I did check the manual. It has been very helpful, but doesn't tell the whole story.
My boat has the Isomat boom and spars, which really is the source of the problem. The boat was rigged, from its initial commissioning, using the Isomat reefing design. This design, as some users may know, uses a notorious "shuttle block" inside the boom to translate the reefing force from the tack to the clew.
This, however, is *not* how the manual shows the reefing lines should be run... in fact it doesn't even show the shuttle block in the boom.
What the manual does show is a block at the reef point of the main along the leech. This does, in fact, translate the reefing force from the tack to the clew, once the tack is pulled down to the guide on the mast.
So as I am in the process of replacing all of the running rigging, after staring long and hard at that shuttle block and the mess of lines it created inside the boom, I decided there was no good reason to use it. It created no mechanical advantage, and instead added a lot of friction. Moreover, I asked a professional rigger about the shuttle block and he concurred...they are troublesome, and often end up over the course of a few years getting twisted inside the boom, requiring owners to remove the ends of their boom to get the whole mess out.
So, I cut all the lines, removed the shuttle block, and have as best as possible replicated the design in the O'day manual, which appears effective, and efficient. I do need a much longer reefing line than described in the manual, however (about 55').
Still working on a good outhaul design to work with my brandy-new loose-footed main. If you're interested, I'll let you know when I get that reasonably well sorted out.
Best,
Greg
