How to tie a reef line to boom with a track?

[pgandw]

I use a tack reef line attached to the forward end of mast plate through the tack reef cringle and down to a cleat on the mast. Saves a lot of time when trying to reef quickly - the rams horns just never worked that well for me. Especially when heaving to in a seaway to reef.

I do normally reef at the dock or at anchor on any day when I suspect I will need a reef, especially when single handed. We have small craft advisories on average one day a week in my neck of the woods, so I reef often.

Fred W
Stuart Mariner 19 Sweet P

 

[jssailem]

normally reef at the dock or at anchor on any day when I suspect I will need a reef, especially when single handed

Safe solo sailing is all about executing planned actions.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I need to set up some reefing lines and was going to do it like this, but my sail’s foot slides in a track on the boom. How can I set up reefing lines with a tracked boom?

View attachment 234002

I just took the bolt rope out of the boom and used the "footed" sail as a loose footed sail. It performed much better that way with all of the advantages of being able to better shape the sail. I inistally did it as a test to see if I wanted my new sail to be footed or loose-footed. Loose for me, definatly.

 

[Tally Ho]

I just took the bolt rope out of the boom and used the "footed" sail as a loose footed sail. It performed much better that way with all of the advantages of being able to better shape the sail. I inistally did it as a test to see if I wanted my new sail to be footed or loose-footed. Loose for me, definatly.

Are loose-footed main sails reinforced differently than a bolt-rope-footed sail at the corners (at least the clew)? I only ask so folks don’t tear a sail doing this.

i had a Bolt-rope foot on my old main, and had the loft make a loose-footed main when I replaced it…and I agree…I like the loose foot.

Greg

 

[Hayden Watson]

Are loose-footed main sails reinforced differently than a bolt-rope-footed sail at the corners (at least the clew)? I only ask so folks don’t tear a sail doing this.

i had a Bolt-rope foot on my old main, and had the loft make a loose-footed main when I replaced it…and I agree…I like the loose foot.

Greg

The clew and tack reinforcement are the same. The difference is in how baggy the foot is. On a footed main [also known as a shelf footed main, there is a significant amount of extra cloth added to the foot of the main to allow the draft to be resolved to nothing when it reaches the foot rope. When I sailed my footed main with the rope not in the boom, it would still make the shelf because that was built into the cloth. In spite of the shelf, I was still able to trim the sail much flatter with the loose foot because I was not fighting the friction in the bolt-rope. I liked it so well that I took the factory 3:1 outhaul and added a cocuple of cascades to increase the purchase to 12:1.

When the sail was footed, I basically set the outhaul at the beginning of the season and never thought about it again. After it was loose footed and I could see the affect I now trim the foot all the time and it has a great affect on my light air and heavy air performance.

 

[Tally Ho]

The clew and tack reinforcement are the same. The difference is in how baggy the foot is. On a footed main [also known as a shelf footed main, there is a significant amount of extra cloth added to the foot of the main to allow the draft to be resolved to nothing when it reaches the foot rope. When I sailed my footed main with the rope not in the boom, it would still make the shelf because that was built into the cloth. In spite of the shelf, I was still able to trim the sail much flatter with the loose foot because I was not fighting the friction in the bolt-rope. I liked it so well that I took the factory 3:1 outhaul and added a cocuple of cascades to increase the purchase to 12:1.

When the sail was footed, I basically set the outhaul at the beginning of the season and never thought about it again. After it was loose footed and I could see the affect I now trim the foot all the time and it has a great affect on my light air and heavy air performance.

Good to know. I would have thought more reinforcement on a loose-footed main.

Like you, I adjust my loose-footed one much more than I did my old sail.

Greg

 

[4lane]

Why should the cheek block be directly below the reef cringle and not slightly behind it? I would think having it just behind would pull it tight like an outhaul, as opposed to leaving it slack when it's just pulled down to the boom with no aft tension.

Unlike the picture, the cheek block should be directly below your reef cringle, not behind it.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I have single-line reefing and a loose-footed main. I simply tie the working end to the boom. The foot slug isn't sliding and the outhaul is set with the foot all the way aft when I'm reefed so I see no reason for interference. Besides that, the reef line for the 1st reef is set well forward of any position the slug might have anyway. Your pictures show the reef cringle far lower than it would be in reality and picture in post #12 shows a nearly vertical leech so the pictures aren't an accurate representation where the line actually intersects the boom. The reef line tied to the boom shouldn't be anywhere near the normal range of the foot slug.

Why does the outhaul line look exactly like the reefing line? Where is the tail end of the reefing line hauled in and secured?

 

[jssailem]

Why should the cheek block be directly below the reef cringle and not slightly behind it?

If you need to install a "Cheek block", then its location behind the cringle will provide some flattening of the sail foot when reefed. Generally, when having to reef, the goal is to manage the size of the sail. The sail shape is a lower priority (unless you are racing).

Most sail makers do not make the reef points as strong as the clew at the base of the main. Their goal is to provide a way of reducing the sail size and securing it on the boom. If you are coastal sailing, it is less likely you will be sailing for a long period of time, reefed.

If you are sailing in open waters and will be making long passages, then you will look at your sails and their construction differently. You may be exposed to Force 8 and greater winds, and reefing takes on a whole different level of importance.

If your boom has sheaves for reefing at the end of the boom, then your reef cringle will be drawn towards the boom end as you draw in the reef line. Locating a "cheek block" further towards the end of the boom than the reef cringle would have the same effect.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Why should the cheek block be directly below the reef cringle and not slightly behind it? I would think having it just behind would pull it tight like an outhaul, as opposed to leaving it slack when it's just pulled down to the boom with no aft tension.

You would not want the cheek block directly under the clew cringle. If you are using a jiffy reefing cheek block where the dead end is tied to the same slider that the cheek block is on, you want the slider possitioned so that it is farther aft so that both the dead end and working end pull down and back to tension the foot and leach. You will need to experiment with the location to get the foot and clew tension correct. For a starting point, the if you imagine the lines projecting to the mast, they should bisect the luff of the reefed sail. If you just have a cheek block and the dead end is tied to the boom, you move the car farther aft.

 

[JBP-PA]

Why should the cheek block be directly below the reef cringle and not slightly behind it? I would think having it just behind would pull it tight like an outhaul, as opposed to leaving it slack when it's just pulled down to the boom with no aft tension.

Slightly behind is fine. You want to pull the reef point down and back. If one end of the reef line goes to the end of the boom as in the picture, it is pulling back, but not down much. Puuting the cheek block under the reef point ensures you are pulling down and back.

Here us a long discussion about how far back is too far.

Loading…

forums.sailboatowners.com

This about where I like them if the other end goes though the end of the boom.