Round the boom reefing

Porthandbuoy

Porthandbuoy

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Mariposa has Turner ratchet gear for round the boom reefing. It works, but even packing the roll with sailbags doesn't stop the boom dropping to decapitation level.

Has anyone come up with a way of putting a few rolls in and ending up with an efficient sail, or is converting to slab reefing the only way?
 
We had what was called an "elephant's trunk" a long cone shape filled with foam which we rolled in the sail as we reefed it.
 
The boom is the wrong profile. A boom is properly supposed to have a wider diameter in the middle anyway. For roller reefing the fatter section should be nearer the aft end.
 
I never did find a solution on Adriana so I converted to slab reefing. She had a boom crutch and, when roller-reefed, it was necessary to lift the boom over it to tack! No such problem with slab reefing.
 
Brilliant! Three answers, three solutions. Doncha just love this forum! Thanks guys.

I've got a couple of foam sleeping mats in the workshop. I think I'll experiment with some of that and see if I can come up with a shape that gives me a better reef.
 
And a fourth solution which has always worked for me....

shape up two hardwood (for looks and durability) battens, with smoothed edges and around 1/3rd the length of the boom. I found usually around 1.5inches deep was all I needed. Attach these each side of the boom so the outer end of the batten picks up the luff of the sail when it rolls up.

Except in the heaviest reefing conditons I found this went a long way to restoring a decent sail shape, and completely eliminated boom droop. A bit of experimenting varying the sizes of the battens soon established an 'best size' for a particular boat. I found they did not have to be particularly large to actually make the boom rise in the early stages of reefing! And like you I had several boats that were virtually unuseable when reefed because of boom droop!

Simple, 'fit and forget' reefing solution!
 
I had a small bilge keeler with round the boom roller reefing.We used to put bits of foam lagging in the after end as it rolled up.
 
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And a fourth solution which has always worked for me..... . . . . . .
Simple, 'fit and forget' reefing solution!

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Now that sounds like a proper long-term solution. Make 'em oversize and plane 'em down until it all works I suppose. Thanks everyone for the tips.
 
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Make 'em oversize and plane 'em down until it all works I suppose.

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"... I wondered when some one would spot that one" -now why didnt I think of that? Always ended up with 2 or 3 bits of wasted timber while I got it right...... doh!


OBTW They should be tapered off at the forward end to avoid pressure points on the rolled sail.
 
If the boom is say 3" diameter at the tack, and 3 1/4 " near the clew, then when you roll in 9 feet of sail at the front it will wind in approximately 9 ' 9" at the back. If it widens to 3 1/2" diameter than it will wind in 18" more sail at the clew.

With a gaff sail the widest point should be about 3/4 of the way along, but with a bermudan, half-reefed, the clew will be half way along the boom.
 
Mariposa's a bermudan sloop at the moment (will be bermuda cutter eventually when all the essential repairs are complete).
The boom is round and parallel, no taper at all as far as I can measure, hence the lousy reefing. The main is old and, although it sets quite well in light airs, is probably a bit frail and stretched for stronger winds. I'll experiment with foam until I get a new mainsail, at which time I'll look at tapering the boom with screw-on battens. I'll probably add reefing cringles as well.
 
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