Another Poll ... This time mainsail type

[Baggywrinkle]

So what do you have ... In-Mast furling, Standard slab reefing, Slab reefing with lazyjacks, In-Boom reefing, or something else entirely, like a Topper where the sail is wrapped round the mast or a Topcat K3 where there is no reefing possible. See how it matches up with the boat age poll.

 

[Mark-1]

I voted slab with lazy jacks, but truthfully I have no real preference, they all have pros and cons.

 

[flaming]

Depending on which mainsail I'm using I either have no reefs (inshore race main), slab without lazyjacks (offshore race main) or slab with lazyjacks (Cruising main). All on the same boat.

For cruising use I wouldn't choose any setup other than slab with lazyjacks. Bullet proof, fail safe and easy to use. What's not to like?

 

[st599]

For cruising use I wouldn't choose any setup other than slab with lazyjacks. Bullet proof, fail safe and easy to use. What's not to like?

Doesn't keep the crew on their toes.

 

[flaming]

Doesn't keep the crew on their toes.

it's cruising, not SAS selection.

 

[johnalison]

I suspect that the answer for most of us will be “what came with the boat”.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I suspect that the answer for most of us will be “what came with the boat”.

If the reefing system is "what came with the boat" then the owner is probably reefing system agnostic .... I am assuming no-one buys a boat with a reefing system they intensely dislike.

The poll is more about what have you got rather than what do you prefer - because if you have bought a boat with one particular reefing system, then you can probably live with the choice..

For charterers it's either a preference for in-mast or slab but, I don't like slab reefing on larger boats because we sail as a couple with an all-up weight of around 120kg. We still chartered a slab-reefed SO419 because it was all that was available in the area I wanted to visit, I didn't sail as much as I would if it had been in-mast.

 

[NormanS]

Having a ketch with in-mast main, and lazy jacks mizzen, what do I say?

 

[Mark-1]

Having a ketch with in-mast main, and lazy jacks mizzen, what do I say?

Some people are just bloody difficult!

 

[dunedin]

Having a ketch with in-mast main, and lazy jacks mizzen, what do I say?

As the poll says “mainsail” type surely that is clear.
Slightly less clear perhaps with a schooner with identically sized sails, but even then there is normally a conventional that applies. Cant be many on here with one of these rigs, but they can nominate which is their main vs fore sail.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Having a ketch with in-mast main, and lazy jacks mizzen, what do I say?

Go with the majority, if the majority of your sail area is in-mast then go with that.

 

[michael_w]

Big boat has slab and lazyjacks, The little boat, no reefs at all, just technique.

 

[ylop]

If the reefing system is "what came with the boat" then the owner is probably reefing system agnostic .... I am assuming no-one buys a boat with a reefing system they intensely dislike.

The poll is more about what have you got rather than what do you prefer - because if you have bought a boat with one particular reefing system, then you can probably live with the choice..

For charterers it's either a preference for in-mast or slab but, I don't like slab reefing on larger boats because we sail as a couple with an all-up weight of around 120kg. We still chartered a slab-reefed SO419 because it was all that was available in the area I wanted to visit, I didn't sail as much as I would if it had been in-mast.

Yes but anyone reading into your two questions in one might infer that if you want to appeal to crusty old brits with your charter boat you should have slab reefing - so John's point is important. All the more so in you consider the age of the boats - many of them will have been built before in mast was widely proven. I have slab but if for some reason I was to charter again I'd be curios to try in-mast to see if it suits me.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Big boat has slab and lazyjacks, The little boat, no reefs at all, just technique.

99% of little uns have no reefing. Even my 20ft dayboat has no reefing, just string you pull in a futile attempt not to be grotesquely overpowered.

 

[flaming]

99% of little uns have no reefing. Even my 20ft dayboat has no reefing, just string you pull in a futile attempt not to be grotesquely overpowered.

Get more string. Bonus points if you buy especially flurid coloured string. This is definitely more effective.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Get more string. Bonus points if you buy especially flurid coloured string. This is definitely more effective.

We have at least 5 bits on neon string to do with flattening the sail.

 

[michael_w]

Hike harder. Dunno if X boats have toe straps.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Hike harder. Dunno if X boats have toe straps.

Not allowed in class rules. Body mass is the limiting factor. Long ago, when I first started in the XOD class, racing with Mrs C as crew, we did well in light winds, but not in a blow. I asked a veteran X sailor what the secret could be. He replied ‘Eat more pies’. We weigh about 130kg between us, split 75/55.

 

[Roberto]

The little boat, no reefs at all, just technique.

I owned a Star for years, the "reef" was total slack in the lower runner and the higher runner tight at almost breakage point, the mast took such a banana shape that made windsurf masts look straight
Quite young and inexperienced then, I came across Tom Blackaller (one of the many Star champion helmsmen sharing their time between the Star and the America s cup) and asked a bit of advice, "mainsail block-to-block, let go the lower and off you go"; problem there was a significant weight difference between us I almost ended up with the spreaders in the water

 

[michael_w]

I've heard the XOD described as a 'wooden washing machine'. I've got toe straps on my little boat, a Flying Fifteen. In a big blow and full of water from going down the mine, I've managed to turtle it and wave the keel in the air.

Star boats, serious spaghetti factor! Nothing else points so well, 6 meters excepted.