Rolling booms

EASLOOP

EASLOOP

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Further to my problems with rigging preventers I have another question. I have a roller boom which is very handy for storing the mainsail. (I have promised myself a roller reefing headsail as well). But should I use the roller reefing aspect of the boom to shorten sail? or should I use the provided reefing points already in the sail and leave the boom alone?
I would like to hear of preferences etc
Thank you
 
Barton make a kit to convert a roller boom into a slab reefing system. That way you can have a permanently fitted kicker rather than those horrible rolling jaws, and the sail will be better shaped when it is reefed.
 
I also have a folkboat which came with roller reefing.....

Personally I only use te roller to store the sail if I'm not going to use it for a period of time otherwise I store folded onto the boom.

For reefing I use the reef points rather than the roller as I think the sail sets better. Unfortunately I only have the one set of reefing points so if I want a deep reef I resort to the roller (but in those occassions I've usually set this up before leaving the marina).


Given the choice I prefer the slab reefing rather than roller, so I plan to convert in the winter and put some more reefing points in the mainsail.

Cheers
 
Round boom roller reefing. More information, please?

I agree with Talbot that IF you have a claw ring you are better off changing to points. But I don't think an East Anglian has a boom long enough to need a claw ring.

A roller boom is best used for roller reefing - it can be adapted to points reefing by screwing all the kit onto it but if you have a good roller set up I would stick with it.

My boat has an excellent roller reefing set up and as an example of how easy this is to use I will tell a little story. Three years ago I was pottering round from Pin Mill to Walton backwaters with my then-8 year old son. He complained that it was a bit bumpy when we got outside the breakwater and he felt sick, so I rolled a reef in.

Two miles later I shook it out again. The distance involved is tiny and with points reefing I would still have been thinking about reefing by the time I had reefed and unreefed just to stop a little boy feeling seasick.

Your boat dates from the period when offshore racers all fitted roller gear, and you may well have a very nice system - I would be inclined to persevere with it.

The best systems have worm drive; the ratchet systems are less good.

It is "normal" for a mainsail made for roller reefing by a good sailmaker to have the eyelets for a reef lacing and cringles at luff and leach; this is for safety in the event of the roller gear failing.

The other period attachment for your boat from 1950's offshore racing should be twin forestays - try these before spashing out on a roller headsail. You keep the next size jib hanked on the spare stay and bagged on deck, clipped to the guardwire stanchions and pulpit. Drop headsail, switch halyard, hoist and dump old headsail below. Takes very little time, costs very little and the headsail sets properly.
 
I have roller boom but employ slab reefing for various reasons:
The roller jams on lazyjack fittings on the clew end of the boom,
Taking off the mast gate and dropping sail slides is a faff... putting them back even more so,
The bottom batten, which is almost the same length of the boom won't lay properly in the roll,
The roller mechanism is a pig to turn at sea. If used at all is would have to be before the sail is set. Very difficult to do single handed.
For most of these reasons I don't store the sail round the boom either.
 
Re: Round boom roller reefing. More information, please?

Mirelle,
You have hit the nail on the head several times. I do have twin forestays and my roller boom has a worm drive. I will give the twin forstay a bash before investigating roller reefing any further. Thanks for that
 
I have a roller boom - that the previous owner very stupidly killed off ..... such that the reefing system on my boat is useless.

He installed sail-slugs instead of keeping to the bolt-rope.
He locked of the boom by putting sheet attachment to the boom - not to the topping lift swivel.
Installed reef-pendants through the sail ...

Now there is a problem that a) the sail is untidy when reefed, b) cannot tightened on the foot, c) is stuck with only 2 reef settings.

My idea is to combine the reef pendants with the roller boom. Unclip kicking strap, roll boom to reef sail (once slug holding plate removed from mast, then re-level boom by using the reef-pendants. This way you have a very neat reef in the sail and foot is captive.

If the above had not been done to the boat before I bought - I would have added one item only to sort the roller .....>

Roller booms have one fault basically - when sail is rolled to reef .... they start to drop the aft end of boom and sail is out of shape. To correct some people throw towels etc. into the leech to bag it out.

My idae would be to have eye's put in sail at intervals along the leech ... and a line ready to put through to pull boom back up and tighten the sail foot .... no need for blocks / jacks / cunninghams and other additions that only complicate a simple and effective system.

But then I'm an old fashioned sail person ....

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Kicking strap: I have no marks on my boom that suggest anything has been fastened to it. However, at deck level of the keel stepped mast there is an eye-bolt with a length of rope and a pully attached. Where and how can I fit a kicking strap (vang?)
 
To deal with the drooping boom, I cut a wedge out of foam plastic nearly the length of the boom and roll it in with the sail - it works! Use either a claw or a strip of material rolled into the sail when attaching the kicking strap to a reefed sail.
 
I have what used to be called 'through-mast' roller reefing. It works very well. You have a handle sticking out the front of the mast which you turn to rotate the boom and wind up the sail. It only allows you to do complete turns, so, first reef is 5 turns, second 10 and 15 brings the peak down to the spreaders. The sail stays nice and flat. The boom has a normal kicker eye plate for non-reefed sailing. Instead of a claw ring, I have a cast alloy, broad 'S' shaped hook affair which sits on top of the reefed sail, and into which you shackle the kicker when it blows up a bit. To stop the boom drooping, I sleeved the outboard half of the boom with a bit of plastic guttering down pipe. Persevere with the roller reefing - it can work just as well as an other sort!

As far as roller headsails are concerned, I have one, but tend to fit a sail suited to the conditions and use the roller to dissappear it quickly when needed. The genoa gets too baggy with more than a couple of rolls in it.

I tend to sail single handed, but find that the boat can be made to behave itself while changing headsails, reefing etc.

Cheers! Neil
 
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I can't believe how many of you actually LIKE roller boom reefing !

I have it on my 1979 Seal 28 and I hate it. Maybe I'm not using it correctly but it always seems to me that the sail has too much belly when reefed. I am also constantly getting the battens caught in the claw when rolling or unrolling, and they get twisted too ( should I be taking them out ? ).
I'm hoping to convert to slab or maybe even a lazy-jack and zip-up arrangement like modern boats have. Unfortunately I will need to send my sail for alteration because it doesn't currently have any reefing points so that's going to add to the expense. Can't see how I am going to fit a ramshorn either /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Two possible explanations

Firstly, there might once have been a claw ring (this is one period fitting that you do not want to restore, believe me!)

Secondly, does the boom have a groove for the footrope of the mainsail?

If not, it may be that the kicking strap originally ended in a strap, i.e. a length of stout webbing with a D ring at each end; this went round the boom under the footrope of the sail and the kicking strap hooked into the D rings. When reefing, you pull it out and wind up one end in the sail, then hook the kicker onto the visible D ring.

To reef further, unhook the kicker and forget about it, leaving the strap rolled in, as you won't be interested in kicking straps in the wind strength you have now got and anyway the mainsheet will get the boom down OK when close reefed...

This does work, honestly.
 
With only small mod - a roller boom can do a very good job and be literally reefable at any position ... unlike slab or other systems .....

The abomination that was introduced to my boat .... slugs and reef-points is nothing short of a disaster ! Trouble is now to remove slugs and revert back means new boltrope etc. a job that I don't fancy.

I have drawn up "Lazy-Jims" ..... a joke name applied to a lazy-jack system that Jim and I came up with .... cost about a tenner max ... and simple to rig on a stepped mast ! have I done it ? Nope .... owing to the gash system I have - I may do though ....

Zip up bags - nice on a boat with big enough sail to make up for the loss of performance, seen many a bag with cr*p zips as well
In-mast reefing - again on a big boat ok - but some smaler stuff I see it on ... UGH ! Did no-one think about the sheer weight and loss of area ?

I know ........... old seadog again !!
 
You really don't need to pay for a kit. You can do it yourself. Whatever happens - dont fit little blocks to the sides of the boom - they are a nuisance as well as lethal.
I used roller reefed mains on several boats - but learned that slab had so many advantages, not least of which is a good sail shape when reefed.
Ken
 
The first thing I did on Adriana, the 1967 Pearson Vanguard I cruised the Caribbean on, was convert her to slab reefing. She had a 15' long sitka spruce boom and a very well engineered roller reefing system. Unfortunately these systems just do not allow for a well set main when reefed down, and no matter what you do the boom droops over the cockpit. I was having a new main made anyway so took the opportunity to switch to slab reefing. I installed a stainless hook at the gooseneck, fitted a cheek block on the boom at the appropriate point and a small winch under the boom to make hauling the reef tight very easy. I only had one reef in the main, halving the area, and I was delighted with the system. You appear to already have reefing points in your main, so I'd strongly recommend you do whatever is necessary to get that system working and dispense with the roller reefing. All IMHO, of course!
 
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