Staysail reefing point

[Ed Napoleon]

Am thinking of having a reefing point added to our staysail....Staysail is on a club footed boom, I believe is original to the boat...Any thoughts?? yea? nay?? ThanksEdS/V Myst

 

[Walt]

Don't think you need it

The Staysail isn't all that large. If things really got nasty, I'd probably sail on the staysail alone, having furled the yankee, taken one or two reefs on the main, and then dousing the main. I figure, given the seakindly way of the 37c, that if you were in conditions bad enought to require reefing, you'd probably be down to a storm jib or bare poles.

 

[Ed Schenck]

This is good info.

I had planned on doing this. Figured it would make for a good storm-sail solution. Can the reef points be arranged such that it would reef correctly?

 

[Jim Legere]

About to find out

I'll post something later this summer about reefed stays'l, once I've had a chance to try mine. I had the reef points put in by the local North Sails loft. I figured that at $100, it was cheaper than buying a storm stays'l (which is what you'd want to fly, rather than a storm jib...)Seems like a pretty good idea to me and the Kenyon stays'l boom on my '83 can be set up for reefing exactly like the main boom.

 

[jcherubini]

Reefing a stays'l--?

Just a shot in the dark-- I'd have to actually look at it to see how it's set up-- but you could consider roller furling on it. It's never efficient to sail with half the sail rolled up (I call it a 'tampon bulge') but it would work in a blow.We had reef points on our Cherubini 44 cutter's stays'l but never used them. The best storm rig was as Walt and the others suggested, the stays'l alone. Luff it all to h*ll as the weather builds if you have to-- by the time you reef it you might as well fly a dishtowel. But I see no reason why you could not set it up to reef it like a mainsail, hooking the tack cringle and adjusting the outhaul forward along the boom, etc. You just have to justify all the angles on the forestay and not a 'vertical' mast.JC 2