Roller boom furling

[sparerooms]

My Macwester 27 has roller boom furling, I'm not a great fan of it!
My main sail seems to have reefing eyelets on the leech.

Question is would it be possible to rig the mast and boom for slab reefing?

A friend thinks it can be done, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Tranona]

Yes, but there are various ways of going about it, depending on whether you want all the lines at the mast or led back to the cockpit and whether you want single line or 2 line reefing. You can get some ideas from the Barton catalogue as they sell all the bits to make it work. Also worth looking at other boats to see how they are laid out and perhaps speaking to owners about what works and what doesn't. You will also need to have your sail modified to incorporate reefing points and you may find value in having a stack pack and lazyjacks, so talk to a sailmaker as well. Be prepared to spend quite a lot of beer tokens to make it work well!

 

[causeway]

You can buy the slab reefing kit from force 4 and rivet it to the boom. A friend of mine has this done and it works fine.

Does the roller handle lock into the mast? If so this is handy to keep the boom from spinning.

He didn't do anything else to the boom as far as I'm aware, oh apart from the usual jam cleats.

 

[Durcott]

Ha! My friend and I were having the same thoughts yesterday.

My 'new' old Sadler 32 has roller reefing - I hate it, having been put off by an installation on another boat. However, my mate thinks it's great.

The main appears to have reefing eyelets in the leach just as you report - perhaps they are a feature of roller reefing systems as well???? Perhaps they allow a clew outhaul feature on a partially rolled main?

I'm not in the hurry I was to replace it with another system.

 

[Avocet]

I've done the same thing on a Cutlass 27 - which is a similar sort of boat. Best mod I ever made! It sails SO much better than with the roller system! The sail is old and baggy and I'll swear it goes better with a reef in these days!

As has been said, the aft end is fine - use a Barton kit. For the forward end, I made an aluminium block with some tapped holes in it. That block bolted to the front of the boom (to the original flange to which the roller gear housing attached) and it prevents the boom from rotating. I then screwed three stainless ring bolts into the side and one into the top. The reefing lines are tied in a bowline to the big ring on the top and then up through their respective cringles an down the other side of the sail to the ring bolts, which turn them through 90 degrees. they're led back to clam cleats on the side of the boom (as are the ones from the Barton kit at the aft end).

If I was doing it again, I might be tempted to run them to the foot of the mast, through some turning blocks and back to the cockpit because part way along the boom is a recipe for losing teeth when it's windy and you're trying to reef with the boom flailing round! On the other hand, this system is pretty simple and foolproof with no real opportunities for tangles.

The peculiar kicker attachment is a throwback from the roller days because it crept along the boom as it was rolled so I ad a long webbing strop between the top block and the fitting. I'll get round to putting it back on it's original keyhole slot one day!

 

[William_H]

I don't mean to sound critical but I don't like that reefing system as shown in the photos. One priority when reefed to to be able to have the foot of the sail stretched clew to tack.
While the clew reef line may pull the clew outwards there is not pull forward at the tack (mast end of the main). It seems to rely entirely on the slugs in the mast well above the boom to couteract clew pull. Some will use a ss horn at the gooseneck to hold the tack.
I use a reefing line (2 line reefing) that comes from a point on the side of the mast as far forward as possible and below the boom. That line goes through the tack eyelet and back to a similar point on the other side of the mast (a turning block or saddle or bullseye then down to a turning block and back to the aft cabin top. This line pulls the tack eyelet at about 45 degrees so down and forward. Emulating the pull you apply to the clew at the back end of the mast.
In my case the clew reefing line runs inside the boom and emerges at a block set in the top of the boom. It goes through the clew eyelet then back to a saddle on the other side of the top of the boom. I did this to avoid block on the side of the boom which could be lethal if the boom hit someone's head.
The clew reefing line emerges near the goosenneck in another block set in the boom under side, then down to the deck turning to go to aft cabin top.
I use just one reef. If i need 2 I either move the reefing lines before departure or tie the second reef in with the crude reefing which I will describe.

Crude reefing can be fitted before departure. use 2 pieces of rope one for clew and one for tack. With the tack hoist the sail to near reefed height. Pass the rope through the eyelet then around the front of the mast then back to the eyelet then down around the boom. Hopefully not tangled in the gooseneck. Thus you tighten this rop to pull the tack eyelet down top the boom and forward to the mast. Do a similar rope at the clew around the boom and back to thhe outhaul attachment whatever you have. These ropes can have multiple turns through the path. The end effect is that the foot of the sail is streteched as tight as you can get it and the rope around the boom. If you have eyelets set in a line from clew eyelet to tack eyelet you can pass a string around the boom and through these eyelets to hold the bunt of the disused sail up against the boom. Do not allow these eyelets to take any sail pressure. Many advocate using bungee cord here.
Give this crude reefing a try. The only down side ios that it has to be done in shelter wheras the proper method as described can be done from the cockpit while under way. In any case sail will set a lot better than roller reefing. good luck olewill

 

[Avocet]

It doesn't seem to be a problem in practice because the slugs are quite a long way above the tack. When the reefing line is fully pulled down. the line passes straight through the cringle from the top ringbolt to the side one, so the line just acts like a bar through the cringle. It's not infinitely rigid, but seems to be plenty stiff enough to allow the foot of the sail to stretch (which the aft reefing line then does by virtue of where the blocks are placed). I agree about the head injury thing though. That's just something I think I'll have to live with on a retro-fitted slab reefing system though.

 

[wklein]

Its prob worth getting a quote for a new boom (or looking for a second had slab boom), you can get a workable solution with cheek blocks etc but its usually not great. My last two boats had furling booms and i replaced them both with new booms and ended up with far easier and neater setups. It also gives you the option of a single line reefing boom if that's your bag.

 

[grafozz]

I always used a 12 v screwgun to roll my sail away on my boom furler , it made it a doddle up and down .
I made up an adapter to fit the boom and screwgun chuck , always liked boom furling after that .

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I have a Macwester Wight and I changed a few years ago from the painful roller boom to slab system. I have two sets of reefing points on the sail, each reefing has its own line back to the cockpit, therefore, there are four lines. I have riveted two blocks on the clew end of the boom, one for each luff line and riveted simple small "U" fittings near the end of the boom to attach and tie the two leech lines. It is simple and so far has been effective and trouble free. The trick is to ensure that the foot of the sail is tight when reefed.

 

[neil_s]

I ,too, didn't like the saggy boom and baggy sail when reefing my 1977 Seal. I read, though, that wooden spar sailors used to screw thin battens of wood to the outboard end of the boom to take up more leach than luff when rolling up. I tried the 'modern' version. I got a piece of plastic drain-pipe about five feet long and sawed a single cut down it's length. I forced this over the outboard end of the boom with the split aligned with the foot groove on the spar - it needed help and lubrication, because it gripped the boom quite tightly. Success! roller reefing is now quick - and the sail sets nice and flat with the boom well out of the cockpit!

Neil S

 

[Searush]

I ,too, didn't like the saggy boom and baggy sail when reefing my 1977 Seal. I read, though, that wooden spar sailors used to screw thin battens of wood to the outboard end of the boom to take up more leach than luff when rolling up. I tried the 'modern' version. I got a piece of plastic drain-pipe about five feet long and sawed a single cut down it's length. I forced this over the outboard end of the boom with the split aligned with the foot groove on the spar - it needed help and lubrication, because it gripped the boom quite tightly. Success! roller reefing is now quick - and the sail sets nice and flat with the boom well out of the cockpit!

Neil S

Neat trick, but I just throw a sail bag or two in as I roll it up. You need to remember they are there when you unroll, but they usually appear obvious before falling out. Roller reefing is quick & easy, I couldn't be bothered spending money & effort to change it for the number of times it is used.

Incidentally, my main has reef points in it "in case there is a problem with the RR boom". You have to remember that sailors are a conservative bunch & "new technology" like RR booms would not have been considered trustworthy or reliable back when our boats were built. :encouragement: