EASY ROLL BOOM ROLLER REEFING

[bob_tyler]

Apologies, Kim, for posting this here but Scuttlebut has bought no response.

I am aware of the advantages and the disadvantages of roller reefing for the mainsail, but, as I get older, I get more reluctant to leave the cockpit to reef.

I have seen the Seatech advert in PBO for the above system @ £999. Has anyone any experience of using this gear or of fitting it? I am aware that the mainsail may not set quite as well as it does now when reefed.

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[Talbot]

Dont have any experience with that one (I have easyreef in-mast) but from others that I have seen, they do work, but must have full length batterns. Most of these will only work if they have their own purpose built mainsail which will be off lighter material than a normal mainsail, so you will need to reef earlier, but reefing is a lot easier. a lot of the in-boom systems use a solid kicker to make sure that the angle is correct as that is the most important part of setting up the rig, otherwise the whole setting can go wrong. The nature of the cars on the full length batterns is important as they can jam as well. When the sail is set up, there needs to be the corect amount of tension on the full length batterns to get them to set right. Light wind sailing is enhanced by the lighter material of the sail, but reduced because you cannot get such a good shape!

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[bob_tyler]

Thanks for that info. I still have to make my mind up.

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[tcm]

not bought either but i hear from some in the business that they'll use in-mast but prefer not to use in-boom. Aside from individual brand winges, rolling the main in that way is likely to hold water and damage sails or components - rolling vertically in the mast makes more sense.

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[bob_tyler]

It's the very point about rolling in the mast that makes least sense to me solely because all the weight remains high up in the mast.

Surely it is more logical to lower the weight with the sail down to the boom?

Additionally, if the operation of reefing jams up, one can reach the jam on the boom but, up the mast!!!

 

[tcm]

In boom does seem to give better access, but in fact with inmast you can swish out the sail in seconds in the marina or at anchor to check or sort things - whereas attempting the same with in-boom ain't easy without a deckload of sail and so just wouldn't be done often if at all.

As i said before, inboom can hold lots of water and rainwater and sowould be more likely to fail/jam especially as its likely left alone all winter. In mast is self-draining and hence less prone to such failures in the long term, imho.

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[bob_tyler]

I can see the point about water in the boom. Some strategically placed drain holes and a sail cover, when down, should help - or would it?

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