Attaching block to reefing cringle?

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I've recently bought a Beneteau 423 with single line reefing. The cringles on the luff of the sail for the first two reefs have blocks attached to them through which the reefing lines run and the remaining cringles do not. In order to reduce the amount of friction in the system I'd like to fit additional blocks to the other cringles. Can anybody recommend what sort of blocks these ought to be (if I could get to the boat to look at the existing ones I would but it is in France!) and how to connect them to the cringles I would be most grateful.

Thanks!
 
Can I suggest that you do a search on'single line reefing' which has several variants of methods;some do not include blocks attaached to the sail cringles but use blocks on the mast/boom. The easy solution is a pennant through the cringle with a st/stl ring each side, then it doesn't give problem when the sail is lowered on either tack; either cringle pennant ring can be used for the reef.
CliveG, the OP asked about the luff not the clew blocks /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Thanks everybody! Excuse my ignorance but what is an st/stl ring? Stainless steel? Not sure I see what you mean!!

I had been looking at the picture in the following web page which shows a block dangling from the cringle (at least that is what I think it is!)...
Here

That is the arrangement I have at the luff end for the first two reefs and it seemed to me that it I could have similar for the leech ends it would reduce the friction in the system. In particular on raising the sail it can take quite a lot of shaking and pulling to get the reefing line to run out. It looks like that system has the block attached to the original reefing cringle but I can't work out where I might get that strap affair from!
 
What you need are 'spectacles' (honest!)

These comprise a short length of webbing threaded through the cringle with a stainless steel ring stitched into each end. The rings (at the luff) can be used directly on a conventional 'rams horn' hook, or a small block can be shackled on to one of them.

You could achieve the same end by loosely lashing a pair of rings together through the cringle with several turns of light line. (Our old main sail had this arangement, and it was perfectly satisfactory). Otherwise it means taking the sail to someone who can stitch the webbing in-situ.

I'm not sure that it's a good idea to fit blocks to the leech of the sail, however, since it moves around much more than the luff, and I would be concerned about chafe, etc.

Replacing the existing blocks with ball bearing ones makes a huge difference, especially if the lines are led back to the cockpit. Also look for & eliminate all the places where the lines rub - every little bit of friction multiplies the next.

Do you need to pull the reefing pennants through when you drop the sail?

Andy
 
Ho ho.... I already have spectacles but have been considering contact lenses!

Actually... I can see why they are called spectacles. I presume I should be able to make those up myself?

I'll be visiting the boat in a week or so and will have a good look at all this. It helps to pull the reefing pennants through when dropping the sail otherwise they tend to dangle into the cockpit which seems a bit dangerous.

I'm just coming back to sailing after giving it up when my children were younger. I'd forgotten how much time you can spend trying to redesign your boat! All good fun though!

Thanks
 
Harken Airlite 60s (I got them from Harken in the States as the one in UK is pretty useless)
Tape with an oversize ring each end, fitted to the reef cringle.
Beware though of the vast amount of line you'll have - x4 the total depth of the reef and the additional work lifting and dropping the main from the frictional resistance.
For that reason I only have single line on the lower two of 4 reefs, using conventional pennants on the top two.
Rutgerson produced some reef cringles with built in rollers, don't know how they've worked in practice or their price, but the prototypes looked pretty nifty.
 
I'd put some of these Antal reef-blocks in, but I know that the other alternative is a Goiot roller-type-thingie available and that is quite a lot cheaper. It fits right into your standard press-rings and can be fitted in situ.
The Goiot magodie fits into a standard press-ring, but it only handles seefing lines that pass through the sail, whereas the Antal option is probably better for your application.
 
Excellent... the Goiot device looks like it might be worth a try - they are about £45 each from XM Yachting! All I need now is to get to the boat to measure what size grommets I have!
 
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Goiot are about £45 each from XM Yachting

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/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
That's a horrific price! Sorry if I scared you!
 
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