reefing information needed

[Gary Meckes]

As a new sailor and a recent owner of a daysailerII I need some information please. I plan on keeping the boat docked at a well protected cove and would like to take it sailing 3-4 times a week. To keep the boom attached to the mast can I just tiie the rear of the boom, where the outhaul line is attached, to some place on the mast. also can I keep the mainsail attached for the season with roller furling and the use of a reefing claw. I really would not like to rig the boom, sheet and main sail each time I take it out. I have purchased a couple of daysailer guides but they do not explain this. thanks and sorry for being so ignorant.

 

[hman]

You mention roller furling, do you have either in mast or boom furling? If so, that's the easiest way to take care of the sail. If you don't, you can lower the sail onto the boom flaking it (half on one side of the boom, half on the other) and tie it with sail ties to the boom then cover it with either a sail cover or a small tarp. For the boom, you can either rig a topping lift (kinda like a halyard only it goes from the top of the mast to the back of the boom) or a tang (same thing, only it doesn't raise and lower) so the boom stays level. Make sure if you use a tang that it isn't so tight that you can't use your vang or outhaul to tighten the sail in a breeze. Or, last but not least, the "poor man's tang" is attaching the main halyard to the back of the boom and pulling it level!

 

[Sunbird22358]

I keep my 1979 DS II on a mooring all summer and have a cover over the mainsail, which I leave furled on the boom all season. I support the boom with the original boom-crutch, although a topping lift is nice. My jib is kept in a canvas bag that matches the mainsail cover. As far as reefing, don't bother with the roller-reefing on hte boom, it don't really work! I spent around $60.00 to have a local sailmake add reefpoints to my sail and then about another $20-40 for hardware. I now have a very easy to use and effective way to reef my mainsail and use it a lot. One tip, the first reef on a DS II is to sail without hte jib, you will need to raise the CB slightly to balance the sail better, but that makes abig difference. Also, ALWAYS sail the DS II with the mainsheet in your hand! Use hte camcleat to hold the tension , but keep the sheet i nyour hand to allow you to release the sheet and spill the wind in a gust. Doing that I've sailed my DS II for 14 years without a capsize and very, very few close calls.

I've included a pic of SUNBIRD on her mooring, unfortunately I didn't have hte jib on deck in this photo.