Reefing 170

[Bill Nasuti]

I have a newbie question with regard to reefing a 170. My boat did not come with the instruction book so I am disadvantaged. My main has 2 grommets approximately 24 inches up from the bottom of the sail. I also have two 1/8 green lines and all the cleats on the boom. I measured the halyard and cannot get the sail reefed properly. Does anyone have a picture that shows how the reef lines get dressed?

 

[Mark]

Reefing the 170

Hope this picture helps. If you zoom in you should be able to both read the text and see the diagram.

 

[Bill Nasuti]

Thank you Mark

A picture is worth a thousand words - I get it now! Thank you so much. It is so simple, I was trying all kinds of crazy things, oh well as my kids say - well duh.

 

[Rusty]

Reefing

Marc,Great image. I had trouble reading the type, but it looked great. Maybe you can answer a question for me. Atleast on the current configuration of the boom, the harware mounted on the boom from rear to front, on the port side, are a cheek block, a cleat, an eye strap and another cleat. The eye stap is about 2-3 feet aft of the fore cleat (very near the boom vang bail) and the fore cleat is about a foot aft of the fore end of the boom. The cheek block is used for reefing, and I secure the free end of the reef line to the aft cleat. What does your information say the fore cleat an eye strap are used for?Always wondered... and never used.Thanks.

 

[Mark]

Re: Reefing

The eye strap about half way between the block and the [fore] cleat contains the slack line and the fore cleat secures the clew line when the sail is reefed. By using the fore cleat, you have all three lines you need for reefing - tack reef line, clew reef line and main halyard - within the reach of one person located at the mast.I haven't had occasion to reef yet, but it seems to be a simple and straight forward arrangement, especially if you have pre-marked your halyard for reefing.According to the manual the aft cleat is used to tie off the topping lift after it passes through the padeye at the end of the boom. (I don't use it for that either!)

 

[Rusty]

Thanks

Sounds great. You are right about it being simple. I use the aft cleat to secure the reef...for no real reason other than it was there and I didn't know any better! Your logic of putting it all forward does make good sense.As for the mark on the main halyard, very important for putting in a quick reef. Learned the hard way!!! And the topping lift, I just tie it off quickly in the eye strap with a double hitch and pull it out once the sail is raised.Thanks for the advice. I'll try it the right way next Spring.