Single Line Reefing Setups

[monkfish24]

This diagram is copied from my website, without acknowledgement. I developed it myself but it was then developed independently by Z-spars and registered to them. It is shown on their website. Selden were then forced to come up with their more complicated arrangement. I have used mine for nearly 30 years on two boats.

Sorry vyv_cox, acknowledgment given.

 

[monkfish24]

Letting the halyard off in one go is , quite often, the reason people cannot get on with single line reefing. The whole lot jams up. that was a problem I used to have.
What tends to happen is that the block at the mast tends to tighten first because the line is pulling down from the deck . This causes the sail to bunch at the gooseneck too soon. The reef line then tends to get caught up in the friction. If one holds the halyard back a bit one can get the clew tight first & get the sail pulled down & out at that end making a nice flat shape. Then as the halyard is eased a bit more the last bit of the sail at the gooseneck comes in & just before the final tightening the halyard is locked off just before the batten car reaches the mark on the mast. The sail is the tightened so that the car line with the mark.
One balances the operation as one goes but NEVER let the halyard go all at once. let it go bit by bit under a bit of tension so one pulls it down rather than letting it drop. The tension keeps the reef lines from getting twists & kinks.

The Hanse is fitted with single line & the forum has had the discussion.That is how I was told to do it by other Hanse owners whom I have met in my travels & i found it worked for me as well. I added the idea of the reference on the mast instead of on the halyard & a couple of owners thanked me for the improvement.

But like i said to each his own. do it how it suits you. The OP can review the ideas posted & make his own choice--- based on my suggestion:encouragement:

It is not BETEWEEN the batten cars. It is from the lowest relevant car to the reef
If the luff of the sail from batten car to reef ( about 3 feet ) is not tight then you have a carp reef
Same as if the halyard is not tight
It is not complicating it- It is making it easier.. that is why i suggested it.

But never mind -Like everything else You do not HAVE to do it my way. Do it how you like-

Dam phone keeps deleting posts when i edit.

Sorry Flaming, Im with Daydream on this. We used the same process on a 45m. Slightly different setup with a hydraulic furling mandrel but it meant that the mandrel always stopped in the same position and the mainsail headbord dropped into the mast lock in the correct place.

It makes good sense to me but I dont have full length battens.

I understand your point on snapped lines and broken blocks inside the boom. I want to keep it simple but I also want it to be easy to use.

A rod kicker is on the list of parts to buy for the boat so maybe with a single line, no balance block and careful practice, it will all work in my favour.

I understand now what the balance block is for which is what I didn't understand before

 

[Bristolfashion]

Just spent 5 days on a Bavaria 44 with single line reefing. Never again!

Dual line reefing is fine for me. All from the cockpit, adjustable and way less friction.

The old rams horn is still the simplest.

Of course, all IMHO

 

[Stemar]

Just spent 5 days on a Bavaria 44 with single line reefing. Never again!

Dual line reefing is fine for me. All from the cockpit, adjustable and way less friction.

The old rams horn is still the simplest.

Of course, all IMHO

Fine if you don'r mind going to the mast to put a reef in. and, even then, I've had the cringle drop off at awkward moments

Personally, I'd rather be in the cockpit, especially when I'm putting in the second reef, round about F6. Things can get a bit lively on a 24 footer in that sort of wind. For me, the only problem with a properly set up single line system is the amount of string that has to be pulled in, especially on a big boat.

 

[Heckler]

I have a single line reefing without a balance block.

One end is attached to the outer end of the boom
Up to a block at the reef clew
Down to a fixed block on the boom
Along the boom to a fixed block at the tack
Upto a block at the reef tack
Down to a block at the bottom of the mast.
Then back to the cockpit.

I cannot have a balance block inside my boom

Liks this

Mines the same with the pullies on the sail, Zspars 601 mast, Bene 381

 

[dunedin]

Our factory fit single line reefing system is similar to Roger Shaw’s, without complexity of in boom balance blocks. Also has rings rather than blocks on sail, which works fine with good quality rope.
Importantly the reef line is threaded through an eye on the mast before going down to the deck turning block.
This holds the tack close to the mast and give foot tension to flatten the sail.

 

[anniebray]

Mines the same with the pullies on the sail, Zspars 601 mast, Bene 381

On my Sadler290, I have single line reefing similar to Skipper Stu's first diagram. This incurs quite a lot of friction especially when pulling out reefs. I find that I have to grip the reef line at the stern & pull thro. With this system, friction is additive ie say you have the Tack reef in fairly tight but are still winching the line thro the Tack cringle to get the Clew properly set, you are combining all locations of friction. I am considering changing to Vyv Cox's design which incorporates Sea-Sure Balancing blocks (ref 29.60) inside the Boom. With this design ,friction at Tack and Clew are insulated from each other. eg Say the tack reef is fairly tight compared to the Clew, then winching the reefing line from the cockpit could cause the clew reef to tighten without movement at the tack or vice versa or both together. I did have this system in a Westerly Fulmar & have to admit that if you didn't keep all reefing lines (I had 2 reefs) pulled thro, a bad tangle could ensue which necessitated removal of the end of boom fitting.

 

[Dipper]

I have the Z-spars single line reefing boom on my Seawolf 26 which has the internal balance block. The set-up is essentially the same as in this diagram on the Jeanneau Owners Forum.



I didn't try any system without the internal block beforehand. I needed to get the reefing cringles by the mast set back to line up with the new system otherwise it would try to pull the sail slides away from the mast.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have the Z-spars single line reefing boom on my Seawolf 26 which has the internal balance block. The set-up is essentially the same as in this diagram on the Jeanneau Owners Forum.

View attachment 76473

I didn't try any system without the internal block beforehand. I needed to get the reefing cringles by the mast set back to line up with the new system otherwise it would try to pull the sail slides away from the mast.

As I said in post#18, Z-spars came up with their design after I had worked it out for myself. When I first installed it balance blocks did not exist and I tied two small blocks together by their beckets. The only difference in your diagram is that the luff pennant is rigged 2:1, which I have never found necessary. The intention was that the luff would pull down tight before the leech, which it mostly does.

 

[anniebray]

Hi Vyv ,I intend to copy your design to the letter. My existing single line (without balance block) has a 2:1 at the luff starting from deck sheave so there will be very little fore to aft component on the reefing line this is supplied by the upper boom sheave.. I have a Selden boom which has upper & lower sheaves at mast end & I plan to make the luff pennant 1:1 as per your design.

 

[vyv_cox]

Hi Vyv ,I intend to copy your design to the letter. My existing single line (without balance block) has a 2:1 at the luff starting from deck sheave so there will be very little fore to aft component on the reefing line this is supplied by the upper boom sheave.. I have a Selden boom which has upper & lower sheaves at mast end & I plan to make the luff pennant 1:1 as per your design.

I drilled out the rivets at the aft end of the boom and installed Rivnuts instead. This has been handy a couple of times. Where the pennants exit the boom forward I fitted Selden fairleads but I have seen some that only had a cut slot. Difficult to get a really tidy slot with only hand tools though.

 

[BelleSerene]

Yes, in a word...

I've sailed a lot of miles with the same setup as Rogershaw and it works absolutely fine from a cruising point of view. If you're moving over from a conventional slab reefing system, then the biggest bit of advice is the first time you reef spend some time working out where the halyard should be for the tack to be in the right place for each reef (this is fiddly) and then mark your halyard. This makes reefing a doddle as you just drop the Halyard to the mark then wind in on the reefing pennant safe in the knowledge that it will be in the right place.

Or just lay (and tighten) 3-5 wraps of halyard around the winch before releasing the halyard. Then haul down by hand on the reefing line (tack line if you use two) until it hits the bottom - no need for a winch. There’ll be only inches of slack in the halyard because of the friction on the winch, and grinding that taut takes five seconds. (Then, if you’re twin-line reef, haul in the clew and grind it up to the appropriate foot tension.)

 

[anniebray]

I drilled out the rivets at the aft end of the boom and installed Rivnuts instead. This has been handy a couple of times. Where the pennants exit the boom forward I fitted Selden fairleads but I have seen some that only had a cut slot. Difficult to get a really tidy slot with only hand tools though.

Re Rivnuts was there sufficient clearance between the Rivnut flange & inside Boom surface ? I think my Selden Boom has self tapping screws. It is of course useful to be able to remove the Boom end in the event of reefing line tangle or even to install balancing blocks.
Re 1:1 luff reefing line. On second thoughts I might go for 2:1 so I can attach the fixed end to the reefing horn (which exists but not used). This might be preferable to secure the foot although my existing single line (no balancing block) uses the Boom sheave. Perhaps very little difference either way.
Re Seasure Balancing blocks, I've noticed 09-60s @ £21.50/BS 500kg & 29.60s @£50/BS 1200kg. I suppose best to go with the strongest, the Sadler 290 has a relatively powerful FB main !!

 

[Daydream believer]

Do you think that with 42mm pullies they may flop to the bottom of the boom & jam against each other as they go to pass when reefing?

 

[vyv_cox]

Re Rivnuts was there sufficient clearance between the Rivnut flange & inside Boom surface ? I think my Selden Boom has self tapping screws. It is of course useful to be able to remove the Boom end in the event of reefing line tangle or even to install balancing blocks.

My Rivnuts fit OK inside the boom. Some care is needed when installing them into the casting, as excessive force will crack it. It is certainly well worth having a removable end cap. One end-of-season a long time ago my enthusiastic crew pulled all of them out of the boom.

 

[vyv_cox]

Do you think that with 42mm pullies they may flop to the bottom of the boom & jam against each other as they go to pass when reefing?

I think mine are 42 mm although it is a long time since I saw them. They have never clashed or jammed.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Anyone tried replacing the balance blocks with a single low friction ring?

 

[BelleSerene]

Anyone tried replacing the balance blocks with a single low friction ring?

Now there’s a brilliant idea.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Now there’s a brilliant idea.

Sounds good in theory. But with two reefs and, in my case, a 3:1 purchase outhaul, there might be a risk of lines getting tangled.

I don’t understand the benefits of a balance block system anyway. You don’t save much rope, and there’s negligible mechanical advantage, if any, once losses in the blocks are taken into account. Perhaps I’m missing something.

 

[vyv_cox]

Sounds good in theory. But with two reefs and, in my case, a 3:1 purchase outhaul, there might be a risk of lines getting tangled.

I don’t understand the benefits of a balance block system anyway. You don’t save much rope, and there’s negligible mechanical advantage, if any, once losses in the blocks are taken into account. Perhaps I’m missing something.

Well, in my case I already have a double bank of organisers, 6 on each side, fully occupied. If I went for separate luff and leech lines I could not accommodate the extra two. And I find that balancing the main halyard with a single reefing line keeps me fully occupied without adding another reefing pennant.