singlehanded mainsail reefing

O

onenyala

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Oct 2001
Messages
324
Location
Hemel Hempstead UK
Visit site
I use a tiller pilot to steer the boat whilst sailing with the genoa close hauled when I have to reef the main. All of the controls are at the mast.
Any suggestions how to reef without the use of the tiller pilot ?
 
As smeaks says, heave-to. Basically, tack without letting the headsail sheet go, then slack off the main. Secure the tiller a-lee - the tiller and main will balance the backed jib so the boat can't tack itself, it will just make very slow progress forward. You need to practice with your own boat to get the right combination of settings.
Aplolgies if I'm teaching grandma....etc.
 
use the tiller pilot to hold the rudder at whatever position that you want.

Before I had single line reefing, in fact sometimes even now, I turn the boat into the wind, under a bit of engine, using the tiller pilot to hold the course into the wind. Then I just reef the main. With single line I can reef in seconds, so just have to manually turn the boat into the wind Lift the boom on the topping lift, drop the main, pull in the reefing line, tension the main halyard and drop the topping lift - sail away.
 
I find that when I heave to there is still so much weight on the luff of the main that that it requires lot of effort to re-tension the luff. I have a sliding gooseneck which is an added complication !
 
I usually just sail close hauled with the TP steering, let the main sheet go, boat will continue on under gib and flapping mainsail, Reef the main then sheet in the main.
 
i appologise for my question but can someone clear :
when hove to and fully released the main sheet - the boom will point to windward - but is the tiller sufficient to balance the backed jib so the boat can't tack itself and stay on course ?
thanks

www.neatcss.com
 
[ QUOTE ]
i appologise for my question but can someone clear :
when hove to and fully released the main sheet - the boom will point to windward - but is the tiller sufficient to balance the backed jib so the boat can't tack itself and stay on course ?

[/ QUOTE ]
It's impossible to give a definitive answer without knowing more about your boat and the type of rig. On mine for example the comparatively large Main and small Jib (note spelling Spyro /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) means that to heave-to it's essential to ease the mainsheet a fair way as otherwise the drive from the main means she just tacks back notwithstanding the backed Jib. What you need to do is go out and experiment. You will almost certainly find that when you heave to you will need to make some adjustment to sail trim, but generally speaking if you have the Jib/Genoa backed and the tiller to leeward the boat should just stop and lie quietly.

My own strategy for reefing when single handed is usually to do the same as Spyro suggests but heaving to is also a useful method especially if you are in restricted space or busy traffic.
 
I have a similar boat to yours and often reef the main, when close hauled, by simply easing the mainsheet and getting forward sharpish. You need to lash the tiller to windward first. You will not want to try this in big waves but in reasonably flat water it should be ok.
As a try out for this, experiment with sailing your boat to windward under only the genoa, you may be surprised how well it goes.
 
hove too would be my recommendaton. with a bungy to hold the tiller down. Assuming your boat has the hull fomr that will Hove Too OK. Otherwise, you really have to use the autopilot, which I have never found to be a problem.
 
hi, thanks for the reply
it is better to give some info for the boat - it is masthead sloop and the boat hove to, only with the reefed main and no need for the backed jib !!! maybe i will try what the Spyro suggests - adjust the boat only with gib + lashed tiller and released mainsheet !
thanks again


www.neatcss.com
 
How do you heave to, and yet have no pressure on the main? Heaving to is a balancing act between the main, the rudder and the headsail. If you take the main out of the equation you have no forward drive, so rudder also becomes irrelevant, leaving you with a backed headsail - which will turn the boat off the wind until the main does eventually draw - and you are back to square one. Tried it yesterday in a F6 and it did not work. I normally do it using the autopilot but due to gear failure had to try other techniques.

The only way is to keep sailing, and hope that you have pegged your tiller somewhere where it will work. In fresh winds the tendancy to push the bows downwind can be pretty big, so you probably really need to tend the other way and allow to luff a little, but hope that you don't end up tacking. Ease sheets a little to reduce speed and gaive you a bigger luffing angle before she tacks.
 
So - headsail aback - boat 50/60 degrees or so off the wind, but still making the boat move forward a little? How does that work? Is it a matter of finding an appropriate headail size, and easing the sheets to still allow a shape to the leading edge to give some drive? Must be hard to get forward drive with the sail aback.

Can't see mine staying the right side of beam on in these conditions. Perhaps having the headsail on a bowsprit doesn't help - the headsail being so far forward that the turning moments are too great to counter anything the rudder can give.
 
[ QUOTE ]
How do you heave to, and yet have no pressure on the main? Heaving to is a balancing act between the main, the rudder and the headsail. If you take the main out of the equation you have no forward drive, so rudder also becomes irrelevant, leaving you with a backed headsail - which will turn the boat off the wind until the main does eventually draw - and you are back to square one. Tried it yesterday in a F6 and it did not work. I normally do it using the autopilot but due to gear failure had to try other techniques.

The only way is to keep sailing, and hope that you have pegged your tiller somewhere where it will work. In fresh winds the tendancy to push the bows downwind can be pretty big, so you probably really need to tend the other way and allow to luff a little, but hope that you don't end up tacking. Ease sheets a little to reduce speed and gaive you a bigger luffing angle before she tacks.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is untrue for every boat I have ever sailed ranging from dinghy to catamaran, 15' long to 55' long. I always heave-to to reef. Indeed, if it is blowing a real hooley I often heave-to to drop the main completely, then the loss of drag from the main does sometimes mean that some boats sometimes fall off when the main is on the deck, but by then the drama is over. The tiny amount of power (in fact really just drag) that you need from the main is never IME sufficient to prevent it being reefed. It is far calmer and quieter to do that than the alternatives. No idea why it failed for you yesterday! I can only suggest you try again and don't rush it, let the boat find its balance and don't have too much 'bag' in the headsail.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Indeed, if it is blowing a real hooley I often heave-to to drop the main completely, then the loss of drag from the main does sometimes mean that some boats sometimes fall off when the main is on the deck,

[/ QUOTE ]

Mmmm. Yes this is kind of the point I thought I was making. Being up on deck, side on to the weather, is not the easiest aspect to be doing deckwork. You have excess heel from a headsail which is aback, and bobbing around in a much less predictable fashion than when you are sailing. A recipe for a long swim in some conditions.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You have excess heel from a headsail which is aback, and bobbing around in a much less predictable fashion than when you are sailing.

[/ QUOTE ]


Something is seriously wrong if that is happening.

In fact, I posted a picture a while ago of us hove-to in a cat under headsail alone in 35Kn of wind, huge swells and confused seas, while someone went up the mast. The boat was perfectly stable with respect to the wind, and to have attempted to go up the mast while under way would have been incredibly dangerous under those conditions.

hoveto.jpg
 
[ QUOTE ]
Something is seriously wrong if that is happening.

[/ QUOTE ]
Like what?

Impressed to see full genoa with 35kn of wind - I would be down to a handerchief in my 26'er. Mind you, it would be rather worrying if you had induced too much heel in a cat! So under these circumstances how far off the wind are you 'sailing', and what sort of boat speed are you getting?

Mine is a long keeler, and the only way to control the angle to the wind in the way you describe is to balance the rig. She needs more boat speed than a modern design for the rudder to do anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

M
Norway south west and fjord coast
Replies
10
Views
429
AntarcticPilot
AntarcticPilot

Share this page

Top