Reefing using outhaul on reefing cringle??

Or take no notice of the aptly named daydream believer and try doing it for real in a 24' boat in a rising wind; no sailor worth his salt would suggest using the clew outhaul is fine for reefing.

Why does this forum have to be so combative, ignorant and rude ? No wonder a better rival was set up, I try to offer help here when I see someone with a snag I can help with, but can well do without the constant attacks from negative berks.
Have you read the article yet?
 
Yes and I've tried it for real, so in reefing terms feel free to get knotted. :)

That is odd because in post #18 you suggest that no sailor worth his salt would suggest using the clew outhaul to reef
yet on the other hand you are admitting that you have tried it
so where does that put you in terms of value in pounds of salt
so come on Andy lighten up please :encouragement:
 
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I think more light than heat might be generated if the OP elaborates on why he has no reefs. The sail must have cringles, he’s said as much, so why no fixed line through them. Are there no sheaves in the boom for reefing lines, if so fit sheaves on the outside of the boom (Barton kit?) etc.

As others are getting at, a reliable reefing system that avoids trips to the boom end in rising winds is a very desirable feature of any cruising sailboat, and easily achieved on pretty much all of them.
 
Very simple, my boat is a Leisure 18 with reefing cringles in the the sail but no reefing lines associated with them or a ram's horn at the mast. I am well aware that I could install a single line or other reefing system. However, I am very much a fair weather sailor with a mooring on a 7 mile long lake so rarely more than an hour from the mooring. I do not envisage the need to reef when I am out solo sailing (so no risky trips to the mast in a blow) but am considering a simple way of reefing before I set off. Using the outhaul (perhaps also tying it down to the boom) seems a very easy way of putting in a first reef.
 
Very simple, my boat is a Leisure 18 with reefing cringles in the the sail but no reefing lines associated with them or a ram's horn at the mast. I am well aware that I could install a single line or other reefing system. However, I am very much a fair weather sailor with a mooring on a 7 mile long lake so rarely more than an hour from the mooring. I do not envisage the need to reef when I am out solo sailing (so no risky trips to the mast in a blow) but am considering a simple way of reefing before I set off. Using the outhaul (perhaps also tying it down to the boom) seems a very easy way of putting in a first reef.

Well I think that you are on the right track, but, as I have just done done, you can put in a proper reefing set up for very little money. See posts 13 and 17. The Squib is about the same size as the Leisure 18. Indeed, with a lid on it becomes a Hunter Europa!
 
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That is odd because in post #18 you suggest that no sailor worth his salt would suggest using the clew outhaul to reef
yet on the other hand you are admitting that you have tried it
so where does that put you in terms of value in pounds of salt
so come on Andy lighten up please :encouragement:

I had to try it on someone elses' boat which wasn't set up for reefing, then the wind was inconsiderate enough to rise.

Even if one can lash the sail cringle down around the boom it's a bad idea; most seamanship is preparation in advance. :rolleyes:
 
One deep reef. Eye pop riveted to port side of boom just outboard of the clew reef cringle, figure of eight in the leach reef pendant there, up to the cringle, back down to single sheave pop riveted on the starboard side, forward to cleat on boom. Luff reef pendant left rove so you just pull it down.

I did spend £14 on a nice Harken ball bearing sheave. I have a phobia about friction in sail handling arrangements!

Thinking about it, with just a little more thought and some spare blocks I could have presented him with single line reefing.
I think that there is an inbuilt flaw in that assembly. the idea is good but the design can be much stronger.
if the eye is part of the block (I had a Barton one) it will be on the same side
this means that the end of the line will go under the boom first. this gives a downward pull on the block which to a certain extent negates the upward pull of the sail. thus there is less load on the fixings. my Barton block was on a short track allowing some adjustment
more expense but an improvement . however once fitted I never adjusted it again so the advantage was the extra fixings of the track more than its adjustability
 
Good point.
Oh Minn -- how long have you been posting on this forum?
Years longer than me i expect and you go and make a silly mistake like that
how could you?
i have just commented on your set up for reefing and suggested an improvement.
no way on god's earth should you, as a forumite , agree to it as being a "good point" that is just not cricket
you know the rules. You should now enter onto a diartibe as to why your system is totally and uterly infallible
then tell us that you were using it on Noah's ark then you fill in at least a whole paragraph rubbishing every siggestion i have ever made whether it be about reefing or navigating or whatever.
it is how the forum works
Now go away and try again
 
Very simple, my boat is a Leisure 18 with reefing cringles in the the sail but no reefing lines associated with them or a ram's horn at the mast. I am well aware that I could install a single line or other reefing system. However, I am very much a fair weather sailor with a mooring on a 7 mile long lake so rarely more than an hour from the mooring. I do not envisage the need to reef when I am out solo sailing (so no risky trips to the mast in a blow) but am considering a simple way of reefing before I set off. Using the outhaul (perhaps also tying it down to the boom) seems a very easy way of putting in a first reef.

My boat has no rams horn either (I removed it when refitting the single line system).

If you have cringles at the luff as well as the leech, why not put spectacles through them (couple of D-rings tied either end of a few inches of Dyneema would suffice on so small a boat). Then tie off a snap shackle around the gooseneck on a dyneema strop.

To set a reef before you go out, snap the shackle to the spectacles, tighten its strop so you can get good halyard tension on the hoist, and reeve your outhaul through the respective leech cringle, tie off a bowline on the boom, and then tighten same.

The reefed sail should set properly and you could still reef deeper or shake out underway, albeit with a bit of fiddling about as has been highlighted.

I think what you originally proposed would not get a good sail set. Pennies for a bit of dyneema and shackle/rings.
 
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