How to prevent reefing lines from garrotting your crew?

[srm]

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.

I had a similar arrangement on a 42 ft bermudan sloop with a long boom that was sheeted aft of the cockpit. A reefing winch and cleats were mounted on the forward end of the boom. All three reefing lines were permanently in place ready for use. Whenever the sail was set unused reefing lines had the slack taken up and cleated off just enough not to spoil the leech of the sail. No one ever got garotted, nor did the reefing lines get hooked on anything they shouldn't.

 

[Daydream believer]

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.

My mistake

 

[svZiska]

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.

small screws into the top of the boom creates a point where water can get in, hence potential rot spot. i've seen booms with simple rope strops large enough to go twice around the boom, one tight to the boom and one left drooping a bit, then seized together so that it doesn't move fore nor aft.