Don, Do you recommend the use of ties when the main is reefed? We have them on the sail, but I am not sure that they are needed. Does there use give the lower portion of the sail a better shape? I know that if you forget to shake them out you can tear the sail. Looking forware to your reply. Dale
reef ties
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ties, nettles, gaskets.. whatever
Dale, I'm not sure what Don will recommend, but in my opinion, you don't need 'em unless you are staying reefed for a while and want the sail's unused slab dressed up. I doesn't affect the shape. If the reef line is set up correctly to pull the clew backwards, the sail should be flat, anyway. I took the rope nettles out long ago and as a substitute, purchased some blue, 1 inch, flat dacron webbing cut to appropriate lengths. The ends are cut at 45 deg so they can be easily threaded through the intermediate cringles. I keep them stowed in a handy place. I use colored ties so they will be visible against the white sail as a reminder to remove them before releasing the reef lines. I've seen other sailors use thin colored cord, 1/8 or 5/64 in, but I like the webbing. I always keep a few ties close at hand, never know when you might need to tie something off in a hurry.
Dale, I'm not sure what Don will recommend, but in my opinion, you don't need 'em unless you are staying reefed for a while and want the sail's unused slab dressed up. I doesn't affect the shape. If the reef line is set up correctly to pull the clew backwards, the sail should be flat, anyway. I took the rope nettles out long ago and as a substitute, purchased some blue, 1 inch, flat dacron webbing cut to appropriate lengths. The ends are cut at 45 deg so they can be easily threaded through the intermediate cringles. I keep them stowed in a handy place. I use colored ties so they will be visible against the white sail as a reminder to remove them before releasing the reef lines. I've seen other sailors use thin colored cord, 1/8 or 5/64 in, but I like the webbing. I always keep a few ties close at hand, never know when you might need to tie something off in a hurry.
No Joe - I want to see what Don has to say.
I imagine one of the first things would be to find out if the mainsail is loose footed or not. Right?
I imagine one of the first things would be to find out if the mainsail is loose footed or not. Right?
Dale: The only purpose for the reef ties are to tidy up the sail when it is reefed. Here is the mistake a lot of sailors make with reef ties - they sinch them very tight and this puts extreme pressure on the little reef cringles that are not designed for that amount of pressure and there is a lot of pressure on the sail due to the purpose you reefed in the first place. The end result is that the sail could rip straight up from those points. DO NOT use the reef ties to try to shape the sail. In my case, when ever I had to reef my boat I could care less about the shape of the sail. All I wanted to do was keep the boat under control and get that sucker back to the dock in one piece. In 95% of my sailing it was just me and my wife (which means there was just me) so I really didn't want to fool around with the situation from a sail trim standpoint. The bottom line to your question is you could get away without them probably on the first reef. I always used them because they were easy to untie and I was in no big rush to have to untie them anyway. In other words, if I was shaking out the reef the danger had gone. I think they would be necessary in the 2nd reef as the sail would be hanging all over the place. As i said I always used them. One other thing. The aft reef cringle is generally not as strong as the aft leech cringle - check out yours to be sure. If it is not as beefy as the leech cringle then I suggest a sailor take a short piece of rope and wrap the line around the boom and excess sail at the back of the sail. Some guys have told me that is overkill. I don't feel it is. I've got my hands full handling the situation I'm in and I don't need another problem to deal with when the leech reef cringle rips out. It takes 10 seconds to secure the aft part of the sail.
thanks
Don, Thanks as always for the good info. I know I can count on you for the information I need. Have a great Christmas Dale PS I just got your book and it looks great !
Don, Thanks as always for the good info. I know I can count on you for the information I need. Have a great Christmas Dale PS I just got your book and it looks great !
loose Footed Reef
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
loose Footed Reef
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
loose Footed Reef
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
loose Footed Reef
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
This is just my personal opinion but if the sail is loose footed I would want to use the reef ties otherwise the middle of the sail is hanging all over the place.
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