roller reefing vs. reef points

[Ted Lange]

I have a Day Sailor II that I've recently brought it to Montana, where it's not uncommon for fairly extreme wind to develop.Therefore I want to be able to reef the main and possibly the jib as well.I have a roller reefer but have never used it (it looks fairly straightforward). But what are the reasons I would want to consider going with reef points instead?Also, is reefing the jib recommended or is it unnecessary once one reefs the main?The most obvious advantage to roller reefing seems to be that it is fully adjustable - reef as much or as little as you want.

 

[Tor]

Try dropping the main.

On SF Bay when the wind kicks up I will oft just drop the main and sail on jib alone. My boat does amazingly well on jib alone, but there are a lot of factors that contribute to this. Not sure if the characteristics of your boat will afford you this luxury.Tor

 

[john]

montana sailing

Ted, Do you sail a prairie schooner? Ha Ha I lived in Montana 17 years,and the reason I can't move back is I've been spoiled by sailing around Ct and RI! Where do you put your boat in? Anyway , back to the Question.My O'day 22 has roller furling, and it does work to a certain degree; sail area is reduced. However, it is hard to maintain sail shape with the kind of roller furling we have; the foot keeps on creeping forward, and the sail gets baggy.So, you reduce sail, but increase draft. I am going to change over to jiffy reefing this year. Watch out for those 60 mph chinooks!

 

[Ted Lange]

re: Montana Sailing

John,Thanks for the advise. I've seen a lot of comments about the roller reefing not working very well and none that were very positive about it, so I think I'll go with the reef points. Haven't sailed here yet, but I'm in Bozeman, which is close to Canyon Ferry Lake and Yellowstone Park (where there is a very big and spectacular, but potentially very scary lake), been thinking Hebgen Lake and maybe the Red Rock Lakes may also have potential. Would love to check out Fort Peck Reservoir which would be a very wild and spectacular but also potentially a very scary place to sail. Supposedly it has more coastline than California. Probably the first place I'm going to sail her is Whitefish Lake in June. I'm particularly fascinated by the idea of doing some multiday sailing/camping trips since the cuddy has more than enough room for camping gear. Montana certainly isn't a sailing destination (except for the world class ice-sailing on Canyon Ferry), but I'm more of a climber than a sailer, so I don't think the east coast (where I'm from originally) will ever call me back. This was a good-condition family boat that I learned to sail on in CT, and it was free for the hauling, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add to my toy collection!