Gooseneck reefing setup ideas

[flaming]

Looking for a bit of a project to keep me occupied.

The race boat doesn't have any ramshorns at the gooseneck, instead it has a pair of padeyes, one each side of the mast, like this.

The one time we reefed last season we simply threaded a sail tie through padeyes and the ring in the sail and tied it off. Simple but a bit fiddly and time consuming. With the prospect of some longer deliveries in the future plans I was thinking about how to make this an easier task.

So far my ideas are simply to use 2 soft shackles, one on each of the padeyes and join them through the ring, or to use a piece of dynema with a loop in both ends, cowhitch it to one of the padeyes, thread it through the ring on the sail and soft shackle it to the other padeye.
I think I prefer the second option, but I was left wondering if there was a way of splicing something in Dynema that had a loop on one end so can be cowhitched to a padeye and a soft shackle type arrangement on the other that could attach to the second padeye, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Any ideas?

Or any other solutions that might work?

 

[TLouth7]

How about: on one side a short soft shackle, put through the ring and then the eye worked down tight around the ring (sort of like a cow hitch). This gives you a bobble on a short length of line. On the other side a longer length with an eye splice on each end. Again one end is made tight on the ring. You can now pass the long line through the eyelet, and pop the bobble through the eye splice.

I'm not really convinced any of this is less fiddly than a slipped half hitch in a sail tie to be honest....

Edit: if you fancy some sewing you could make up something like a climbing daisy chain but with only one or two loops in the middle. This would be used like a sail tie but gives you a loop that is guaranteed to stay open to put your half hitch through.

Singing Rock Safety Chain - Daisychain | Buy online | Alpinetrek.co.uk

 

[flaming]

How about: on one side a short soft shackle, put through the ring and then the eye worked down tight around the ring (sort of like a cow hitch). This gives you a bobble on a short length of line. On the other side a longer length with an eye splice on each end. Again one end is made tight on the ring. You can now pass the long line through the eyelet, and pop the bobble through the eye splice.

Interesting idea, but how would I do the eyesplice so that it constricted on the bobble under load in the way that a softshackle does?

I'm not really convinced any of this is less fiddly than a slipped half hitch in a sail tie to be honest....

Maybe not, but I have time to kill and some splicing skills to practice / learn...

 

[dunedin]

For reef three we have a metal snap hook on a short (precisely sized) dyneema strop.

Not as sexy as a soft shackle perhaps, but the hook seemed quickest and easiest to snap onto the ring on the sail one handed when bouncing around. This is important as on our 38ft boat need to go up on at least one of the mast steps to reach above the bulk of the sail already pulled down on the other 2 reefs.

 

[r_h]

 

[flaming]

For reef three we have a metal snap hook on a short (precisely sized) dyneema strop.

Not as sexy as a soft shackle perhaps, but the hook seemed quickest and easiest to snap onto the ring on the sail one handed when bouncing around. This is important as on our 38ft boat need to go up on at least one of the mast steps to reach above the bulk of the sail already pulled down on the other 2 reefs.

The sail doesn't have spectacles, so have to thread the ring... I agree this is the best solution ( as pictured by r_h) for regular use, but really this is just for the occasional delivery. It's an inshore race boat and our inshore main doesn't even have reef points.... Just the "offshore" main that apparently the previous owner only ever used twice... Wouldn't want a snapshackle flopping about and bashing the mast permanently. Probably wouldn't even leave the bit of dynema on the boat, but store it in the delivery box...

 

[michael_w]

IMHO you need spectacles. Dyneema grommet with ss rings. Attach to the mast padeye with a soft shackle. Then you can take the tuck in on either tack. Nice and simple for when the boat is trying to stand on her head.

 

[flaming]

IMHO you need spectacles. Dyneema grommet with ss rings. Attach to the mast padeye with a soft shackle. Then you can take the tuck in on either tack. Nice and simple for when the boat is trying to stand on her head.

Ideally yes. But this boat might get reefed once a season, so I'm not too bothered about the very best. Really just looking for a project to practice some splicing at home at the moment, and I'm about 200 miles from the sail in question, so splicing some SS rings onto it isn't really an option...

 

[lw395]

We put an eye nut on each end of the horizontal pivot of the gooseneck.
Lead a reefing line up through that and back to a strong point on the gooseneck.
To reef, pull the line and tension it with the cunningham tackle.
It's all about finding somewhere strong to attach things to which pulls the tack to the right place, enough down and enough in.
There's not all that much load on the eyenut, it's mostly deflecting the line.
We can reef calmly and quickly two-up, without using the autohelm..

 

[Concerto]

Flaming, would having a line from the ring on the sail straight down to a block on the deck and led back to a jammer in the cockpit. That is what I am planning to do on my boat as I have spare blocks and jammers. Then I will be able to reef without leaving the cockpit.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Put a snap shackle on one side and cow hitch a loop through the other.
To reef pop the loop through your cringle and snap in .

 

[Poignard]

Flaming, would having a line from the ring on the sail straight down to a block on the deck and led back to a jammer in the cockpit. That is what I am planning to do on my boat as I have spare blocks and jammers. Then I will be able to reef without leaving the cockpit.

'

I have seen something similar in a book describing the rigging on old gaff-rigged boats .

A simple system where the tack was held down by a line from an eye-bolt on deck located on one side of the mast which led up through the tack cringle and back down to a deck cleat on the other side of the mast.

The idea was that it could be quickly released to allow the tack to be triced up.

On my boat when I need to reef I just pass a length of line through the tack eyelet and around the boom a couple of times and tie it off. Pretty crude but it works.

 

[RJJ]

have you thought about just using a sail tie and a couple of half-hitches?

in jest. I have so many things to take care of, you must be really well-sorted if this is bothering you for the sake of a handful of times a year ;-)

 

[William_H]

Flaming has the right idea. However assuming the pad eyes are orientated correctly You run a line from one pad eye tied on through the eyelet the back to the other pad eye. The second pad eye simply changes direction of the line to straight down to a turning block on the deck and back to winch or cleat. This gives a symmetrical pull to the eyelet along centre line. (making pull same on either tack) Now ideally when reefed the tack eyelet will be snug into the corner of the boom/mast and the line will pull the eyelet at 45 degree angle so pulling sail forward to the mast (taking load off bolt rope/slugs ) and down against the halyard so bringing foot of the sail close to the boom. Makes for a very neat reef and all operated from the cockpit. For one reef at least. For a second reef try another line using the same or additional pad eyes to take tack reefing line down the other side to cockpit. Use same pad eyes if the line is thin enough to run through the pad eye with the other line also tied to it. I think it OK to use the tack reefing eyelet as a sheave just like some use clew reefing eyelet as a sheave. Just have to monitor the line at the eyelet for chafe. ol'will

 

[knuterikt]

Somthing like this?
An eye in the other end or two integrated soft schacles.

 

[tjbrace]

How about a regular soft shackle of sufficient length to pass through one pad eye, through the reef cringle, through the other pad eye, and back through the reef cringle to the button / loop of the shackle.
This would give 4 diameters of line through the cringle, could be simply stowed by threading through 1 pad eye and finger tightened, and could be completely removed for racing mode.

 

[lw395]

How about a regular soft shackle of sufficient length to pass through one pad eye, through the reef cringle, through the other pad eye, and back through the reef cringle to the button / loop of the shackle.
This would give 4 diameters of line through the cringle, could be simply stowed by threading through 1 pad eye and finger tightened, and could be completely removed for racing mode.

Sounds like quite a faff to rig, when you need to reef shorthanded in the dark on choppy water.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

My dinghy halyards terminate in baubles. The end of the halyard is doubled over to create a byte and pushed through the cringle on the head of the sail, the bight is then looped over the bobble and pulled tight, which jams it against the cringle. In your case you could have a contineous loop with a bauble in the end, cow hitched over the padeye on the mast. Lower the sail, create a bight (it would be a double bight), poke it through the reefing cringle and pop the bauble through the bight and pull tight. If offset is an issue, have one on each side.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I think the sail tie is the simplest arrangement for the little reefing you do.

 

[knuterikt]

Did this today for my cascading cunningham
Integrated soft schacle in end eye splice in the other