Reefing line attachment to boom

[Daydream believer]

That's a stackpack problem not a reefing problem.

The OP has a stackpack & if the slots are in the wrong place he will not be able to reef properly.
Do you not understand- it is part of a "system" so if any part does not work correctly then the "system" cannot be expected to perform to its best.

 

[lw395]

The OP has a stackpack & if the slots are in the wrong place he will not be able to reef properly.
Do you not understand- it is part of a "system" so if any part does not work correctly then the "system" cannot be expected to perform to its best.

The OP makes no mention of his stackpack being a problem in this respect.

 

[JimC]

The OP makes no mention of his stackpack being a problem in this respect.

No problem in this respect, The stackpack has zips on both sides and they extend for several inches fore and aft of each reefing position. Both stackpack and sail are standard issue for the Hunter Channel 31. What is non-standard is my conversion of the sail to loose-footed and the consequent option of securing the reefing lines by some method other than the metal eyes under the boom. I just wondered whether there would be any benefit therefrom.

 

[lw395]

No problem in this respect, The stackpack has zips on both sides and they extend for several inches fore and aft of each reefing position. Both stackpack and sail are standard issue for the Hunter Channel 31. What is non-standard is my conversion of the sail to loose-footed and the consequent option of securing the reefing lines by some method other than the metal eyes under the boom. I just wondered whether there would be any benefit therefrom.

Try it, you may find the sail sets better, and you can lose those eyes under the boom which some people seem to hit their heads on...

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Try it, you may find the sail sets better, and you can lose those eyes under the boom which some people seem to hit their heads on...

See my post #5. My line under the boom holds the reefing lines in the correct position and is a lot kinder to scalps.

 

[lw395]

See my post #5. My line under the boom holds the reefing lines in the correct position and is a lot kinder to scalps.

It's another option if you find the reefs don't naturally set very well with the bowlines free on the boom.
But only appropiate when you've got as many reefing lines as reefing cringles. And only when you leave all the reefing lines permanently reeved? rove? roven?
No good for us, we have two reefing lines, three proper reefs including a very deep third reef and a flattener. Normally we only rig the first reef in fine weather if we're cruising, and we take that out for racing unless we're sure we might need it.
So for us, it's important that the reefing line reverts to the correct point on the boom, and I've never seen a free bowline on the boom fail to do that.
I have seen someone lash the reef clew down to the boom with several turns of line, then ease the reefing line to get more fullness in a reefed sail, if you want a little more drive without shaking out the reef

 

[RJJ]

So for us, it's important that the reefing line reverts to the correct point on the boom, and I've never seen a free bowline on the boom fail to do that.

I, on the other hand, have never seen a free bowline make its way far enough aft; I have always seen such a setup leave you loose-footed. In my experience, a correctly-positioned free bowline shuffles forward a bit when the sail is on the way down. Next outing, once you start winding on the reefing pennant it pulls down before it pulls aft. The friction (once it's a bit tight) is always sufficient to prevent the bowline sliding back far enough. So the pull from the cringle is a bit forwards as well as down; the cringle acts to minimise tension and slides forward to the now-static knot the more you tighten the pennant. Cringle-forward = loose foot.

Mechanically, this is obvious. The leech cringle, vertically, "lives" forward of its reefed position when not in use (whether sail is dropped with the pennant slack, or fully-hoisted). Therefore the initial tension applied by the reefing pennant is forwards, and pulls your bowline forwards. Once it is near-tight, you imagine the pull from the bowline upwards to the cringle to be vertical...but that is physically impossible unless there is zero friction.

The only way to get the knot far enough aft so that the lead from the boom to the cringle is vertical (or, my preference) a little for'ard, is to restrain the boom tie-down backwards.

If you don't like the steel rings beneath the boom, another solution (which I have never tried) could be a rolling hitch. You'd need to check it for slippage, but that would nicely prompt you to avoid chafe. You could always tie it back onto itself for extra security.

 

[greeny]

I would say it is partially untrue. I found that with the reefing pennant free to move along the boom, within the contraint only provided by the slots in the stackpack it would allow the sail to be a bit fuller than it should be. By passing the pennant though the loops under the boom and fixing the latter so that they are beneath and very slightly behind the reefing points in the sail I now get reasonable foot tension.

+1
Fully agree. If the line is left so it can slide around and it finishes up being forward of the reef cringle, too little foot tension will occur. Different setups need different slightly different solutions but the basics remain the same.

 

[William_H]

OP must have got the message by now that the net angle of pull is the critical part. Using a line which runs through the reef eyelet we have in efect 2 lines pulling. They don't have to pull from one position along the boom however the ffot tension is the critical part. You need that foot stretched to give a flat sail for the stronger winds. The pull down is to counteract the pull of the boom downward made by the main sheet. If the reefing line is not pulling down hard enough you will get the clew rising from the boom and have a lower boom than might be desirable. I always take a few turns of light rope around the boom and through the eyelet to augment this down pull of the reefing line as i did have the reefing line chafe through once. The reef is however OK without this lashing.
On my little boat the reef line emerges on the top of the boom just off centre rises to the eyelet and back to a saddle attached to the mounting screws of the sheave box so both lines pull from nearly the same point giving aprox 45 degree pull into the sail. But this common pull point is not necessary. Basically try out what you have ie line around the boom and see how it performs. ie does it give enough foot tension and does it strap the eylet down to the boom close enough under main sheet load to satisfy you. ol'will.