I asked a salesperson at West Marine and they told me to get a rigger out to set it up. She said it is incorporated with the topping lift of the boom. Is there a diagram, or a book that will have this in it? Thanks,Tom

 

[Lee Henderson]

when to reef

When do most of you Hunter 27 owners reef?

 

[david lewis]

when to reef

several months back I wrote a little about efficiency of a sailboat which John Cherubini II followed up on. Boats and sails are designed to be most efficient when upright. As the boat heels the wind no longer blows across the sail as desired. As a rule of thumb I use 20 degrees of heel angle as the proper time to reef. After that you will not get any more speed due to limitations of hull speed due to hydrodynamic forces (BOW WAVES AND STERN WAVES) but the additional load on the rigging, sail and boat will be extreme. In other words after 20 degrees of heel you are damaging your equipment and shortening its' life. Reef once at 20 degree of heel then reef again at 20 degrees of heel again. If you need a third reef it is probably time to think about a storm jib and trysail.Dave

 

[Jay Beery]

I Can't Reef, missing a grommet...

My C22 has had aftermarket sails installed in its long shadowy past. It has Saber Sails, but for some reason they didn't put in the grommet in the leach of the sail. It has on in the luff, and some smaller ones to tie to the mast, but that's it. It doesn't even look like it tore out and was repaired. Any ideas out there. Where can I send it to have one installed?Thanks, Jay

 

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending 4/16/2001:Do you know how to reef?61% No sweat21% Seldom reef13% Do it but prefer not to06% Use engine instead