Home made single line reefing. Can I?

[WayneS]

Q for my learned friends.

The current reefing arrangement on my mainsail is a line from the boom, up thru a cringle on the sail, down thru a block in the end of the boom, along the inside of the boom, around another sheave block at the gooseneck, down to deck level and back to the cockpit. The luff of the sail is pulled down manually to a hook on the boom.

This has me thinking, could I modify the arrangement to that the current line goes from the gooseneck up thru the cringle on the luff before going down to the deck and back to the cockpit.


I know that this is nothing like the fancy systems you can buy but has anyone had experience of this type of arrangement?

Thanks in advance

Wayne



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[snowleopard]

the friction in the luff cringle will prevent you ever getting the leech pulled down properly. you have 2 options:

a) a second line to do the luff

b) a double block inside the boom as per a 'proper' single-line system, this distributes the pull equally between the luff and leech. it's not essential to have the block running in a track.

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[mhouse]

On My last boat a dufour 2800 27.5 ft i had the following systen which worked a treat and removed the need to leave the cockpitfor the first two reefs .Tie the reef line at the rear of the boom through the reefing cringle to a turning bolbk on the boom , take this line forward to another block ( I extended the gooseneck bolt to allow a block to be shackeled either side for the 1st two reefs) then up to the forward cringle and straight back down to a block at the base of the mast and to the cockpit.
It does involve a log line but with practise a reef can be put in in about 30 seconds.


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[Gezzer]

I'm about to do the same thing, and was myself wondering if the line would have enough purchase to tighten the luff only using the luff cringle, I doubted this because the single line reefing systems that you can buy, (harken etc) all use a single block to double the purchase at the luff.
At first I did not think this to be needed but seeing some of your reply's I think I will build this into my system.

I am hoping to have this done by at the latest mid next week, so I will let you know it it works if interested.






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[Heckler]

nigel calder

goes to great length on this very subject with diagrams etc in his book, it is the best 39 squids worth i have bought in a long time
stu

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[peixe]

Have just fitted a single line reefing system (to Vancouver 27) for reefs one and two. By the sound of it my original setup was the same as yours. What I have now is this: the reefing pendant from the cockpit goes via a clutch and deck organiser to a turning block at foot of mast, then through the sheave in the forward end of the boom, to one of the balance blocks inside the boom. The line then exits the forward end of the boom through a slot cut in the boom, round a turning block fitted near the gooseneck to the luff reefing cringle. The leech line starts at a tie-off at the aft end of the boom, then through the balance block in the boom, back to the sheave at the aft end of the boom, up to the leech cringle and finally down to the tie-off on the boom. Phew... A picture is worth a thousand words - so I could fax this to you if you wish. The boom end fittings have to be removed to fit the balance blocks and internal lines and two slots cut in the boom and exit plates fitted. No big problems for DIY.
All seems to work fine on dry land on a calm day. Launched yesterday so have not yet tried it out in anger... keeping my fingers crossed that the balance blocks don't get irretrievably snarled up inside the boom !

If you decide to go for it - good luck !
Tony

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[vyv_cox]

Exactly the system that I have now used with my Kemp mast and boom for more than 12 years, with great success. I understand that this method was patented by one of the spar-makers, Z-spar I think, with the result that Kemp/Selden cannot use it. Thus they had to go for a far more complex system.

My balance blocks have never clashed.

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[Gunfleet]

I've installed this myself on my last two boats. Single line reefing will work but you have to use lighter line than you'd think, otherwise you end up with a lot of friction through the eyes and sheaves and it feels like it will never shift. You end up going forward and tugging from the mast foot to relieve the friction, which rather defeats the point. How light? Depends on the size of the boat and sail of course. 6mm Marlow braid has a breaking load of a tonne, 10mm is 3 tonnes. I reckon 6mm is plenty for my 26 ft yacht and it moves very easily when I want it to. 10mm was a nightmare!

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