First sail of the season!
- Thread starter sinnettc
- Start date
Yay!!!
Looks like you guys had beautiful conditions out there!
I like the window in the genoa ...I need one of those.
Looks like you guys had beautiful conditions out there!
I like the window in the genoa ...I need one of those.
A couple questions about your reefing, Chris...
Do you leave those sail ties on the sail? ...I don't see knots near the grommet.
Or do you run the sail tie through the grommet when you reef?
I tied a stopper knot on either side of the grommet so they are just hanging when I'm not reefed.
And do you have to position the lowest sail slug below the stopper on the mast track?
...I do. I have a quick release stopper (large knurled thumb screw)
Otherwise, my sail is all bunched up at the tack.
Thanks!
Do you leave those sail ties on the sail? ...I don't see knots near the grommet.
Or do you run the sail tie through the grommet when you reef?
I tied a stopper knot on either side of the grommet so they are just hanging when I'm not reefed.
And do you have to position the lowest sail slug below the stopper on the mast track?
...I do. I have a quick release stopper (large knurled thumb screw)
Otherwise, my sail is all bunched up at the tack.
Thanks!
James,
I usually have a couple of small ball type bungies in the grommets. Could only find one so I grabbed a piece of scrap line and tied the forward one off with that. I don't leave the bungies in because they tend to fly off and disappear when luffing. I've been thinking about trying something "permanent" in the grommets but I'm lazy and don't want to risk having the Admiral put in a granny knot instead of a reef/square knot. I'll probably just buy some new ball bungies and call it good. Or maybe I'll find a couple of toggles and make custom bungies, since I need to replace the jib tie down bungies on the bow.
I had a bit of trouble with the aft reefing line creeping on me yesterday. I've got fairly slippery lines, maybe a bit larger than spec (I tend to go one size up on my lines), and the jam cleat wasn't holding it. Finally had Deborah uncleat the outhaul, which has both a jam cleat and a horn cleat, and used the little horn cleat to hold the reef in. Much better.
I cheat on the sail slugs. I've got a Catalina Direct mast gates for a catalina 22 and a ball bungie wrapped around the mast to keep the slugs from falling out. Unfortunately I bought the wrong size slugs (1/4 instead of 5/16) and the mast gate doesn't hold them in so I took one side out. It's not perfect, but there's enough slack in the bungie that when I pull the reef in, the one slug pops out of the slot, but the rest of the slugs stay put when I drop the sail for the day.
My sail ends up pretty bunched up at the tack and at the clew too. The clew is primarily because there's so many layers of cloth there for the reef point, that it doesn't roll up very well.
I usually have a couple of small ball type bungies in the grommets. Could only find one so I grabbed a piece of scrap line and tied the forward one off with that. I don't leave the bungies in because they tend to fly off and disappear when luffing. I've been thinking about trying something "permanent" in the grommets but I'm lazy and don't want to risk having the Admiral put in a granny knot instead of a reef/square knot. I'll probably just buy some new ball bungies and call it good. Or maybe I'll find a couple of toggles and make custom bungies, since I need to replace the jib tie down bungies on the bow.
I had a bit of trouble with the aft reefing line creeping on me yesterday. I've got fairly slippery lines, maybe a bit larger than spec (I tend to go one size up on my lines), and the jam cleat wasn't holding it. Finally had Deborah uncleat the outhaul, which has both a jam cleat and a horn cleat, and used the little horn cleat to hold the reef in. Much better.
I cheat on the sail slugs. I've got a Catalina Direct mast gates for a catalina 22 and a ball bungie wrapped around the mast to keep the slugs from falling out. Unfortunately I bought the wrong size slugs (1/4 instead of 5/16) and the mast gate doesn't hold them in so I took one side out. It's not perfect, but there's enough slack in the bungie that when I pull the reef in, the one slug pops out of the slot, but the rest of the slugs stay put when I drop the sail for the day.
My sail ends up pretty bunched up at the tack and at the clew too. The clew is primarily because there's so many layers of cloth there for the reef point, that it doesn't roll up very well.
Thanks Chris, just curious how others are doing things...
After positioning the first sail slug below the keeper, I haul the forward reefing line down pretty tight
This seems to get the tack pretty snug at the gooseneck.
Then I do the outhaul, the flattener and the aft reefing line, pulling the clew down.
But someone here made a good suggestion to put another sail tie at the clew grommet.
This would allow you to tie the clew straight down to the boom instead of pulling the clew reef line so hard horizontally...
This idea makes sense to me and I plan on adding this line tomorrow.
You can see in this foto that my sail ties just hang loose when I'm not reefed...
After positioning the first sail slug below the keeper, I haul the forward reefing line down pretty tight
This seems to get the tack pretty snug at the gooseneck.
Then I do the outhaul, the flattener and the aft reefing line, pulling the clew down.
But someone here made a good suggestion to put another sail tie at the clew grommet.
This would allow you to tie the clew straight down to the boom instead of pulling the clew reef line so hard horizontally...
This idea makes sense to me and I plan on adding this line tomorrow.
You can see in this foto that my sail ties just hang loose when I'm not reefed...
Don't forget that part of the point of the reef is to flatten the sail, so some pull aft is good. 
I've seen setups where the reefing line goes through the grommet and is then tied around the boom, directly below the grommet. I've got a couple of pad eyes on the boom so I just tie a bowline around one of them after I run it through the grommet. I don't bother with the flattening reef; actually I'm not sure there's even on on my current main.
I do want to (eventually) run a line through the boom for the second reef. The prior owner took that line out and I didn't need it until I got the second set of reef points installed. Or I might go to a reefing hook with a small block so I can use it in either reef.
I've seen setups where the reefing line goes through the grommet and is then tied around the boom, directly below the grommet. I've got a couple of pad eyes on the boom so I just tie a bowline around one of them after I run it through the grommet. I don't bother with the flattening reef; actually I'm not sure there's even on on my current main. I do want to (eventually) run a line through the boom for the second reef. The prior owner took that line out and I didn't need it until I got the second set of reef points installed. Or I might go to a reefing hook with a small block so I can use it in either reef.
The flattening reef is great for eeking out another season(s) from my tired stretched out main. It's basically my clew now.shnool said:
My current partial batten Dacron main has two reef points (including the webbed hooks at at the luff), the flattening reef, and slugs (I installed the slugs). I'm afraid to find out how much the exact replacement would cost me.
Are you talking about the cunningham downhaul? Shown in this picture against the mast 2nd grommet up from the tack, on the clew. I've since upgraded this to a 4:1 downhaul purchase to the hook.. I've found that halyard tension nearly eliminates it's use.
As opposed to this, which shows the outhaul and flattening reef (I was laughed at by Harry at epsails.com when I asked why the flattening reef point no longer existed on their sails - reasoning was, today's sails don't stretch that much, and if you ARE that out of shape, you'll be better served with a reef).
As opposed to this, which shows the outhaul and flattening reef (I was laughed at by Harry at epsails.com when I asked why the flattening reef point no longer existed on their sails - reasoning was, today's sails don't stretch that much, and if you ARE that out of shape, you'll be better served with a reef).
I have the typical cunningham and flattening reef setup. If those lines are loose, and the halyard is all the way up, there's a large belly along the whole foot of the sail. It's even noticable if I just lay the sail out on the ground. I have to crank down both cunningham and flattening reef essentially making it my new tack and clew. All the fabric below that is about useless since it's drooping over like love handles. That droop is a problem in light air, because the sail has that material weighing it down on one side. I have no idea how old me sails are, and I believe previous owners where serious (lake) racers. The boom is placed at the right hight, and the sail is up as high as it can go. I'm more than open to advice on improving what I have, or telling me that i'm doing it all wrong (still very much a novice here). But replacing my main is not in this year's budget. I tend to reef much earlier than others on the lake (partly due to our larger sail area), but also due to the fact that I can only flatten the thing so much. I use the second reef frequently, where most people here on the forum don't even have one. That tells me either something's wrong with the sail or i'm screwing up somewhere (which is highly likely).