Single handed mainsail handling

[William_H]

My 21 fter has a large main fractional rig. I dislike slugs because they become a problem if you need to reef from the cockpit.
Perhaps if you went to slugs you could use a lanyard as a slug keeper set to keep only the slugs above the reef in the track.
I have used various feeders for the bolt rope mostly with success. It helps in hoisting if you can pull the halyard from the mast so you can help the bolt rope in occasionally. You can if you have room fit a prefeeder to align the bolt rope to aprox position and another to get it into the track.
Of couse you can not raise a mainsai unless you a pointing into the wind. Even using a swing mooring I find when it is gusty I have to wait sometimes for the boat to swing back into the wind. I don't get any tide effects usually although this could make mainsail raising impossible on a swing mooring. I imagine you would have to motor out and use an autopilot to hold it into the wind. I would say more but am off for a sail this morning (31 degees today) olewill just to rub it in.

 

[trouville]

nigel
i wouldent use roller reefing.i had that on an east anglian and it has a problem . The boom can falloff if your not carful happened to me once comeing out of Le Havre

luckly she was a good boat as is the FB and unreafed oversailed i raced along afterwards it was great fun as all the other boats had reefed,
we left on the tide so i was a very fast boat! before that i had been i bit afraid after that i read alard coles!!

Dont reef its faster--in a FB its true! there very good boats what ever woman think!!!!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Similar boat; similar system at gate. Possibly similar Proctor mast. Mainsail is held in a combined sailcover / lazy jack system with a zipper closure on top. All homemade. Self-converted main to slab reefing to avoid rolling boom. Now there is no way that I can slip on a loose fold of sailcloth lying on the coachroof while trying to persuade a billowing sail into some semblance of order.
Main is lowered and left in the lazy jacks. Later, when the boat is secured either on the pontoon or at anchor, I can take my time putting the main neatly away.
Most of my sailing is single-handed: that is why I changed over to this system.

 

[Guest]

Boom reefing ....

Contrary to most people - I still like the boom roller reffing .... allied to reefing ties set into the sail - to get boom back up horizontal again - it is a tidy and reasonable way to do it.
The boom coming off the gooseneck fitting - that indicates broken fitting rather than any weakness. Roller booms have been around for many a year and with various tweaks / changes to design. I have the through mast handle type - meaning I shall not be losing anymore Barton Handles overboard !

The only downside is that the kicking strap has to be disconnected unless you have a "claw" ... which personally I am not in favour of..... as it then bears on the sail-cloth.

I have thought in past to do as another poster suggests .... remove the slug-reatining plate to allow them to exit and then roll the boom .... but hadn't done so as the securing bolt is quite hard to remove - previous owners I don't think removed or moved it at any time !. But will free this up and try it - saves trial and error on removing the slugs ...

I have to admit that the reef system as fitted to my boat is a half-arsed affair that previous owners never sorted out. I have two lines of reef-lines through the main sail, eye's in luff and leech aligned with the lines. But they never sorted any cunningham or outhaul points ... so effectively you tie of the reef lines at reef you want - but then main foot is not stretched along boom ! I've tried all sorts of make-do lashings etc. and basically said s** it ....

I have a small line and tackle that was used on my previous boat for heaving down the genny tack .... I may adapt that to provide an outhaul ......

mmmmmmmmmm food for thought ....

Like many posts on these forums - they not only get you thinking about answers to the post itself - but also looking at your own set-ups and what can be done ....

 

[SwedishLass]

I used to have the luff rope in the main and hoisting singlehanded was possible due to the position of the cockpit and mast. Standard practice was to head into wind for hoisting and lowering, as taught XX years ago. With a centre cockpit I can stand in the hatch to reef, hoist etc.

However it is much, much easier to use the slides (or slugs) which I specified for the new main. (they are cylinder shaped to fit in the track with a D shaped eye on the side to allow it to be seized onto the luff)

The modifications I would recommend are a means of locking the gooseneck to stop it sliding up and down as/when the sails are stowed or hoisted. To stop the slides escaping I use a thin bent stainless plate as used by dinghy sailors to keep the rudders on in capsize mode. At rest the plate is across the bottom of the track, push the end towards the mast and the sliders can get past. With boom roller reefing lazy jacks are not an option and I find once the sail is down a little side pressure from the wind helps to sort out the folds for harbour stow.