External luff reefing cringles

[Goldie]

They are called "reefing spectacles" and do make reefing with rams horns easier, just one side goes over a horn. A sailmaker should not charge too much to do them.

I have a short loop of line cow-hitched to the rings to help pull them over the ram’s horns. It stops my fingers getting caught between the metal bits.

 

[MontyMariner]

The position of the crinkles, their stiffness and distance from the bolt rope lead me to believe that they were never ment to hook over the rams horn. The folded sail below the crinkle gets in the way when trying to hook the crinkle on.
Spectacles with the correct length of webbing or a rope that can be hauled down through the crinkle would seem to me to be a far neater solution and be easily put on the rams horn even with the folded sail in the way.

 

[Poignard]

I used to pass a length of line trough the reef tack gromment and around the boom. No hooks, no spectacles.

I had intended to fit the following simple system to my boat but never got round to it before I sold her. It seems simple and logical to me.
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[William_H]

Poignard's system is all very good by in my case the line goes from pad eye (we call them a saddle) through the cringle back to another padeye or cheek sheeve down to deck to t a turning block and back to cockpit to be treated like a halyard. 2 line reefing all done from cockpit. Repeat for second reef. All assuming if you have slugs on luff that they can be released somehow. (I use a bolt rope only so pulls out easily)
I prefer to see the cringle pulled right in close to mast and boom. Mast especially to get luff tension pulling luff close to mast to remove load on luff rope and slugs. ol'will