RE: 35.5 Does anyone have a solution to the problem of the reefing lines tangling on the boom when hoisting the main, keeping it from going up completly? Reef #1 and Reef #2 are constantly fouling the boom at the time I raise the mainsail . .no matter how loose I leave them, they get fouled and play havoc with raising the sail. I have even tried pulling them completly out of the stoppers, but it creates a confusing mess of lines and still fouls the boom keeping the main from going up all the way. Another 35.5 owner told me that because he has never had need to use Reef #2 in three years of ownership [if there is that much wind he'll douse the main] and was having the same problem with tangling. He took off the reef #2 line entirely to solve the problem. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciuated. Fred Miller S/V M Squared
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2nd reef
Concur with your friend. I also have a 35.5 and do not use the second reef. If there is that much wind I use only a small portion of the roller furled jib. Also try leaving all the slack in the line on the boom, not at the stopper.
Concur with your friend. I also have a 35.5 and do not use the second reef. If there is that much wind I use only a small portion of the roller furled jib. Also try leaving all the slack in the line on the boom, not at the stopper.
I leave all the slack...
out. I don't pull the reef lines in unless I have to reef. I know it leaves a lot of slack and hanging lines so I just use the sail straps to keep them up under the cover. The slack will not be there once the main is up. Also make sure that the routing of the lines is corect on each side of the sail. My set up is: #1 reef on the starboard and #2 reef on the port. Ozana
out. I don't pull the reef lines in unless I have to reef. I know it leaves a lot of slack and hanging lines so I just use the sail straps to keep them up under the cover. The slack will not be there once the main is up. Also make sure that the routing of the lines is corect on each side of the sail. My set up is: #1 reef on the starboard and #2 reef on the port. Ozana
Use the 2nd reef all the time...
... on my 336. We just did a trip to Block Island in 25 knots of wind, with sustained gusts to 27. We'd have been on our ear with more sail up, with scared people barfing over the side. My reefing lines never hang, I don't know why. I guess your boat is rigged differently. I do have trouble getting things loosened up enough when it's time to shake out a reef, but it's just a case of getting all that line going around all those blocks.
... on my 336. We just did a trip to Block Island in 25 knots of wind, with sustained gusts to 27. We'd have been on our ear with more sail up, with scared people barfing over the side. My reefing lines never hang, I don't know why. I guess your boat is rigged differently. I do have trouble getting things loosened up enough when it's time to shake out a reef, but it's just a case of getting all that line going around all those blocks.
Reef lines correctly tied?
On my 376 I rarely have this problem. I usually always bring the reef lines in when dosing the main too because I like my lines kept tidy. Once in a while I'll get something hung up, but its rare. You might want to make sure the reef lines are rigged correctly, or perhaps a block or pulley is binding. I would suggest keeping the 2nd reef line too. You never know when you might need it, and when you suddenly find yourself in 20-25 kts, you dont want to try to figure it out then.
On my 376 I rarely have this problem. I usually always bring the reef lines in when dosing the main too because I like my lines kept tidy. Once in a while I'll get something hung up, but its rare. You might want to make sure the reef lines are rigged correctly, or perhaps a block or pulley is binding. I would suggest keeping the 2nd reef line too. You never know when you might need it, and when you suddenly find yourself in 20-25 kts, you dont want to try to figure it out then.
35.5 Reffing Lines
I have only ever experienced this problem once. What I generally tend to do is slack both 1st and 2nd reffing line prior to raising and pull the slack out of the boom end and let it rest on the spray hood. When it is particulary blowy I bind the slack reefing lines with none other than an elastic band so that when the main goes up it pulls the reefing lines out of the elastic band thereby avoiding snarling on the pedestal etc. When dousing the main I simply take up the slack on the lines and leave them on the cockpit floor till I have time to tidy them. (I do a lot of single handing).
I have only ever experienced this problem once. What I generally tend to do is slack both 1st and 2nd reffing line prior to raising and pull the slack out of the boom end and let it rest on the spray hood. When it is particulary blowy I bind the slack reefing lines with none other than an elastic band so that when the main goes up it pulls the reefing lines out of the elastic band thereby avoiding snarling on the pedestal etc. When dousing the main I simply take up the slack on the lines and leave them on the cockpit floor till I have time to tidy them. (I do a lot of single handing).
Twisted lines...
Hi Fred, I have the same problems with my 1990 H35.5. I am coming to the conclusion that there is just alot of friction in the system so any small amount of force at the spinlock/cockpit basically prevents the reefing lines from paying out as I raise the main. One day I got a bit pissed off and so started hauling all of the line out the end of the boom. Eventually I found that the leach line for the second reef was twisted. That is, the actual line itself was twisted along the core axis. Probably as a result of being coiled (introducing a twist) when the sail was off and then not straightened when reinstalling the sail. My theory is that the twist makes the line stiffer and harder to bend over the double blocks in the boom. While there is still alot of friction in the system, I think removing the twists helped. I also went over all the other reefing lines and removed twists. When doing all of this I noticed that the double blocks in the boom don't actually have pulleys. Rather they seem to have largish nylon rings over which the lines run. Perhaps replacing these with real pulleys (with a swivel!) would help even more. Wonder what other single line reefing systems use... Good luck and let us know what happens. Jeff
Hi Fred, I have the same problems with my 1990 H35.5. I am coming to the conclusion that there is just alot of friction in the system so any small amount of force at the spinlock/cockpit basically prevents the reefing lines from paying out as I raise the main. One day I got a bit pissed off and so started hauling all of the line out the end of the boom. Eventually I found that the leach line for the second reef was twisted. That is, the actual line itself was twisted along the core axis. Probably as a result of being coiled (introducing a twist) when the sail was off and then not straightened when reinstalling the sail. My theory is that the twist makes the line stiffer and harder to bend over the double blocks in the boom. While there is still alot of friction in the system, I think removing the twists helped. I also went over all the other reefing lines and removed twists. When doing all of this I noticed that the double blocks in the boom don't actually have pulleys. Rather they seem to have largish nylon rings over which the lines run. Perhaps replacing these with real pulleys (with a swivel!) would help even more. Wonder what other single line reefing systems use... Good luck and let us know what happens. Jeff
Response to Jeff
Jeff; Thanks for the idea. . . This is really getting to me. The boom hangs up and chicken wings when I hoist the main. I've experimented with everyone's suggestions. Its those damn reefing lines. My latest thinking is to eliminate the second reef line altogehter. I figure that if I ever need to second reef I'll reef the jib or drop the main or jib and sail on one sail alone. Maybe even drop both sails and motor! Fred Miller
Jeff; Thanks for the idea. . . This is really getting to me. The boom hangs up and chicken wings when I hoist the main. I've experimented with everyone's suggestions. Its those damn reefing lines. My latest thinking is to eliminate the second reef line altogehter. I figure that if I ever need to second reef I'll reef the jib or drop the main or jib and sail on one sail alone. Maybe even drop both sails and motor! Fred Miller
Fred, I agree!!
The number one hassle of my sailing day is putting the main up. Here is the list of steps I have to go through (note that I can forget any number of these causing hassle, annoyance and possibly actual damage). I'm more than happy to hear suggestions for improvement. 1) remove the sail cover/ties, ... 2) unwrap the reefing line slack at the aft end of the boom. Left there to save from having to haul it all back out. 3) Release the reefing spinlocks (I always end up pulling a bit of reefing line in when putting the boat to bed so they are not laying all over the deck at the mast) 4) start hauling on the halyard by hand 5) stop when things get too tight. 6) Check that it is not tight because the reefing lines are binding. If I am lucky the sail is most of the way up. I'm not that lucky. 7) feed reefing line through spinlocks as I winch the main up the rest of the way. The reefing lines will not pay out freely since there is so much friction in the reefing system. 8) get the main up all the way, lock it off and then ensure that the reefing lines are not deforming the sail. 9) leave the cockpit, go to the mast and let out the topping lift. 10) enjoy the applause of a stunned/amazed crew/guests Ideally one should not have to do steps 2, 6, 7, last part of 8 and 9 should be done from the cockpit (if I had a rigid vang). In many situations I can mitigate some of these (6,7) if I was sure to leave all the reefing line out when stowing the sail. This assumes that I did not reef the last time out and that I figure out some way of pulling the slack reefing line onto the boom. If I had reefed the time before, then I have to add the steps of manually hauling the reefing lines out the end of the boom before/during/after putting the sail up. Anyway, I'm ranting. I like the single line reefing convenience (put in a reef in about 20 seconds <excluding topping lift manipulation> on the weekend) but it could be alot better. Some day soon I am going to take another look at it and see if I can eliminate more friction. Don't want to remove the second reef point. Jeff
The number one hassle of my sailing day is putting the main up. Here is the list of steps I have to go through (note that I can forget any number of these causing hassle, annoyance and possibly actual damage). I'm more than happy to hear suggestions for improvement. 1) remove the sail cover/ties, ... 2) unwrap the reefing line slack at the aft end of the boom. Left there to save from having to haul it all back out. 3) Release the reefing spinlocks (I always end up pulling a bit of reefing line in when putting the boat to bed so they are not laying all over the deck at the mast) 4) start hauling on the halyard by hand 5) stop when things get too tight. 6) Check that it is not tight because the reefing lines are binding. If I am lucky the sail is most of the way up. I'm not that lucky. 7) feed reefing line through spinlocks as I winch the main up the rest of the way. The reefing lines will not pay out freely since there is so much friction in the reefing system. 8) get the main up all the way, lock it off and then ensure that the reefing lines are not deforming the sail. 9) leave the cockpit, go to the mast and let out the topping lift. 10) enjoy the applause of a stunned/amazed crew/guests Ideally one should not have to do steps 2, 6, 7, last part of 8 and 9 should be done from the cockpit (if I had a rigid vang). In many situations I can mitigate some of these (6,7) if I was sure to leave all the reefing line out when stowing the sail. This assumes that I did not reef the last time out and that I figure out some way of pulling the slack reefing line onto the boom. If I had reefed the time before, then I have to add the steps of manually hauling the reefing lines out the end of the boom before/during/after putting the sail up. Anyway, I'm ranting. I like the single line reefing convenience (put in a reef in about 20 seconds <excluding topping lift manipulation> on the weekend) but it could be alot better. Some day soon I am going to take another look at it and see if I can eliminate more friction. Don't want to remove the second reef point. Jeff
Reef line rigging solution
On a SF bay cruise that started in late afternoon I began with a #2 reef to handle 25-28 knot winds and decided to shake out the main to the #1 reef after relaxing in the lee of Angel Island. During the adjustment the #2 reef jamed prohibiting the main from raising. Dousing all the sails I found the reefing lines in the boom would hardly move and were restricted at various points. I loosened both lines at the cockpit and pulled both reefing lines out from the back of the boom. There are two self-contained dual sheave lead blocks that provide a geometric equalization point for each reefing lines. You can remove both of these blocks from the back end of the boom. I found that one of the #1 reefing lines had been routed through and in-between the aft-bound #2 reefing line. Depending on where the #1 was clutched, the #2 would be restricted accordingly. Rerouting the lines so that there is no overlap, intersection, crossing or other interferance between the two line sets as completely solved the tangle problem. I still have to pay out reefing lines from the cockpit during main adjustments, but this is a function of friction from all the line angles and sheave hardware.
On a SF bay cruise that started in late afternoon I began with a #2 reef to handle 25-28 knot winds and decided to shake out the main to the #1 reef after relaxing in the lee of Angel Island. During the adjustment the #2 reef jamed prohibiting the main from raising. Dousing all the sails I found the reefing lines in the boom would hardly move and were restricted at various points. I loosened both lines at the cockpit and pulled both reefing lines out from the back of the boom. There are two self-contained dual sheave lead blocks that provide a geometric equalization point for each reefing lines. You can remove both of these blocks from the back end of the boom. I found that one of the #1 reefing lines had been routed through and in-between the aft-bound #2 reefing line. Depending on where the #1 was clutched, the #2 would be restricted accordingly. Rerouting the lines so that there is no overlap, intersection, crossing or other interferance between the two line sets as completely solved the tangle problem. I still have to pay out reefing lines from the cockpit during main adjustments, but this is a function of friction from all the line angles and sheave hardware.
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