Jiffy Reefing

[Indysailor]

This thread was quite fortuitous for us. We sailed today and decided to try reefing the main since it was quite gusty (thanks guys for all the pics and the video!). The only problem I had was with the slugs, keeping them from spilling out because I had to remove the track gate in order to get the reef point low enough. Once I got the main reefed we sailed with the 130 gennie all the way out in about 13-15 knot winds and the boat handled really well. Prior to that, it just felt like that kind of wind was overpowering her.

Then my wife noticed a seam coming loose in the gennie and we had to limp back to the club under the main. But we'll be out again tomorrow after she sews the sail- forecast is for another great sailing day.

 

[Joe11688]

That's a great guide on jiffy reefing Dave. I like the way the sliding cheek blocks are set up on a track for more than one set of reefing points too. All you need for reefing a Mainsail on any boat is a rams horn on the goose neck and a reefing set up like this one and you're right in business. If I didn't have the internal control lines in my boom, I would opt for a set up such as this with the jam cleats near the goose neck on the Port side of my boom within easy reach. Also, the track is long enough for you to select the pulling angle of each sliding cheek block. This alone, takes all the guess work out of it.