How to prevent reefing lines from garrotting your crew?

[Captain Sillyboxes]

My boat is a gaff cutter with a wooden boom. The reefing system involves 3 reefing lines each of which starts near the after end of the boom, passes through a reefing cringle in the leach of the sail, returns through a sheave near the after end of the boom, and finally runs forward to a cleat near the forward end of the boom where you make it off to put in a reef.

When I became the owner of the boat, there were two equally spaced loops running around the boom and reefing lines, these served to prevent reefing lines that are not in use from hanging below the boom, causing a risk of snagging on someone's neck when tacking or gybing. But these loops were made of electrical cable, fastened to themselves with electrical connector blocks. It looked incredibly ramshackle and naff so when they fell off from natural causes I replaced them with bits of 3mm polyester rope which looked more seamanlike... until the first time I tried to put in a reef and the friction with the new strangle preventers made it almost impossible. So it turns out that there was a reason the previous owner used these unorthodox electrical cables - low friction between cable and reefing line.

My question is, is there a standard solution to this problem which doesn't involve electrical cables or introduce extra moving parts/complexity?

 

[KevinV]

Could you use a loop of rigging wire? Or put mast beads on your rope? Or even better, put mast beads on some rigging wire?

(my boat just has some fairleads for this purpose)

 

[jlavery]

I've used sail tie material loosely looped round the boom, held in place longitudinally with a snall screw into the top of the boom.

 

[Captain Sillyboxes]

Thanks yes I can imagine sail tie material working well for this

 

[B27]

Most boats I've sailed on don't have the 3rd reef permanently rigged.
It's a lot of line aloft waiting to tangle.
Once the first reef is in, take the slack out of the others?

Some dinghies run the mainsheet along the boom with some sailcloth to keep i from drooping when slack.

 

[dunedin]

Some dinghies run the mainsheet along the boom with some sailcloth to keep i from drooping when slack.

Yes a length of stiff material which is at least 6 inches wide, typically attached with Velcro, is the solution - as proven on race boats with centre mainsheet. Like a bigger version of this Topper Boom Loop - Mylar

Sail tie is too narrow to avoid twisting, IMHO

PS. 6 inch wide pieces of stiff canvas, possibly varnished for stiffness, would look the part on a gaffer

 

[Daydream believer]

How often do you use the 3rd reef would be my first question. Take it off for most day sails if the answer is hardly ever. Then fit solid friction eyes with bullseye inserts to the side of the boom &run the lines through these. One set for each line.

 

[Captain Sillyboxes]

I use the third reef quite often!

By "solid friction eye with bullseye insert" do you mean something like a bullseye fairlead?

I can see this working well but am loath to put 12 new screwholes into the boom.

Re "Once the first reef is in, take the slack out of the others" yes I do this, but the lines even sag a bit when no reefs are in. Were I to adjust the stopper knots so that they didn't, they would also interfere with the shape of the sail in light conditions.

 

[B27]

If you use the third reef 'often' then maybe your first reef is redundant?
A racing boat might need 3 reefs, the third one will halve the sail area. You don't want each reef to be too big as you want 'full power' in any wind strength.
For my cruising boat, I have two big reefs, it doesn't matter if I lose 0.2 knots by having a bigger first reef.

Changing the reef lines to smaller dyneema improved my boat, less weight swinging about and new, smaller rope runs through blocks and fairleads better.

My Laser dinghy has a loop of 2" wide webbing under the boom to contain the mainsheet.

 

[Tranona]

I use the third reef quite often!

By "solid friction eye with bullseye insert" do you mean something like a bullseye fairlead?
View attachment 162178
I can see this working well but am loath to put 12 new screwholes into the boom.

Re "Once the first reef is in, take the slack out of the others" yes I do this, but the lines even sag a bit when no reefs are in. Were I to adjust the stopper knots so that they didn't, they would also interfere with the shape of the sail in light conditions.

On my wooden boom I made similar out of wood and glued them on.

 

[Captain Sillyboxes]

Interesting point about maybe if I use my 3rd reef often I should have bigger reefs. One valuable thing about this forum is that you get answers to questions you didn't even ask!

I like the glued-on homemade wooden fairlead suggestion too. Could have 3 bullseye inserts set in a single bit of wood with an inner radius that matches the boom. I will try with reefing tie material first since that's easy and progress to something like this over the winter if the reefing tie material doesn't cut it.

 

[Wansworth]

Just rigthe Ist reef and when that’s reefed reeve the other two

 

[Daydream believer]

OK sitting in the lounge stroking the cat. But out at sea having to ponce about rev-reefing lines as things get bouncy is another story

 

[Wansworth]

OK sitting in the lounge stroking the cat. But out at sea having to ponce about rev-reefing lines as things get bouncy is another story

Yes you’re probably right……just an idea ,I don’t recall it being a big problem but I didn’t have all this lines leading back to the cockpit

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes you’re probably right……just an idea ,I don’t recall it being a big problem but I didn’t have all this lines leading back to the cockpit

Still got to get from the end of the boom (clew)to the gooseneck. Unless one wants to fight a swinging boom end

 

[Wansworth]

As I recall I had the topping lift running on a block on the back stay,having hove too,I tensionedthe topping lift went forward on the starboard side ,preferably ,pulled down the luff amade fast the.the leach Ipulled down to the block on the boom and made fast ,returned to cockpit and released the topping lift…..it was a light displacement 28 footer

 

[Poignard]

A traditional solution was a short rope strop, with a thimble spliced into one end and the other end secured to boom. The line to be supported is rove through the thimble.

Have one, or more, for each reefing line.

 

[Daydream believer]

A traditional solution was a short rope strop, with a thimble spliced into one end and the other end secured to boom. The line to be supported is rove through the thimble.

Have one, or more, for each reefing line.

Presumably that is then led back to the gooseneck? So it can be tensioned from the mast

 

[Poignard]

Presumably that is then led back to the gooseneck? So it can be tensioned from the mast

No, they are a few inches long and placed along the boom to stop the reefing lines sagging down.

Sorry if I am not describing them well. I can't find a picture on the Internet.

 

[Captain Sillyboxes]

I understand your idea Poignard. Although it seems that Tranoma's glued on bits of wood with eyes in them would keep the reefing lines closer to the boom?