Picture of a O'Day 222 mainsail reefed?

[estopa]

I still have the original main sail on my O'day 222. I see that it has the eye holes on the sail and 3 sliding blocks on the boom (Zspars). The furthest stern block on the boom is connected to the backstay, so I have 2 others free on the boom. Are these sliding blocks are what I need to attach a rope between the sail eye holes to?

I do better with pictures and wondering if there was some illustration somewhere? Also with a picture I want to see how the sail looks like tied at the foot.

Also I have some lines on the leech side of the main sail that can be adjusted. Is this the flattening of the sail I have been reading about reefing on this site?

Lastly the luff side of the main have to be tied down at the foot of the sail? I am assuming when I lower the main sail to reef there will be extra sail at the foot of the main sail.

Sorry for the newbie post but want to practice reefing before making the trek out to the rOnDAYvous. Especially if I get stuck out in heavy winds.

 

[estopa]

Ok so I spent sometime this weekend figuring out the reefing on a 222 with the Z-spars boom. Please offer any suggests on if I did this correctly or not. Also unsure of what knots to use where.
Here is how I determined the leech side of the sail.

At the boom I used bow tie knots LOL Any Comments?

Is this how it supposed to look like reefed?

I noticed it only had one ring to tie the sail on the starboard side of the sail.

So any suggestions? Am I on the right track? Trying to get this sorted before my voyage to the rOnDAYvous. Much appreciated!!!

 

[Joe11688]

Ok so I spent sometime this weekend figuring out the reefing on a 222 with the Z-spars boom. Please offer any suggests on if I did this correctly or not. Also unsure of what knots to use where.
Here is how I determined the leech side of the sail.

At the boom I used bow tie knots LOL Any Comments?

Is this how it supposed to look like reefed?

I noticed it only had one ring to tie the sail on the starboard side of the sail.

So any suggestions? Am I on the right track? Trying to get this sorted before my voyage to the rOnDAYvous. Much appreciated!!!

It's not quite right George. The reefing line wants to exit the end of the boom and run straight up the leech of the sail on that side, through the reefing grommet and down to the bail under the boom and tie off. Instead of tying a knot to the bail, you can also run the rope through the bail and tie a figure eight stopper knot at the end as I do. I'll take some pics of mine tomorrow when I get down to the club to go out, and I'll post them. Reef knots to hold the loose sail are easy to tie. They are nothing but square knots with one quick release loop. It's like tying your shoes with a square knot with one quick release loop instead of two. There's one other very important thing that you also need to do. Remove two of the sail slides from the mast track before you pull on the reefing line. In your pictures, I can see a lot of tension near the foot of your sail. All that tension needs to be on the sail's reefing luff cringle on the goose head horn. Just do what I do. Tie a 15" piece of 3/16" braid rope around your mast,-above your winch- and below your sail slides. This will act as a sail slide stop to keep your sail slides from running out of the track when you let your sail down.

1. When you reef your sail, pull up on your topping lift to keep your boom from falling down.

2. Then untie the rope and lower your sail and let two sail slides drop out of the mast track.

3.Then lower the sail and insert the reef ring into the horn and raise it back up.

4. Pull your reefing line at the goose neck and lock it.

5. Then release your topping lift, gather your loose sail and tie your reefing points under your boom with reef knots.

Here's a couple of pictures of my sail track rope. I keep tied to my winch with light twine so it doesn't get lost. I also use a reef knot to tie it. Check it out.
Joe

 

[estopa]

There's one other very important thing that you also need to do. Remove two of the sail slides from the mast track before you pull on the reefing line. In your pictures, I can see a lot of tension near the foot of your sail.

Oh I screw a wood screw into that plastic sleeve till it touches the inner mast slide. I like your idea of a rope.

All that tension needs to be on the sail's reefing luff cringle on the goose head horn.

Okay I need to break out the dictionary on this wording. Can you elaborate?

Thanks Again Joe as always your the man!!!

 

[Joe11688]

Oh I screw a wood screw into that plastic sleeve till it touches the inner mast slide. I like your idea of a rope.



Okay I need to break out the dictionary on this wording. Can you elaborate?

Thanks Again Joe as always your the man!!!

I'm sorry George. The reefing cringle that I'm referring to is that ring that is sewed into your sail luff for reefing. You have it inserted on the horn, but a lot of the tension is being put on those two lower sail slides. You need to remove the two slides so that the tension will be on the ring and horn.
Believe me George. The rope is a great idea and it will only work on Z-Spar masts with the winch on the O'Day 222.

I'll get you some pics tomorrow George. Why don't you email me at: sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net and I'll send you all the pics you need?
Joe

 

[estopa]

Oh I see. Thanks. I went out today to try it again. Even sailed it while reefed.

Here is my feeble attempt to stop the lugs from falling out of the sleeve.

SO I tried your advice with the string. Looks like it works. I think I should let out one more lug for total of three because there was still some slack there.

Here is the main sail reefed and ready to go:

 

[Joe11688]

I think that you may need to move that bail under your boom back a little more George.
Looking at that last picture, the reefing line is supposed to come out of the sheave on the Port side of the boom and go through the Port side of the sail and come down the Starboard side of the sail and boom, and tie off at the bottom of the boom. You have it almost right George. How does it work the way you have it rigged now? Even rigged the way that I just explained, most of the time you need to straighten out the clew of the sail to get it to set right. The picture of the reefing set up in my O'Day owner's manual is dark and blurred. It's really useless. I'll try to get some good pics of it today.
Joe

 

[estopa]

Great thanks for the advice. Depending on the weather today I may go out again and try it with the reefing line advice you suggested. It actually sailed pretty nice with a smaller roach of the sail. Seemed to be easier to maneuver.

 

[Joe11688]

Great thanks for the advice. Depending on the weather today I may go out again and try it with the reefing line advice you suggested. It actually sailed pretty nice with a smaller roach of the sail. Seemed to be easier to maneuver.

Hi George!
I've sent you these pics but I'll post them for the benefit of the guys who own O'Day 222s with Z-Spar internal halyards and booms with internal control lines. When lowering the Mainsail to reef it, it is very important to always remove two sail slides from the mast before reefing the sail to prevent tension on those slides.
Note the Bungee cord in the second pic. I use this to put tension on the cams to keep my Topping lift at the right tension so it won't swing around and wear the leech of my Mainsail.
The forth picture shows my sail stop which is nothing more than a short piece of 3/16" braid rope tied around the mast above the winch and below the last sail slide. I tie a reef knot in this rope for quick release and I keep it in place with a piece of twine hooked to the winch bracket. These are two of my "brain children" and they work very well.
The last picture shows the placement of the bail under the boom in relation to leach reef grommet on the Mainsail. It's about 4.5" on my boom. You need tension on the reefed foot of the sail, but you also need to locate that bail as close as you can to keep the foot of the sail close to the boom. There should be no tension whatsoever on the sail's reef points. The reef points are for tying the loose rolled up sail. Two of the bails under these booms fit into a track and were never riveted in place at the spar manufacturers. I had to rivet the boom vang bail and the reefing bail after I bought my boat. If you ever should decide to mount a traveler on your O'Day 222, you would be wise to remove that bail at the end of the boom. If you ever get hit on top of your head by it accidentally when tacking, you'll know what I mean. Also, I've made it a point to always use my boom vang to prevent this from ever happening again.

 

[estopa]

Thanks Joe this helps tremendously!!! Now I am ready for my rOnDAYvous trip in case any foul weather comes up!!!

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe this helps tremendously!!! Now I am ready for my rOnDAYvous trip in case any foul weather comes up!!!

Have a great time George! I wish I could go to it, and I probably could get there, but--- as the late Senator Everett Dirksen once said, "I'm sure that I could probably make that trip but when I got there I'd probably be dead, and I wouldn't want to be buried that far away from home."
Smooth Sailing!
Joe

 

[bellnier]

Joe you bring a lot to this forum!

 

[Joe11688]

Joe you bring a lot to this forum!

I'm just being my usual self,--a windbag with nothing better to do at the moment other than to shoot my mouth off once in a while. If I can manage to help someone in need, my life is better for it. Sailing and cruising is one of my favorite hobbies and I want everyone who is interested in it to enjoy it as much as I do.

 

[bobincorliss]

So much help to many of us..

I'm just being my usual self,--a windbag with nothing better to do at the moment other than to shoot my mouth off once in a while. If I can manage to help someone in need, my life is better for it. Sailing and cruising is one of my favorite hobbies and I want everyone who is interested in it to enjoy it as much as I do.

Joe, your willingness to help "Estopa" has gone on to help me on ("Road Trip") too..After several days of surfing various sites, I found your thread. The pic's the two of you put up will make my questions on this subject, go smoothly away.

 

[Joe11688]

Joe, your willingness to help "Estopa" has gone on to help me on ("Road Trip") too..After several days of surfing various sites, I found your thread. The pic's the two of you put up will make my questions on this subject, go smoothly away.

Hey I'm really delighted that I was able to be of some help to you also. :dance:I think that the reefing set up on these O'Day 222s with internal halyards are just unbeatable. The reef line according to my manual is supposed to be 1/4" X 21' 6" long, Type- Tro-Green. I think I screwed up when I replaced this line years ago and bought 5/16" diameter line by mistake. So next year I'm going to replace it for the 1/4" line. The line I have right now seems to be a little to large for the sheave in back of the boom. A thinner line will work smoother when I pull on it to reef.
Thanks for the good words.
Joe