Do we still use boom roller reefing?

sailorbaz said:
I have through the mast roller reefing on my Boomaroo 25 (Aussie version of a Catalina 25). I find reefing is fairly simple - main halyard and winch at the mast - head to wind with the autohelm, hold main halyard with one hand and wind down with the other. Have to remember to unclip the kicker first. I also have slab reefing points but haven't used them.
The main problem for me is that when I get ready to go out, I have to get all the slides in the track and a pin through to stop them dropping out. This means I have all of the main flapping about on deck. I deal with this by slab folding it on the boom and hold it on with bungy sail ties until I'm ready to hoist. Not ideal!
Sailorbaz
Edit: forgot to add that I met a guy in Queensland with the same system but he had replaced the handle with the wheel off a golf trolley without the tyre. He had some turns of rope round it led back to the cockpit and the main halyard also. He reckoned it was simple to reef without going forward.
Click to expand...

I can understand the bloke in QLD reefing down from the cockpit but fail to see how he can unreef. How can he handle the slides?
Consider slab reefing and lazy jacks, your life will be transformed!
 
I still use my Centaur roller reefing and find it handy for single handing as the lose sail is never a problem.
The idea of a single line reef appeals and I hope to adapt this to work with the roller boom.
I read an article on the conversion to a furling drum at the goose neck and the advantage of reefing from the cockpit in heavy weather is clear. Putting sail back up only happens when things calm down so not such a problem to go forward.
 
Barnac1e said:
And when the wind gets up is when you need to use it.
I had a Trapper 500, which another poster references, with roller boom reefing and sailed it single-handed extensively. Some of my worst horror scenarios were trying to reef in the instant storms that can occur in the Adriatic with a flogging mainsail, a ship that would not keep head to wind and a boom that could not rotate because the gooseneck angle to the through-the-mast reefing handle was too much for the articulated joint to turn.
Now I have an in-boom reefing system - no comparison.
Click to expand...
What I neglected to include was that when I bought my present boat (after 24 years sailing the Trapper), it was equipped with slab reefing and, to be honest, it wasn't much better, although the mainsail did set properly without the boom-end droop that a roach usually brings to roller-boom reefing.

Attaching the tack to the ramshorn was often difficult; the lazy jacks needed constant adjustment and once the reefing line got jammed at the end of the boom - I had to jump up on the dog-house to free it. Only when I was back in the cockpit did I realise what a risk that was, single-handed with the boat plunging on under autopilot in rough seas, little to hold onto up there and no safety line attached. I had reacted to an apparent emergency spontaneously without thinking about it.

I personally believe that either in-mast or in-boom is the only way to go for mainsail reefing. Anything else when short-handed in a rising gale can be a real struggle. Yes, I know we all managed before those systems became available but then we also navigated without GPS - not many of us go over the horizon without these days.
 
Barnac1e said:
What I neglected to include was that when I bought my present boat (after 24 years sailing the Trapper), it was equipped with slab reefing and, to be honest, it wasn't much better, although the mainsail did set properly without the boom-end droop that a roach usually brings to roller-boom reefing.

Attaching the tack to the ramshorn was often difficult; the lazy jacks needed constant adjustment and once the reefing line got jammed at the end of the boom - I had to jump up on the dog-house to free it. Only when I was back in the cockpit did I realise what a risk that was, single-handed with the boat plunging on under autopilot in rough seas, little to hold onto up there and no safety line attached. I had reacted to an apparent emergency spontaneously without thinking about it.

I personally believe that either in-mast or in-boom is the only way to go for mainsail reefing. Anything else when short-handed in a rising gale can be a real struggle. Yes, I know we all managed before those systems became available but then we also navigated without GPS - not many of us go over the horizon without these days.
Click to expand...

No thanks mate,the consequences of a sail jamming in the boom or mast don't bear thinking about & I have read on here that the sails don't seem to last long.My last lot were at least 35 years old & you never saw a more patched & repaired suite.......but they kept on working.
When the sail is wrapped around the boom I get an enormous sense of confidence in what seems like a full proof system.....& I have used them in some pretty rough conditions.....single handedly.
The biggest ordeal was changing the foresail but now I have a furler on that..........It is yet to be seen if that will cause me trouble.
& PS;if your boom droops use the topping lift.Not a problem.
 
Last edited:
Nicholas123 said:
No thanks mate,the consequences of a sail jamming in the boom or mast don't bear thinking about & I have read on here that the sails don't seem to last long.
Click to expand...

I would disagree with you, having the mainsail nicely rolled up inside our mast out of the elements means it is in remarkably good condition despite its age, 1998 I think. Since you don't need to squash it into a boom cover exposed to the wind and rain, fold it repeatedly to the size of a brief case or stuff it into a sack, it doesn't deteriorate.

Pete
 
Pete7 said:
I would disagree with you, having the mainsail nicely rolled up inside our mast out of the elements means it is in remarkably good condition despite its age, 1998 I think. Since you don't need to squash it into a boom cover exposed to the wind and rain, fold it repeatedly to the size of a brief case or stuff it into a sack, it doesn't deteriorate.

Pete
Click to expand...

How about stretch making it hard to role up neatly causing it to jam in the mast?
 
Pete7 said:
I would disagree with you, having the mainsail nicely rolled up inside our mast out of the elements means it is in remarkably good condition despite its age, 1998 I think. Since you don't need to squash it into a boom cover exposed to the wind and rain, fold it repeatedly to the size of a brief case or stuff it into a sack, it doesn't deteriorate.

Pete
Click to expand...

Mainsail fully battened, lazy jacks, stackpack. All the advantages of a mainsail rolled up in a mast but with a decent shape full or reefed. Probably easier to handle too.
 
Decided to keep it. Yes the kicker can still be used using the ring. It actually sounds very good. Many thanks for the opinions.
 
jerrytug said:
My Hurley24 has had roller reefing 1973 `til now,and, after a season with me, it is presently being converted to slab. The roller reefing was ludricously awkward,or impossible single -handed when the wind got up.
The conversion shouldn`t be too expensive,you could do most of it yourself,cheaper than the kits available.
As written above,a Twister deserves better than a collaboration between Heath Robinson and Mickey Mouse,cheers Jerry.
Click to expand...

"impossible single handed" What planet are some people living on!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top