slab reefing setup:

[icarusbop]

Hello:

I bought a boat and when it arrived it was not rigged as the mast needed to come off for transport.
I recently put my mail sail back on and am trying to figure out how to set up the slab reefing lines:
There are two lines (red and blue) that run through the boom, at the goosneck and there are line jammers and a winch underneath on the mast. At the goosenect there are a pair of cowhorn hooks for the luff reefing cringles. All that bit looks Ok.

At the end of the boom the reefing lines pop out, from here I suspect they go up to the reefing cringle at the back of the sail, and then theoretically (accoring to research) run straight down and are tied around the boom.

This is where I come a little unstuck: my boom has a lazy jack sail packing system on it, there are no holes in the 'sailbag' that allow the reefing lines through to tie around the mast.
I was thinking of simply cutting some holes in the appropriate places, but have come across a picture that was used in the sales advert of the vessel underway - in the picture, the mainsail is clearly reefed and has the sail packing bag installed at the same time, so presumably there is another way of tieing off the reefing lines that I can't spot.

So Before I start hacking holes on my sail packing bag, please can anyone make any suggestions on how to tie the lines off?

Thanks.

 

[Bobc]

I'm with you on this. I can't see how you would do it without having slots in the stackpack and putting the lines around the boom.

Eyelets on the top of the boom would be asking for trouble.

 

[prv]

The ends of the reef pendants have to be secured to the boom, and tying them round it is very much the preferred way. Are you sure there is no slit, zip, eyelet, or other arrangement in the stackpack? Our stackpack is attached to the boom by sail slides rather than a boltrope, so the bottom is mostly open.

Alternatively, it's possible that there's some kind of fitting screwed or riveted to the boom, which the end of the pendant was secured to. But this is inferior to making it fast round the boom, as it relies on the strength of those screws or rivets.

Pete

 

[JohnGC]

My stack-pack bag is held together by velcro where the reefing lines attach to the mast. It's just a case of opening the velcro at the points the reefing lines are.

The picture shows the bag just after the reefing lines were tied but before it was tidied up.

 

[alahol2]

Is it possible they were just attached to a sail slide in the boom track?

 

[prv]

Is it possible they were just attached to a sail slide in the boom track?

It's possible I guess, but if so the OP would be better off making some slots in his stack-pack. There's a lot of load in a reef pendant.

Pete

 

[icarusbop]

All:

Thanks for the feedback, there are definitely no gaps of any kind in the sailpack. Similarly, there are no fittings on the side or top of the boom that could take the pendants.

There however, extra cringles in the bottom of the sail Very nearly in line with the reefing cringles (one for each reef), there are also D shaped rings (2 on each side) sewn onto the bottom of the mainsail, perhaps these could be used somehow?
Maybe the pendants were threaded through the cringle on the bottom of the sail, then run aft along the top of the boom, then tied off to the boom Aft of the sailpack - would this work?

 

[knuterikt]

There however, extra cringles in the bottom of the sail Very nearly in line with the reefing cringles (one for each reef), there are also D shaped rings (2 on each side) sewn onto the bottom of the mainsail, perhaps these could be used somehow?
Maybe the pendants were threaded through the cringle on the bottom of the sail, then run aft along the top of the boom, then tied off to the boom Aft of the sailpack - would this work?

It might have been rigged that way, but it's a strange arrangement that will put a lot off stress on the foot of the sail.
If it was my boat with this setup I would have changed it..


Have you tried contacting the previous owner for an explanation?

 

[DaveS]

All:

Thanks for the feedback, there are definitely no gaps of any kind in the sailpack. Similarly, there are no fittings on the side or top of the boom that could take the pendants.

There however, extra cringles in the bottom of the sail Very nearly in line with the reefing cringles (one for each reef), there are also D shaped rings (2 on each side) sewn onto the bottom of the mainsail, perhaps these could be used somehow?
Maybe the pendants were threaded through the cringle on the bottom of the sail, then run aft along the top of the boom, then tied off to the boom Aft of the sailpack - would this work?

If you ignore for the moment the stack pack, each leech reefing pennant should go round the boom, through the cringle at the bottom of the sail and be tied off with a clove hitch round the standing part (I believe this is termed a midshipman's hitch). To make this work with a stack pack requires the pendent to pass through the material on each side: a common arrangement is a zip with a pair of "zippers" at each reef pendent. As others have said, reefing pennants take a lot of load so they must be tied off securely. Taking them through an unreinforced cringle then running them at 90° would be inviting a torn sail.

Is the stack pack fairly new? If so, it is possible that it was bought without making proper provision for dealing with the reefing pennants. Velcro was suggested: I hadn't come across this, but might a couple of apparently solid seams actually pull apart? If all fails you are going to have to have to make provision for getting the pennants through the material. I would recommend marking the reefing positions and getting a sail maker to stitch in a multiple zipper zip on each side. You can use the reefing normally while the stack pack is off being modified.

 

[William_H]

A reef line at the clew usually passes through the eyelet on the leech of the sail then back to the boom. This gives a 2 purchase effect on pulling the sail down or in practice taking the load of the mainsheet. However firstly the reefing line could have just been tied to the clew eyelet ie with a stopper knot. This will put twice the usual load on the reefing line so not recommended but would work.
The reefing line is often tied around the boom immediately below the reefing eyelet. However we have to look at the total angle of pull of the reefing line. It must pull both aft to flatten the foot of the sail and down to take the mainsheet load. So a total pull of about 45 degrees might be right. If the reefing line emerges from the end of the boom then by tying straight down to the boom you get one half pulling back and one half pulling down. However if your reefing line emerges some way forward of the end of the boom then it approaches the eyelet at 45 degrees so you would tie the other end of the line back to the same point also 45 degrees. if you tied it straight down to the bo0om you would not get all the necessary pull aft to flatten the foot. For my boat I have a small saddle attached next to the exit pulley on top of the boom. Yes it may fail compared to tying around the boom.
If you have a side mounted often on a track type turning block for the reefing line then the reefing line must return from the eyelet to the opposite side of the boom. Again tying around the boom is OK but again check the total pull direction.
So does nay of this help with the question of holes in stack pack. Probably not. sorry olewill

 

[Highndry]

This Barton page helped me understand my system and at first, I used it, incorrectly over the top of the stack pack. I now go through the zip holes but it did work 'wrong'.

http://www.bartonmarine.com/tech-info-sail_handling-Fitting_Instructions_For_Slab_Reefing_Kit_41484.asp