Changing my reefing arrangement - Advice needed

[Norman_E]

My boat has a fully battened main with two reefing points. Reefing requires the halyard to be released (from the cockpit) and the rest of the job is done at the mast, putting the cringle on to the rams-horn, and pulling down the reefing line using the mast winch to tighten it. Finally back to the cockpit to pull up the halyard. Not very convenient but I am prepared to live with it for the first reef.
I want to set up the deep second reef to be put in or shaken out from the cockpit. I have seen diagrams for single line reefing but fear that there might be too much friction as the reefing lines already seem to have plenty because they pass from a fixing point below the boom through an eyelet in the sail, down to the boom end, through the boom to jammers. If I run a longer line the same way and the down to the mast foot and back to a clutch on the coach-roof, and run a second line from the luff cringle to a second clutch, will this make a better system? One problem I will have to overcome is what to do about the jammer in the boom end, which will always try to grab the rope when I release it. Has anyone overcome this problem? I am not sure that there is enough room to replace the jammer "claw" with a roller to ease the passage of the rope.
One final question. Do I simply tie the luff reefing line by passing it through the cringle and tying a stopper knot, or is there a better method?

 

[ajt]

Could you put a clutch on the mast for the halyard?
then you can release the halyard in the cockpit and do the rest at the mast, put the clutch back on and tension from the cockpit but it then mean you have two clutches to remember when lowering the sail.
Or can you lead the reefing lines back to the cockpit and add more clutches?
I have not used single line before but all the people that I have spoken to about it said friction is a problem

 

[FullCircle]

Norman,
on my SO35, I have all 3 reefs led back to the cockpit, no need to leave it at all to reef.
The friction issue is much relieved by using a higher spec rope, so can be thinner. My 3rd reef was 12mm, but I have now fitted a high spec low stretch 10mm. This reduced the load and friction.
Also, have cheek blocks sewn to the sail instead of eyelets which really ease the friction too, rather than dragging the lines through eyelets.
Being a single line system, there is no need to attach the sail reef point at the mast at all, just winch the whole system down hard.
The trick for hoisting the main is to leave all the slack required for the reefs flaked in the stackpack cover rather than pulling it in to make it tidy.
The Jeanneau only came with 2 reefs, so a bit of juggling around the mast base was required for the extra turning blocks, and I need to remove some of the jammers on the mast as they occasionally jam when I want to let them off.
I fitted extra triple jammers to the coachroof to handle all lines led aft, so have 2 banks of triple jammers to each side of the coachroof near the winches.

 

[jonathankent]

I have sailed with single line reefing and loved it. It makes life so much easier than going to the mast each time, etc etc. If I am to change mine from roller reefing, I will definitely put in single line reefing.

 

[DaveS]

I have separate luff and leach reefing lines for each of 3 reefs plus a luff Cunningham all led back to cockpit and find it works well. It's a lot of string, but if you keep it organised there are few problems. As others have said, doing everything from the cockpit is much better in bouncy conditions.

Re the jammers at the "boom end": I have 3 jammers at the front end of the boom which two of the leach reefing lines plus the outhaul run through. To stop them interfering I have a loop of bungy holding them up against the boom in the "free" position.

BTW, my new main came with a leach Cunningham, but I've not yet rigged a line through it. Anyone any experience of these?

 

[sailorman]

[BTW, my new main came with a leach Cunningham, but I've not yet rigged a line through it. Anyone any experience of these?]

yes, its used to Flatten the main once the halliard is @ full hoist ( black band ) & luff cunningham hauled down. ( i dont use the luff cunningham as i dont race ).
next step, 1st reef to main.
set the main up with the out haul to set the foot "just tensioned " this will give a fuller chord to the main that will be removed by the leach cunningham

 

[DaveS]

Ah, that's interesting. Currently when I pull down the luff Cunningham to flatten the sail I also pull out the outhaul. Presumably if the leech Cunningham was pulled down instead the sail shape would be better? And with no need to adjust the outhaul after its initial set up as described, it could be cleated on the boom, freeing its deck blocks and clutch for a new leech Cunningham line... Oh, I can see some playing with string coming on!

 

[gandy]

Do you have three single-line reefs? For some reason almost everyone with single-line reefing seems to have only two reefs. Do you have the back-to-back block thingies inside the boom, or is it just literally a single line?

 

[FullCircle]

Yes, I have 3 single line reefs, which start at the cockpit halliard bag, through Jammer, up to mast base, through turning block, up through bullseye on gooseneck, up to luff reef point cheekblock, down to gooseneck sheave, along the boom, round the sheave, up to leech cheek block, down to hardpoint eye rivetted in correct place on underside of boom, and tied through eye and round boom with bowline. Tada!!
It was a bit of an issue squeezing the third one in, but its possible on most boats I have looked at.

2 reefs is standard on most boats. I specified a third which was done in conjunction with the local dealer. This was to match the emergency forestay and storm jib arrangement, and because I could not afford the trisail arrangement at delivery (like a lot of desirables, it needed grading on importance).

I am relieved to say I have had no cause to use it yet.

 

[rudolph_hart]

Sounds less complex than on my Dehler 35: Through Jammer, up to mast base, through turning block, up though lower gooseneck sheave, along the boom, round the sheave, up to leech cheek block, down to another sheave on boom, back along the boom to upper gooseneck sheave, up to luff reef point, tie off with bowline.

It works fine, but requires a longer bit of string.

Why did they design it this way? My guess is that it avoids having slots cut in the aft end of the 'lazy-bag' to allow the bitter end of the reef line to be tied off under the boom.

 

[edowns]

I have used single line reefing (with a block sewn into the sail) on a holiday boat and it just worked. I plan to install this on my boat next winter.