Replacing reefing lines on H34 Kenyon boom

[WasabiRush]

I have a 1986 H34 and most of the running rigging was replaced by PO. The reefing lines come out the end of the boom ( see pics below). The other ends are made fast on a winch mounted on the mast. There is a hook for the luff reefing cringle. There are two padeyes aft on the starboard side of the boom and a block aft on the port side. I've done a lot of research and can't quite find the answers I need.

How can I tell if the lines run straight through the boom or have blocks inside the boom? I want to replace them.

I've seen numerous reefing rigging pics. For the leech, should I run the lines up the port side, through the cringles and down the starboard side to the padeyes?

Thanks much,

John

 

[Capn Vinny]

I would guess that the most likely scenario is that the lines run from the winch, up into the boom over sheaves, thru the boom aft then out over the sheaves seen in the pictures. They then run up the leach, through the grommets in the sail then back down to the pad eyes on the starboard side of the boom. This will require grommets to be added to your sail bag also.

 

[mnmpizza]

The pulley system inside your boom is for the outhaul.

 

[danm1]

The leech reefing line on mine runs through the boom in the port side. The outhaul is in the center, and I believe a topping lift might be rigged in the boom to starboard...but I have a boom kicker instead.

 

[WasabiRush]

I would guess that the most likely scenario is that the lines run from the winch, up into the boom over sheaves, thru the boom aft then out over the sheaves seen in the pictures. They then run up the leach, through the grommets in the sail then back down to the pad eyes on the starboard side of the boom. This will require grommets to be added to your sail bag also.

The canvas guy said he put velcro on the aft end of the stack pack to support reefing. I'm not quite sure how that would work.

 

[Capn Vinny]

Yes, he put Velcro in the aft end of the stack pack to allow for the reefing lines that will go from the sheaves in the end of the boom up the leach of the sail when it is raised, the Velcro will have to be opened for that. The reefing lines then come vertically down to the pad eyes on the starboard side of the boom. They need to either go through the stack pack just above the pad eyes or under it’s edge where it appears to attach to the boom. If that’s not clear, I can try to raise my main this afternoon and take some pictures.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

It just so happens that I completely redid the reef lines and outhaul on my Kenyon boom. The outhaul has a 4/1 purchase inside (See pix). The steel cable is attached to one end of the purchase and the double braid line going through the blocks comes out around the center aluminum shave and down under the boom. On my boat, the reef lines run port to the 2nd reef and starboard to the 1st reef. At rear end of boom they go up towards the eyelets on the leach for each reef, run through the eyelets and come back down towards their respective padeyes on the boom. Judging by your pics, the reef lines should probably come out of the boom, go up along the leach to the eyelet and come down the the padeyes for securing, with the foremost padeye from the boom being used for the second reef. In no time should the lines cross over the outhaul to be attached to the padeye (Your pix #4). To avoid that, I suggest you run one the reef lines through the eyelets, bring it down the other side, run under the boom and then attach to the padeye. So when you take a reef, the sail will be brought down correctly on the boom and at the proper place as close as possible to the position of the padeye. FYI, on my boat I bring the downhaul line as well as the reef lines and the outhaul to the cockpit, running them through sheaves at the foot of the mast and deck organizers before going under the seahood. Good luck.
(Edit 5/13/21 Correction to problem with pdf)

 

[swshogren]

Claud L -
Thank you for sharing your photos and how you have laid everything out. In my case aboard our H-34 built in '84, a previous owner cut all the rigging for reefing and made other modifications as they wanted a floating cabin, not a sailboat!
Question1: Do you have measurements for the lengths of your reefing lines you can share as I did new ones?
Question2: How did you remove the outhaul from the inside of the boom for replacement/servicing? I should get ours out and check for issues and update as required.
Thanks in advance!

 

[WasabiRush]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Great info and helpful.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Claud L -
Thank you for sharing your photos and how you have laid everything out. In my case aboard our H-34 built in '84, a previous owner cut all the rigging for reefing and made other modifications as they wanted a floating cabin, not a sailboat!
Question1: Do you have measurements for the lengths of your reefing lines you can share as I did new ones?
Question2: How did you remove the outhaul from the inside of the boom for replacement/servicing? I should get ours out and check for issues and update as required.
Thanks in advance!

Good morning Sam,
Am having a senility moment this morning and don't recall the lenght of the reefing lines. But I'm going to the boat today and shall measure and come back to you tonight or tomorrow AM. On attached pix, the yellow lines are the fishes for the reefing lines and the white one is the fish for the outhaul.
As for the outhaul, I was not able to remove the ends of the boom but since I had it on sawhorses, I was able to pull it from the stern end and it cleared under the sheaves (see pix). I attached a fishline to the outhaul line coming out of the front end. Taking out the front bail freed the purchase single block from the boom as the shackle is secured to the bolt going through the boom. Fairly easy to reinstall using a solid fishing pole (in screwable sections from HarborFreight +/- 10$) along with a flashlight and a long thin screwdriver inserted into the boom holes for the bail.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Hi again Sam. To follow up on my promise of getting you the length of my 2 reefs lines, they are respectively 45 feet (1st reef) and 55 feet (2nd reef). Don't forget that on my boat they are run to the cockpit. Good luck.

 

[swshogren]

thank you for sharing the info. I plan on having ours Erin to the cockpit too and I'm planning on sanding a third reefing point and making the necessary changes on the mainsail.