Slab reefing...Scratching the Surface.

See how the top batten can get caught...

I reef and unreef alot, too much some people say, often a couple of times an hour.. but I hate the boat slopping around and I hate pushing too hard, Snow Petrel carries abit to much weather helm at times (I have ideas to fix this...) so getting the mains'l area right is important.

I have dealt with a lot of mains, from the 1500 square foot gaff main on Soren Larsen (putting a third reef in with 40-50 knots needs about 12 people and half an hour..) to a fully battened, fully batcared, all lines led to the cockpit setup on the ex open 60 "Spirit of Sydney" so I have a good idea of what I like...(this really just means I am obnoxiously opinionated)

I find reefing and unreefing my main a fairly painless process,  alot of this is because the boat and sail is small. Another reason is that it is moderately well set up. I am always amazed at the processes and stuffing around many people seem to go through to reef the main.

First thing, you can reef while sailing down wind if the system is set up well. In fact I think you must be able to reef down wind. In a decent sea with a Genoa poled out the last thing you want to do is have to come into the wind. In flat water coming onto the wind can work fine, BUT do not come completely head to wind, keep the jib slightly luffing, and the main just out to leeward - heading right into the wind is the mark of a novice, as the sail slats around over the deck and the slack reefing pendants sweep the cockpit, upsetting the shouting and gesticulating skippers beer, and then tangling in the engine controls.Much better to have it safely out to leeward, where it can be seen and at least the cockpit and the windward side deck are clear.

To reef down wind I slack the halyard abit, pull down the luff abit, pull in the reef pendants (including the other reefs) abit, then repeat until the sail is reefed, having a removable tackle on the luff is really helpful. The main point is to never drop the halyard too far (mark it at the reef points), because it can be a devil to get back up, especially if the headboard or a batten gets caught under a spreader or shroud. The sail should be designed to reef well clear of a spreader. If your sail has battens watch them carefully, they can blow through the shrouds and get caught, or bend too much and snap (ideally design the sail so the top batten is too long to blow through the shrouds, and with no headboard). Keep the leech as tight as possible with the reefing pendant. I have had problems doing this when using single line reefing, so don't much like it for this reason.. but I must admit it was a poor setup and, any feedback on this would be appreciated.

A dodgy trick I have found on bigger boats is that sometimes I can just luff up enough with a poled out Genoa to backwind the main slightly making reefing really easy - BUT you are a hairsbreadth away from getting the Genoa caught aback on the pole (this can snap a pole or worse). Having a staysail or something set to leeward can also help backwind the main. Also Rolling away some genoa, or easing the pole forward can help. But try it in flat water with a light breeze first.

I got a two year old to draw it...

If I see people fiddling with slides I know they haven't got a good system. There should never be a need to remove slides from the track unless the boat is very poorly set up. I use a lacing system to slacken of any slides that would otherwise need removal. Most of the slides can be fixed, just the awkward ones near the luff cringle need a jackline lacing (I use 3mm spectra) that slackens off when the sail is dropped. The sailtrack should go as close as possible to the gooseneck. If you have a clever sailmaker this may only be needed on the third reef, because they can space the slides to not need a lacing for the lower reefs. I also like a webbing loop (or spectra lashing) with two rings (one on each side) sewn through the tack cringle, this clips onto a horn on the goosneck that I have made from a big welded on Stainless Steel clip.This stops the luff ring dropping off the horn if the luff goes slack.

I am not enormously fond of leading all the lines to the cockpit, but some people I respect swear by it... make up your own mind. I can't be bothered with all the extra friction when I want to shake out a reef, and usually have to run forward to clear a tangle anyway, or overhaul some lines. And all the extra lines make my cockpit even messier, with them at the mast I can kind of spread the mess around abit. I also find going forward to reef gets me out of the cockpit, looking at stuff, and while I'm at it I like to go around the boat and check everything is Ok, If all my lines where led to the cockpit I probably wouldn't bother until it was to late...  But then saying all this one day I may change my mind and lead all my lines from my junkrigged boat into a nice warm pilothouse with carpet...

Also I don't normally bother tying any reef points, or putting a lacing around the bunt of the sail, unless the weather forecast is looking really bad. If I do I use one long lacing and I tie It around the reefing pendant cleat, and also the tack ring horn so that there is absolutely no possibility of forgetting this line, unreefing and ripping the sail at the reef points... I usually put reefs in sequentally, Ie if I go straight to the third reef I make sure I put in no's 1 and 2, even if I have to finish it after I have put in the third reef. I also make sure I pull in the slack reefing pendants as I go, otherwise they can get tangled.

Make sure the reef pendants stretch the foot of the reefed sail tightly, I like belly bands (or reef bands) through the sail for this reason (they control the stretch), although I note that most sailmakers don't.... If the foot is not reasonably firm you end up with two much shape in the sail, and to much power. In a strong wind the main should be flat.

So basically If reefing the main seems like a big deal that you tend to put off, and need to wake extra crew for you may need either a smaller boat or a better system. I have really only scratched the surface of all the options or ideas, and each boat and sail setup is so different. But make sure your system is effective.

Fair winds

Ben

Roller reefing, and misguided mascochism

When I was young and full of misguided masochism I used to sneer at Roller Reefers - They ruin your sail shape I would say, and they can fail, and anyway I like to go forward and change sails, makes me feel like I'm alive... The truth of it was Reiger had a nice big sail locker and a heap of hank on sails, and to change to a roller reefing system would have meant a heap of redundant expensive stuff. I learnt to live with the sail changes - even got quite good at it - and to be honest sometimes I even enjoyed the process. 

But I remember one dark stormy night coming across Bass Straight, with a quickly rising head wind, wishing I didn't have to go forward and change down to the spitfire jib... Wishing I could pull on a magic piece of rope and magically make that sail smaller... wishing I hadn't been such a masochist..

All that wishing didn't work and I eventually had to go forward and change down , and all that salt water down my neck sure did make me feel alive - also made me feel bloody cold, wet and miserable, The old no 3 tucked under my arm was quickly stuffed down the cockpit locker, and the little spitfire jib had settled Reiger back into the groove.... Until the wind (as quickly as it had appeared) died away to nothing.. where's that magic rope? 

The next boat definitely had to have a Roller Reefer, I had also realised that carrying 5 or so soggy wet mildewy lumps of poorly folded sailcloth around was a bit dumb, tramping all that salt into the boat was bad for everything. Rinsing them with fresh water, drying and folding them up properly took the best part of a day, and the amount of space dedicated to them could be much better used.

So Snow Petrel has a "furler" (yes I know it's really a "reefer" but from now on I will call it a furler) and I am happy, whenever I wish I can pull on that magic rope and the sail magically disappears, Its all rather wonderful, and I wonder what ever possessed me to sneer at such a device... However some of my scepticism remains, so my furler is a simple time tested reefurl with a halyard return, and absolutely no roller bearings, swivels or anything to that can readily fail. It is a marvel of minimalist engineering, the only bearings are about $18 worth of orange PVC electrical conduit. I also put a really heavy 10mm 1X19 SS forestay inside it (I don't much like SS but needed something smooth) , with toggles top and bottom. For another similar unit see Alado

Mine has a massive welded aluminium drum that can fit a huge amount of 10mm double braid (big enough to hold and pull on, and strong enough to keep the wimp happy). I like to know I have enough rope on there to never run out of turns, even when I have rolled the sail real tight. I have had this happen on delivery's, Its a real problem, the corner of the sail is hanging out and there's no more rope to pull... the only option is to lash it up and try to dismantle the complex guards and then add a few more wraps, or run off and blanket it behind the main and quickly unroll and then re-roll it abit looser before the wind flogs it to pieces (neither option is even slightly fun... unless you really are a masochist)

I was lucky enough to get a really good furling headsail with Snow Petrel, It is radial cut, with a high enough clew to enable deep reefing without having to change the sheet lead. The high clew also keeps the sail driving well on a reach (look at a blast reacher on a racing boat), gives visibility and keeps it out of the bow wave. Low cut roller reefing sails are terrible things..

This sail also has a foam pad in the luff and still sets and drives quite well to windward in 30+ knots with the sail reefed well down to spitfire size, I have a solent stay that can be rigged just behind the furler, with a nice hank on spitfire jib but I don't use it, the furler works fine...  And when the wind eases I can quickly ease that magic rope and keep her moving at her best. I can set a small storm jib of the baby stay to help in stronger winds, but this sail is not essential. In a real blow I am quite happy to use just a corner of my furled genoa.

I suppose there are tradeoff's. I make sure the sail is in good condition, and fit a strong spectra leach cord to hold the sail together if It ever rips, at least until I can get it unrolled and down. A shredded sail streaming off a furler in a blow is not a good look.... Once that leach line goes you are abit stuffed.

Also the sail adds alot of windage forward that needs to be considered, and alot of weight aloft. The windage forward is useful in a blow with a drogue out, holding the bow downwind, but can be a pain at anchor, or when manoeuvring under motor. I wonder how some of these boats with twin furlers manage in strong winds, although I can see the advantages.

I use my furler like a throttle, tweaking it frequently to keep the boat sailing at her happiest speed. To reef the sail I now prefer to run off for a split second and blanket the sail behind the main, it means I can pull it in by hand easily and safely. I just have to make sure the sail is rolled evenly and tightly. If I can't do this I luff the sail just enough to take the weight out of it and winch it in. I don't like to let the sail flog to roll it up unless the wind is light, and then I normally need some weight on the sheet to get a nice tidy stow.

I am abit paranoid about the furling line being let go by mistake, and always lock it in the clutch and on the self tailing winch. When I leave the boat I tie the furler up with a separate piece of line around the drum (which I normally then forget to untie when I go sailing..). The only other problem I have had is the turns being thrown off the drum if I let it go to quickly, or let the sail collapse and fill with a slack furling line. At least with my open drum it is easy to fix.

I Now take some more care, and always keep half a turn on the sail, with a tight furling line. I also check it well before I need to roll the sail up. I have had turns get jambed inside fancy expensive units for the same reasons, and it can be hard to see, and even harder to fix, so if you have a covered drum I suggest you follow the same procedures, and also keep the fiddly cover guard removal tools handy...

So as you can see I am a pretty happy about it all, although  do have some ideas for improvements to the unit (I always have ideas for improvements....) and for the next boat I would consider a complete change of tack by going for a junk rig... But more on that one later.

Cheers

Ben

PS I had to buy my roller reefing unit so the praise is earned, I don't think I'd have a fancy one onboard even if they gave it to me... But saying that the good quality modern units do seem to be very well made and reliable. I just prefer my simple system.