Reefing the Main

Not all reefing systems are created equal; the differences in good setups and poor ones are readily apparent. When the various leads are correct and the sail is properly set, it’s a thing of beauty.

With internal systems that depend on sheaves at the end of the boom, the result can be a drooping boom and a strapped-in sail.

The components of Nikki’s reefing system enable my crew to reef quickly and efficiently.

There are several ways to handle the bunt, the excess sailcloth after a reef is tied in.

You can dial in the proper leech tension on a main with a dedicated leech line that runs down the hem and is secured with a clam cleat

Of course, the luff is equally important, and there are numerous ways to secure the tack on a reefed sail. A wire extender shackled to the gooseneck is one way to go.

A Dacron web extender secured to a gooseneck hook also does the trick.

Finally, a tack reefing hook looped through a corresponding tack cringle on the main is fairly

foolproof.

As far as I’m concerned, you can’t have too many hardware options for reefing. These dual “ram’s-horn” tack hooks provide plenty of options, particularly when tying in multiple reefs.

Aboard Nikki, I refer to this section of the starboard side of her boom as “reefing central.”

Once the reef is set, loosely tie the bunt with reef knots to keep things tidy and increase visibility from the helm.

In several ways, proper reefing promotes more efficient sailing. One of the greatest benefits is increased pointing ability and less leeway when closehauled or on a tight reach. As this diagram shows, a reefed boat can point up to 4 degrees higher than an unreefed one.

A few years back, on a gusty day with winds over 40 knots, my 34-year-old Cape Dory 28, Nikki — a

cruising boat I live aboard — won the coveted Michelob Cup on Florida’s Tampa Bay, topping a fleet

of more than 40 other yachts, most of which were hard-core raceboats. Not

coincidentally, Nikki’screw had trained in heavy weather and could reef the mainsail in 40 seconds or

less, and shake it out even quicker.

Nobody in Tampa Bay racing circles had ever seen or competed against Nikki. She was the oldest

and smallest boat to race that day. Though we were later accused of cheating by a disgruntled

opponent (and quickly exonerated), Nikki continued her winning ways and was later named

Southwest Florida’s Cruising Boat of the Year by the West Florida PHRF Racing Association.

Proficient and rapid reefing remained a key to our success. In fact, unlike many of our competitors,

we always hoped for strong winds on race days.

Of course, there are lots of reasons to reef that are more important than winning races. Well-

executed, timely reefing has a positive impact on your boat’s performance and safety in heavy

weather. A well-balanced sail plan also keeps your crew and passengers safer and able to move

about more comfortably, increasing their level of confidence in your sailing abilities and attention to

their welfare. There’s nothing that will ruin a day on the water faster than a partner or friend

screaming, “We’re tipping over!”

Here are a few more ways reefing promotes better sailing: Keeps the boat “on its feet” and more efficient in terms of hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. Increases speed potential in rough conditions. Reduces adverse weather helm (unnecessary drag). Dramatically reduces leeway when pointing and close-reaching. Reduces wear and tear on sails and equipment. Makes sails easier to trim and handle.

Setup and Sequences

It’s important that all the hardware and running rigging for reefing maneuvers are close at hand. For

a classic plastic cruiser like Nikki, the reefing-control gear — the bitter ends of the reefing tack and

clew lines and their respective cleats or clutches — should be situated on the same side of the mast

and/or boom as the main halyard winch (usually on the starboard side). On more contemporary

cruising boats, this gear is often led aft to the coachroof, flanking the companionway. The main

topping lift should also be readily close by. This way, the crew tucking in the reef needn’t move from

one side of the boat to the other to complete the task. Topping lifts and clew lines should never

terminate at or near the end of the boom; these would potentially require the crew to hang -

dangerously over the lifelines to access them.

Because they’re quickly made, saving valuable time, I prefer cam or clam cleats for all reefing

control lines. On the boom, reefing clew lines are best installed internally to keep the spar

uncluttered. Alternatively, these clew lines can be routed through three or four small strapeyes that

are machine-screwed to the boom.

Many booms are equipped with reefing tack hooks integral with the gooseneck; others have

dedicated tack lines. Nikki has both, and I’ve found that the tack line is much faster to use, saving

precious seconds.

Whether you sail a sloop, cutter, yawl or ketch, the traditional jiffy- or slab-reefing sequence is

virtually universal. Practice it with your crew until reefing becomes a streamlined and habitual

process. Eliminate confusion, yelling and mistakes. The job should be smooth and rapid. The

following is the correct sequence for all boats that do not employ a single-line system (more on those

in a moment). On Nikki I’ve actually printed out and laminated two copies of these instructions, and

taped one to the mast and the other in the cockpit.

Here’s the drill:

1. Ease the boom vang and then the mainsheet so both are slack.

2. Take up the topping lift so the boom is stabilized.

3. Lower the main halyard until the desired reefing tack cringle is in position.

4. Tighten and make fast the reefing tack line, or put the tack cringle onto the gooseneck hook, ring

or shackle.

5. Hoist the main halyard until the luff is firm and wrinkle-free.

6. Take in the reefing clew line, or luff cringle, via a boom winch or tackle as much as possible, and

make fast.

7. Ease the main topping lift.

8. Trim the mainsheet.

9. Tighten the boom vang.

Personally, I find this slab-reefing system, with separate controls for the leech and luff of the sail, to

be preferable to single-line reefing systems. First, due to the friction and loads caused by a single-

line system running through multiple sheaves and leads before terminating in the cockpit, those

sheaves are not timesavers. Also, because the reefing line is so long, it may develop kinks in the line

that delay the maneuver until they’re straightened out. Finally, single-line reefs eliminate the ability to

adjust sail draft and leech tension separately.

So now that your sail is reefed, what do you do with the lowered panels of the sail that are no longer

set? On Nikki, I use dedicated buntlines: small-diameter lengths of line that pass through a

horizontal series of cringles in the sail, between the reefed tack and the reefed clew, and tied with

reef knots. Their only purpose is to store the “bunt” — that excess sailcloth that hangs down from the

finished reef — to increase visibility from the helm and reduce flopping. For mainsails without

buntlines, the sail can be gathered and secured with sail ties rove through the appropriate reef

points, or through cringles in the sail, which serve the same purpose. Either way, buntlines or sail

ties should never be pulled tight before tying, because they will strain and eventually tear the sail at

the cringles. Your reefed sail should be left loose-footed, although the buntlines or ties can be

knotted under the boom or only around the bunt itself, which I prefer. When I race Nikki, I leave the

bunt untied because it doesn’t get in the way and it reduces the time to take another reef in or shake

it out.

Over the years, I’ve heard some sailors say they don’t know how or when to reef, justifying this

confession by stating that they don’t sail when it’s too breezy, or they simply bear away as the wind

stiffens. This is shortsighted and even dangerous, for the day will come when you’re caught in a

rising squall or changing weather, and there are few choices or tactics other than reducing sail.

So practice with your family and regular crewmembers, and you’ll soon discover how easy reefing

really is. Keep a stopwatch handy and try to beat your best time. This skill will broaden your sailing

horizons and increase your self-reliance dramatically as you discover what you and your boat are

capable of when conditions deteriorate.

Learning to reef quickly will also teach you what needs to be corrected or modified on your boat to

make reefing more effective and convenient. Boat manufacturers are not necessarily heavy-weather

sailors and often take shortcuts. What they install is not always ideal in terms of hardware or deck

layouts.

In my experience, sailmakers, mast and boom assemblers, and yacht designers aren’t always on the

same page either, and the result can be reefing systems that just don’t work.

So let’s delve a bit deeper and focus on some of the finer points of the design and installation of

reefing hardware.

End-Boom Dilemmas

If you have a boom with an internal reefing system — with sheaves for the clew(s) installed at the

outboard end of the boom — you’ve probably ascertained that something wasn’t right when you tried

to set a reef. Most likely, your boom drooped to an odd angle and may even have ended up on top of

your bimini or dodger. If your boom has external clew reef lines with cheek blocks and dead-end

padeyes installed at the end of the boom, the same thing will happen.

To make matters worse, if the clew reef lines are led to cleats that are also near the end of the

boom, you can’t reach them unless you are either sheeted in and sailing to weather or luffing head to

wind.

Clew reefing lines emanating from the end of the boom are not only inefficient; they can be

hazardous for anyone who has to make them up while hanging over a lifeline or under a thrashing

boom.

In other words, there’s really no excuse for this system on a well-found cruising boat.

The angle of that clew line, when reefed, is a related issue. When a mainsail is reefed, it essentially

becomes a loose-footed sail (even if the actual foot of the sail is slotted into the boom). A reefed

sail’s draft and twist control is not unlike a headsail’s; in other words, the angle of the jib or genoa

sheet and the angle of the clew reefing lines determine the sail’s twist, while the tension on these

respective lines controls the draft. So it is vital that the position of the clew reefing hardware is

correct, and this is easily determined.

With your mainsail lowered to its reefed position and the new tack placed into its reef hook (or,

similarly, with the tack reefing line taut and made fast), pull on the clew reefing lines and manually

change their angle. When you pull downward, hard, the sail’s leech tightens and its twist is reduced,

while the foot of the sail loosens and develops more draft. Likewise, when you yank the clew reef

line upward, the foot of the sail becomes tighter and flatter, while the leech loosens and develops

more twist.

Ideally, you want to strike a balance so the leech and foot tensions are about the same. The angle

for this clew reef line might not be perfect for all points of sail, but you will need to reef most often

when sailing to weather, so I recommend adjusting the clew hardware accordingly.

Many older boats have the cheek block for the reefing clew on a track so small adjustments can be

made to accommodate changing wind velocities and points of sail. If you want to split hairs, a block

on a track is the way to go. Clew reefing hardware at the end of the boom will never result in a

reefed sail that is well trimmed.

Tacks and Leeches

When reefing a mainsail, the first reef-point connection to make is the tack cringle. But this can be

difficult if the sailmaker has not made adequate accommodation for the stacked-up luff on the mast

that occurs when lowering the sail.

If you are using reefing tack hooks, a major problem can occur if there is a slug-entry closure in the

mast that prevents the luff from dropping fully to the gooseneck. A ring pendant may be added to the

reefing tack cringle so the tack hook can be reached. Cringles for second or third reefs will also

require pendant extensions.

If your mainsail is set up with reefing tack lines, rather than gooseneck hooks, the problem of sail

stacking is greatly reduced. But the height of the reefed tack position still causes distortion with the

sail. My recommendation is to close the slug entry with a semipermanent cover that will allow the sail

stack to be much lower. If using tack reef hooks, you’ll still use extension pendants, but that stack

will be much shorter.

Along the trailing edge of the main, chances are that your sail has a small-diameter leech line that

begins at the head of the sail and extends all the way to the foot. The leech line exits the leech hem

through small cringles just above the boom and at the respective patches for each reefing clew. A

small cleat will be situated at each reef point. Once a reef is tied in, you should apply just enough

tension on the leech line to stop any flapping or movement of the sail’s leech, and then make it fast.

When shaking out a reef and before you fully hoist the main, always remember to slack those leech

lines to prevent a series of distinct hooks in the sail. Not only do they look bad, they’re also

inefficient.

Boatbuilder, naval architect, author, illustrator, marine surveyor and long-time CW *contributor Bruce

Bingham is also the proprietor of Bruce Does Boatwork, a yacht repair and refit business in St.

Petersburg, Florida. *

Professional riggers are consummate tinkerers: Put a length of rope in their hands, and they’ll immediately start thinking of ways to splice it, strip it, taper it, and ultimately avoid using any sort of knot, which we all know can compromise a rope’s breaking strength. The rigger’s obsession doesn’t end with an excessively milked splice, however. When it comes to utilizing cordage in all sorts of inventive ways, the good ideas never seem to stop coming. I’ll share some the best new ideas from the industry, as well as a few easy upgrades to consider before your next racing season.1. Replace your wire lifelines.Wire lifelines are history (unless your one-design class rules state otherwise). Dyneema is the best option, especially Dyneema SK90, which is up to three times stronger than similar sized 1x19 stainless steel wire. You are also able to eliminate all the associated hardware, including toggles, eyes, and turnbuckles. With Dyneema, you simply luggage-tag the forward eye splice onto your pulpit, run the lifelines through your stanchions, put a friction ring into the aft eye, and lash it to the stern pulpit. It is suggested that you have a Dyneema cover spliced into the portions that pass through the stanchions. Dyneema is UV stable and chemically inert, but the best part about this option is that it is much less expensive than a comparable wire lifeline assembly.2. See your sheets or halyards in the dark.You can now have custom lines made with glow-in-the-dark markers wound into the cover. Some manufacturers, such as Marlow, now offer this for full lengths, or certain spans of your specified lines. Use it for all your halyards and sheets, or select a few control lines that you need to quickly identify at night.3. Blend hoist marks into your halyard covers.As with the glow-in-the-dark markers, these marks can be woven into the cover at a pre-determined location in the rope. Gone are the days of permanent markers, whippings, or tape. These markers are specific to your line and are not going anywhere.4. A new way to attach your jib sheets.T-Ring systems are a great option available to sailmakers and riggers. A fitting, which looks like a clew ring with a “T” facing into the sail, is sewn into the clew of your jib. Your sheets simply have an eye spliced into the end of each. To attach the sheet to the sail, the Dyneema loop goes over the T, through the two sheets’ eyes, and then over the T the other way.

Most sailmakers offer a flap with Velcro closure that goes over the fitting to secure the attachment. This setup eliminates hardware banging around on the shrouds, mast, and crew. It also prevents knots from getting hung up during tacks, and because there are no knots to tie, trim marks are consistent.5. Attach your halyards without using hard shackles.A soft shackle is simply Dyneema with a sliding eye splice and a knot at the other end. The best application is as a halyard shackle. They can be made to any desired length and working strength, and their weight is negligible. One of the best ways to use them is to have an eye in the end your halyard, and stitch the soft shackle into the eye. The shackles can have a “leash” or opener, and a safety Velcro if preferred. If they’re closed properly, they tighten down on themselves when loaded, and will not open.6. Attach blocks and fittings with soft loops.Dyneema loops, whether single pass or covered multiple-pass loops, have been around for many years. Over the past few years, however, manufacturers have made a concerted effort to design their products to use this technology for attaching their products. Both Ronstan’s Orbit blocks and Harken’s T2 blocks use a small single-pass loop in low-load applications. Harken’s Black Magic and TTR blocks along with Karver’s K blocks use multi-pass covered loops for higher-load applications.7. Use friction rings as alternatives to blocks.Other fairleads can even be used where a sheave is not needed. Friction rings are tailor-made for your cascade turning points. These are round, ferruled “thimbles” that can be used for redirects, or even turning surfaces, especially those that lead to a winch or purchase system later and do not need the mechanical advantage of a sheave. They are lightweight and extremely strong. Plus they require little to no maintenance because there are no moving parts, and therefore last a very long time. Some uses include: lashing ends, cascades and purchase systems, inhaulers, redirect leads, and sprit-tack line turning fittings.8. Maximize your winch power with the right cover material.Using the right cover material, regardless of the core material you choose in your high-tech lines is key to getting maximum grip from your winch drum. The cover is where the rubber meets the road—where your line hits the winch.

There are multiple options available outside of the old standby polyester cover. But the more popular common-use covers include a variety of blends. Polyester/Technora is a blend that adds great grip to your winch. On smaller boats, users have found it great to hold onto in applications such as mainsheet purchase systems or spinnaker sheets that do not use winches. Vectran/Polyester blends add more slip to the sheet without making sacrifices on major wear characteristics. This allows lines to be eased around the drum without the line jumping and bumping as it is eased off the winch. Vectran/Technora is a pricier blend, but one that is built for wear and tear. Originally developed for larger boats that were eating through sheets and other lines, this comes in smaller sizes, so as to be available to a wider range of boats.9. Increase power to a purchase system with a cascade.Cascades are 2-to-1 strops that are built into purchase systems to increase the overall mechanical advantage. You’ll see them applied to boom vangs, jib leads, and backstay controls. Cascades double the purchase of the system “inside” the system. For example, if you have a 3-to-1 purchase in your cunningham and would like more power, adding a 2-to-1 cascade to the system is a smaller, simpler, and less expensive alternative to buying all the hardware and rope to build a new 6-to-1 system. Still need more power? Add another cascade on top of the first to double it yet again.10. Lock your jib halyard and adjust tension on the fly.A halyard-lock with cunningham is a powerful tool. Halyard locks have many advantages: Mast compression is eliminated, and tuning becomes more repeatable. However, another advantage is the ability to adjust luff tension easily while sailing upwind. When a jib halyard is set onto a lock, the head is at a fixed height. You can have a floating tack, which allows the tack height to be controlled with a cunningham system that can be a cascade and purchase system to a cleat, or a cascade to a winch. Either way, you have gained mechanical advantage over simply having a hard tack point and halyard.Small adjustments while the sails are loaded become simple. And when you reach the leeward mark, you can just hoist the jib halyard into the lock without worrying about getting the precise halyard tension. Once past the fray at the mark, you can take up on cunningham and set your desired tension.Click here to learn more tips from the pros.TAGS:

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A block and tackle runner pulled forwardAlvah SimonA Wire Stay with a Block and Tackle:A popular running-backstay solution is a wire stay attached to a block and tackle with a 4-to-1 purchase and a cam cleat. This system, while affordable and relatively simple, only generates approximately 300 pounds of torque. While this is enough for backup support of the mast, it won’t be very useful in actually shaping the mast for high performance unless it’s aggressively sweated. Also, the multiple purchases create considerable friction and can be somewhat cranky when you’re trying to ease the tackle forward for stowing.

http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/running-backstays