Single Line Reefing Line Installation Complete

LooseDiamond · Feb 17, 2014

Nice!

Craiger · Feb 17, 2014

How about a picture with it reefed so we can see how it works.

watercolors II · Feb 18, 2014

I see a problem and it may mean drilling new holes in your boom!

A couple blogs ago about traveler distances you stated you only have about 20 to 25 days of sailing time. I think you need about 100 days of sailing time or more to understand mainsail reefing. Reefing starts in winds over 15 mph and at 25 days you shouldn't have been out in winds over 15 but a couple times. When you've sailed 100 times or more you'll been their many times and you'll start to understand how reefing works after doing it many times. The reefing setup from the factory works but, it doesn't make sense when the halyards are led into the cockpit and you have to go to the mast to set the luff grommet and pull the line to set the leech grommet, the same on my '87. For all the more I reef in a season I still use the original setup but, your single line has more benefits.

Reefing properly three things happen; first the sail size is reduced, the sail is lowered to reduce heel leverage and the sail is de-powered by flattening.

Look at your basic mainsail setup along the top of the boom. The mainsail tack, the front bottom corner is securely attached with the bent bolt at the very front of the boom next to the mast. This bent bolt is also the reefing hook for holding the luff reefing grommet, again at the very front end of the boom. The bottom or foot of the mainsail has a rope sewed into it and it fits into the slot in the top of the boom. The outhaul is attached at the other end of this rope in the sail foot at the clew. When you pull the outhaul very very tight you cannot take the draft out of the bottom of the sail because the rope will only stretch so far and not enough to pull on the sail material above it, so you really can't flatten the mainsail very much for high winds using the outhaul.

Reefing your mainsail using the mfgs setup on your '88 Catalina, you'll notice that the reefing line turning block on the starboard side of the back end of the boom is a couple inches back from the sail's leech reefing grommet. The placement of this turning block is so, that the line pulling on the grommet is pulling down as well as back. This back pull is pulling on the sail material not the rope in the foot, so that you will start to take the draft out of the sail. The further down and back you pull on the sail material the flatter the sail will become. If either of the two reefing points on the sail is higher than the other full flattening cannot be accomplished at full reefing.

You did not show a picture of the turning block at the back of the boom but, you did show the one at the front of the boom. This block is shown set back about a foot from the front of the boom where the tack is located. Your other photos show the line from this front turning block enters the luff reefing grommet and then down through a fairlead on the side of the mast directly in front of the boom and then down to the cabin top and back to the cockpit. With this turning block set back beyond the vertical point of the luff grommet the line will want to pull this grommet back away from the mast. The pull you want is straight down and a little forward maybe. This pulling of the luff towards the stern will lessen the pull on the leech and thus not flatten the sail in high winds, then added load on the sail will want to pull at the sail slugs in the mast and may break a couple of them. Also, the large gap between the downward pulling points may not allow the luff grommet to come level with the leach grommet and the boom.

That front turning block should be as far forward on the boom as possible so the line is pulling straight down on the luff reefing point.

Stu Jackson · Feb 19, 2014

It's not that you "know nothing," you've done a great job. BUT, the block on the mast IS too far aft. You'll find that out when you install the mast gate. It's simply pulling aft, not down. It should only be pulling down.

If you think about it, by installing single line reefing, you've eliminated what was a good DOUBLE LINE REEFING setup. Double line reefing is preferred, since the tack needs very little tension, whereas the clew needs a lot, and you simply can't get that from a single line setup that had the same pull on the entire length of line. With a tad extra work, you could make it a simple double line system:

1. Leave that block there and use it as a guide to bring the clew line back to the cockpit

2. Add another tack reefing line - one side of the mast on a cleat up through the reef pint and back down and to the cockpit

Double line reefing is what you originally had from the factory setup: separate clew and tack "controls." Even if the tack was only the gooseneck hook.

Good luck.

ShotgunSlim · Feb 20, 2014

Spend the money for the mast gates and don't hesitate to put them on your boat. You've already drilled and tapped holes in your boom or mast so four more small holes will be a piece of cake. They have to be shaped to fit in your track but not perfect and when you're single handing and going up and down with the main, they'll be worth every penny. I know I don't regret installing mine one bit.

allen-deckard · Feb 20, 2014

yah I put the mast gates in last year. awesome very simple product I'd just buy them they are fairly cheep in the scheme of things. I've seen some others make them but just not worth it to me.

seamansg · Feb 20, 2014

I have a 2001 cat22 and was puzzled by it to so I called the engineering dept at catalina direct. And according to the engineer to flatten the sail you need to run the line thru all the reef points using 2 different lines. What he said contradicts the diagram in the catalina handbook which says to use only one line thru 2 reef points. From what I understood he was saying in order to flatten the main sail is to have 2 lines. One for the front two reef points and one for the back two reef points. That way the sail will be tightly tied to the boom and the sail will flatten along the length of the boom. You might try calling them because the hand book is wrong.

Stu Jackson · Feb 20, 2014

Uhm, maybe I'm missing something, but the OEM IS double line reefing as I described it in my last post. What you describe IS double line reefing. Which IS what the OEM setup is and why I wonder why folks eliminate DLR to go SLR.

seamansg said:
I have a 2001 cat22 and was puzzled by it to so I called the engineering dept at catalina direct. And according to the engineer to flatten the sail you need to run the line thru all the reef points using 2 different lines. What he said contradicts the diagram in the catalina handbook which says to use only one line thru 2 reef points. From what I understood he was saying in order to flatten the main sail is to have 2 lines. One for the front two reef points and one for the back two reef points. That way the sail will be tightly tied to the boom and the sail will flatten along the length of the boom. You might try calling them because the hand book is wrong.

watercolors II · Feb 21, 2014

"Stu", I think he will be ok if he moves that turning block as far forward as possible. If the backend of the boom is setup properly he should be able to pull both grommets down till they touch the top of the boom with lots of line tension. The fairlead forward and lower on the side of the mast will allow the line to pull the luff grommet clear down to the top and slightly forward of that front turning block which will now allow this same line to add a lot of pull on the sail cloth at the back of the boom to flatten the sail.

I sail every summer a couple times on a Hunter 34, this past summer the owner installed this single line reefing and in the fall we had to use the sail's second reef in 35 mph winds. He installed turning blocks in the sail grommets to help eliminate some of the friction on the reefing line. Someone still had to go to the mast to help take out some of the twisting of the reefing lines to get them to feed correctly, so you are correct in that the old line system works better. Even in 35 mph winds "azguy" will not see or feel that kind of sail load on a 22 foot boat.

Azguy, the line may pull the sail in a forward motion with the line on the side of the mast in front of the luff grommet with no tension on the sail. With this grommet allowed to move between the turning block and the fairlead on the mast the pull on the sail material at the leech and the wind load will slide or move the reef line in the grommet towards the back, the turning block will lessen and act as a stop during a full reef.
Without a reef, the rope at the foot of the sail carries some of the wind load and the sail slugs on the luff carry the rest in an even pull on each slug, when you eliminate the rope in the bottom of the sail during a reef the load is now carried by the leech reefing grommet in the back and the next sail slug above the luff grommet at the mast if the reef grommet is not held near the vertical line of the slugs. Your new system does not allow you to use the reefing hook to hold the new reefing sail tack in an absolute forward fixed position.
This new setup allows you to make an adjustable amount of reef in that you can reduce sail and lower the center of gravity on your rig but, you will get no flattening as the wind increases because of this movement of the luff grommet. In high winds you need the full amount of reef and the flattening to de-power the remaining sail area. Stu's idea covers all different levels of reefing and all from the cockpit, but you have another line to handle and cleat!

I think there's a miss understanding about using all the reefing grommets in the sail. Look at the Azguy's photos of the other grommets that are not in the luff or leech, they have just a very small amount of sail material reinforcement around the grommet, where the leech and luff is secured to a much larger area of the sail. If you add any pull or wind load to those center grommets you will stretch or tear the sail, these other grommets are for only holding the now leftover sail material from possible flogging in the wind.

I have extra long lines permanently tied into these center grommets for reefing but, I mainly use them as sail ties, they are at the right spot and they are not down in the cabin, think multi-purpose!

seamansg · Feb 21, 2014

Call catalina direct (engineering)! They are owned by catalina.

Stu Jackson · Feb 21, 2014

Sorry, nope, they're not. If you read their history (on their website?) you'll find they started outside or in Sacramento to service Catalina 22s, and then grew.

seamansg · Feb 21, 2014

Your Right!

Richie50 · Feb 21, 2014

Stu where could I find a diagram or photos of the double line reefing you described? Thanks

seamansg · Feb 22, 2014

Call Catalina Direct Parts and ask for engineering and you can talk to some one who knows catalina sailboats.

dave_ren · Feb 25, 2014

AZGuy, Watercolors! is correct. You are 99% there and looking great BTW, but you do need to move that forward cheek block as close to the gooseneck as possible. It doesn't matter which end of the line you pull, the tension will be about the same on either side of the grommet, and the direction of the resultant vector will be aft of vertical even without considering the force of the wind on the sail. As stated previously, this will pull the luff away from the mast which no only adds to the draft you are trying to reduce by reefing, but it could also pull the sail slugs out of the mast slot or break them in the process.

If you look at the single-line reefing diagrams on the CD or Harken (under "Systems") websites, you will see that both show the cheek block as far forward on the boom as possible. This allows the direction of the resultant vector to be slightly forward of vertical which not only relieves the stress on the sail slugs, but flattens the sail as well.

Will the single-line system give you optimal shape or control of the reefed main? No, and that's why the experienced guys here like the two-line system. If you are willing to trade a little slop in the reefed main for the ease and security of not leaving the cockpit, then the single-line setup is for you (and me).

Good luck and keep posting those great pics!!!

P.S. Removing "the cleat on the boob" sounds painful!!!

Hope that heals soon. Don't be afraid to drill and tap a couple more holes in the boom to get it right. Just be aware that you will likely encounter the gooseneck casting if you move the block to the forward end of the boom. This is not a bad thing and will actually give you a better mounting point it in the process.

dave_ren · Feb 25, 2014

azguy said:
Thanks guys, beginning to think golf is easier and more fun :-(

Keep your chin up, buddy... You hit this one within 6 inches of the pin (or 9 inches from the gooseneck

) And your tiller tamer post was a hole in one!!! I am going to follow your lead on that one!

Single Line Reefing Line Installation Complete

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