BelleSerene
Well-Known Member
I'm looking to reduce the friction in my reefing system. I have a 39' boat with two double slab reefs.
At each reefing eye I plan to use a low-friction ring, soft-shackled through to a steel ring the other side of the eye which is just there to hold the LFR in place). The reefing line will pass through the LFR, instead of through the actual sail eye.
It appeals to me to use a thin, low-friction line to do the bit of the run up the sail, through the LFR and down again, instead of the 10mm braid on braid that's already there.
Plan A is to long-tapered-tail-splice some 4mm dyneema (I know that's thin, but it's also affordable and surely its breaking strain of 2000kg must exceed the force the reefing lines have to bear?!) into the rope that goes through the clutches, and to replace the mast-base blocks with low friction rings. I prefer this plan to stripping the cover off part of a sheathed dyneema sheet, because the dyneema that comes inside a cover generally doesn't have the polyurethane coating that protects it against UV and lowers running friction.
The first (lower) clew reef goes up maybe 1.5m, down to the boom end and forward through the boom: I could splice this so that the splice sits within the boom regardless of reef position. In the other three reefing lines, the splice would have to pass through at least one block, and where possible I'll replace the existing blocks with low-friction rings.
Plan B is just to use a sheathed dyneema sheet for the whole job - still passing it through a low-friction ring beside the reefing eye instead of through the eye itself, but suffering the extra friction of the sheath running up the sail and back down.
I would be grateful for experiences. Would Plan B be better - to use poly-covered dyneema for the whole reefing line rather than just splicing a thin dyneema 'business end to the end of a poly sheet? If you've done such a splice yourself, did you find it catching where it went through a mast-end or mast-foot block? Any top tips from a job you've done yourself?
At each reefing eye I plan to use a low-friction ring, soft-shackled through to a steel ring the other side of the eye which is just there to hold the LFR in place). The reefing line will pass through the LFR, instead of through the actual sail eye.
It appeals to me to use a thin, low-friction line to do the bit of the run up the sail, through the LFR and down again, instead of the 10mm braid on braid that's already there.
Plan A is to long-tapered-tail-splice some 4mm dyneema (I know that's thin, but it's also affordable and surely its breaking strain of 2000kg must exceed the force the reefing lines have to bear?!) into the rope that goes through the clutches, and to replace the mast-base blocks with low friction rings. I prefer this plan to stripping the cover off part of a sheathed dyneema sheet, because the dyneema that comes inside a cover generally doesn't have the polyurethane coating that protects it against UV and lowers running friction.
The first (lower) clew reef goes up maybe 1.5m, down to the boom end and forward through the boom: I could splice this so that the splice sits within the boom regardless of reef position. In the other three reefing lines, the splice would have to pass through at least one block, and where possible I'll replace the existing blocks with low-friction rings.
Plan B is just to use a sheathed dyneema sheet for the whole job - still passing it through a low-friction ring beside the reefing eye instead of through the eye itself, but suffering the extra friction of the sheath running up the sail and back down.
I would be grateful for experiences. Would Plan B be better - to use poly-covered dyneema for the whole reefing line rather than just splicing a thin dyneema 'business end to the end of a poly sheet? If you've done such a splice yourself, did you find it catching where it went through a mast-end or mast-foot block? Any top tips from a job you've done yourself?