re: reefing the main
John: Reefing the mainsail is an important procedure for the safe enjoyment of your boat in heavy winds. The general idea is to reduce the area of the sail that is available to the wind. I reef the main anytime I am concerned about the wind overpowering the boat. In my 19' Mariner an overpowering wind will keep driving the boat over and heading into the wind and I get nowhere (and my wife gets seasick). The variety of gommets on the sail give you choices as to how much of the sail you want to take out of action. I usually use the highest ones (thus reducing the sail the most). Perhaps a new boat has specialized lines and hardware for this task, but I have always "rigged" for a reef with any old braided half-inch lines that were long enough (about three feet) and the existing hardware on the boom and mast. It is far easier to reef a sail at the mooring or dock than while under way in a heavy wind. I hank on the sail as normal, attaching the foot to the boom fore and aft, and feeding the "shuttles" into the groove in the mast. Now, tie the aft reefing line to the grommet on the sail (I use a bowline hitch), then run it through the block at the end of the boom, and cleat it off as you would normally. Don't make it real tight because you will likely have to adjust it later when you raise the sail. At the forward end of the boom tie the reefing line to hardware on the bottom of the mast (or to the very front of the boom if you don't have anything better. Then run it through the grommet on the sail and back down to the bottom of the mast. Estimate how high the boom will be pulled when the sail is raised, and tie off the reefing line so the grommet will sit just at the top of the boom. Raise the mainsail to the point where the grommet at the front of the sail is sitting on the very top of the boom. You may need to drop the sail and re-tie the line to get the grommet in the right place. Once the front of the sail looks good, tighten the aft line so that the foot of the sail is taught along the boom. Thats it! The excess sail will hang down from the boom and look sloppy, but it is OK and will not effect your sailing. I use an elastic tie to furl the slack sail up to the boom in the front so that I can see under the boom better. It is easy to relese the reef if it proves unnessesary: just lower the sail a few inches to get some slack, untie the reefing lines, and assuming you made the normal attachments to the sail at the beginning, you just have to raise the sail fully. I sometimes have to feed the "shuttles" that ride in the groove in the mast back in if they have fallen out. It is generally easier to take out a reef under way than to put one in under way. If you do need to put a reef in underway, either motor into the wind for the operation, or anchor or tie up to a mooring. You don't want to be swinging in the wind with the boom loose. There might well be "systems" available for making reefing easier, but I believe that in a daysailer simplicity and thrift are virtues. I hope this rambling is useful to you. I went out solo yesterday in a heavy wind with a full reef and had an excellent time. I took on a little water and everything in the cabin ended up on the floor, but I had a great afternoon of sailing. Cheers! -Scott
