Easyreef mainsail furling system

[TonyMiles]

I have just bought a Sadler 29 fitted with an Easyreef mainsail furling system.
Does anyone have any instructions or guidance notes for setting up and using this system? Any advice would be welcome.
I tried asking Easyreef directly and after an initial reply that they could offer no help, I asked again, only to receive a rather rude retort! Very strange and unhelpful attitude.

 

[Talbot]

I had an easy reef fitted to my boat. I assume you have worked out how to hoist the sail and connect it into the luff groove. The outhaul is also very straightforward - out the end of the boom, through the bock on the boom, up and round the block at the rear of the sail, and back to secured on the the block on the boom.

I found it easier to pull the sail out by pulling directly on the sail rather than ensuring that the boom was just at the right angle (then tacking down the slack on the outhaul). However, you need to watch the reefing line feed from the bottom of the boom to the turning gear at the base of the mast, as this is where it can jam if the boom angle is wrong.

When furling the sail, it needs the kicking strap and the main sheets released completely and that allows the sail to be furled with the correct amount of tension.

It is always better to pull all the sail out when reefing down as that ensure that the sail tension is evened out and helps prevent jams.

I fitted a very small winch (size 8) to assist in easing out the sail when adjustments to trim were needed.

 

[samwise]

Tony
We had a Sadler 29 with EasyReef and a vertical battened MaxiRoach main. Could it be our old boat?
Anyway, the chap from whom we bought it was a dedicated singlehander and he found it ideal for him or any shorthanded crew.

Our experience was nothing but favourable and the system did what it said on the tin. From what I remember, the key points were to set it up on the topping lift so that the boom was exactly at right angles to the mast, after which you need not touch the topping lift again. The other was to ensure that you kept some tension on the furling line as you rolled in the sail. It does of course give you a pretty much infinite range of reefing degrees.
The vertical battens that we had helped to keep some shape to the sail when reefed and I think it also helped to prevent the sail getting jammed in the slot. We never had a jam with it.

In performance terms I would probably agree that the boat would sail faster with a conventional slab reefing main, simply because you can preserve a better shape, even with the vertical battens. That said , our 29 certainly did not disgrace herself and as we had a couple of fairly demanding nippers to deal with at the time we owned it, the simple and effective reefing system was a boon.

Happy to offer more advice if you PM me