furling jib or hanked on

[Kingston]

Had to contend with hanked on f'sails on a 48ft classic over the summer. They set very nicely, but trying to change them in choppy Falmouth Bay, and no guardrails and doing in excess of 10kts was no mean feat, and at times downright lethal!

But I can't imagine installing bulky roller reefing on a 1938 8 metre, would rather risk life and limb swapping sails than messing up her appearance, besides deckhands are pretty expendable in South Cornwall!

Sorry, I've digressed, you may like to try, and I have seen it work well, esp on smaller yachts, running a line, from the head of the sail, down through the hanks to a block at the base of the forestay and back to the cockpit or mast, then you can dump the halyard and pull the sail down without risking the foredeck if its choppy.

Just a thought, which from me, at 8.30am should be deemed a minor miracle!

 

[Salty John]

Very good for this time of the morning!
I've used a jib downhaul from time to time but never persisted with it, but we did have pulpit and safety lines. I found an older line that had become soft and pliable worked best, avoiding any tendency to kink. A spin-off benefit of the jib downhaul is that you can use it in conjunction with a halyard to set an anchor light in the foretriangle and be able to haul it down in the morning!