Headsail Reefing

[Scarboroughsloop]

I am looking at the possibility of changing my 5 hanked on headsails for one sail with reef points (plus a dedicated storm jib). I have seen this on a few working boats, but have no personal experience of this type of set up. Do any forum members have any advise on this feasability of this type of change?

 

[Mirelle]

Don't know how relevant this may be, but our gaff cutter has two rows of reef points on the staysail. The jibs, which are set flying on the bowsprit of course, have Wykeham Martin's gear and are changed over - we only have two, the working jib (95% of the time!) and the spitfire.

Normal procedure is

1. First few rolls in mainsail
2. First reef in staysail
3. Deep reef in mainsail
4. Change working jib for spitfire
5. Really deep reef in mainsail
6. Second reef in staysail (blowing pretty hard for this to be needed)
7. Time to heave to.
8. (Only had to do this twice in 20 years) stow mainsail and spitfire, lie to under close reefed staysail - which, oddly enough, she does very nicely.

Reefing the staysail is not a very difficult job, and I would say it is no harder than changing hanked headsails. It helps to have a lazy sheet - we use a tackle to the weather shrouds, in effect heaving to to reef the staysail.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Thanks for that bit of info. Part of Mariposa's refit will be to re-rig her as a cutter. My intention is W/M gear on the jib and a deep reef in the staysail, cut very high in the clew. Experience will probably change this sequence, but here goes:-
1. A few rolls in the main.
2. Furl the jib
3. A few more rolls in the main
4. Reef the staysail
5. Heave to, and recite the Lords Prayer.

 

[Mirelle]

That looks right, to me.

 

[Scarboroughsloop]

Many thanks for the info. It looks like this is the way route I shall take.

 

[Mirelle]

Sorry, just changed my mind...

Thinking further, and particularly remembering my years with "Mytica", a boat very much like a two and a half ton Hillyard, which my late father and I re-rigged as a tiny gaff cutter, I would be inclined to reef the staysail early on - before furling the jib.

It is a "pressing" sail, and since reefing it will be the nastiest foredeck job I would be inclined to do it "early in the proceedings" - as advised by Graham and Tew's "A Manual for Small Yachts" - 1938 - good little book and not hard to find, written by the late Helen Tew's father and/or husband - they refer to her in the text as "our wife and/or daughter"!.)

If you reef the staysail whilst the jib is set you won't have problems handling the boat, which you may have with no headsail set.

Having said which, it is always advisable to run the boat off whilst working on the foredeck - if you have sea room. Still, this is easier with the jib set.

In Mytica we carried a spitfire which fitted on the W/M gear with snap shackles and we do the same in Mirelle. You can roll the sail, change for the rolled spitfire and unroll again.

 

[Evadne]

Just a thought, which may not be of any help, but here goes. We have twin forestays with a selection of (3) hanked-on jibs. Its not an option you see very often these days, apparently it was de rigeur racing rig in the sixties to allow swift sail changes, the drawback being lack of forestay tension. We find it very good for cruising: you can hank on two sails and tie the smaller one to a guardrail. To reef you drop the big one, which takes the stress out the foredeck work, lash it to the other guardrail, then swap the halyard and hoist the smaller sail at your leisure.