Slab Reefing...what do you do with your sail slides

chibb

chibb

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We've got slab reefing, with a reefing line for the leech and a hook for the tack. Do you normally leave your sail slides in the track, as with our arrangement, they seem to bunch up quit a lot making it hard to hook on the tack. Also when you tighten the reefing line, there seems to be quite a bit of tension on the slides on the sail below the reefing point which worries me. Any idea appreciated.
 
Leave them in the track as we have reefing spectacles (webbing through the cringle with a pair of rings) - this allows an easy hook on as the webbing is just long enough to reach the hook. For the ultimate in quick and secure hooks have a witchard hook welded to the reefing horns so that the spectacle ring is held..

We also have teflon coated stainless slides at the reef points to take the strain, these are also attached using webbing

You can make your own or have the sailmaker fit the spectacles
 
Just let them drop out of the track. I have a split pin through the bottom of the track and I pull it out when reefing. It works for a small boat - not sure about a big one though.
 
I've been trying to solve this problem and found this description of a jack line to attach the sail to the lower slugs. This lets the sail move away from the mast and past the slugs when the halyard is lowered for reefing. Havn't tried it myself yet.
 
I leave them in. I've got single line reefing so I don't want to go to the mast anyway, as that would defeat the object of single line. Doesn't seem to cause a problem, but I only have a 23 foot boat.
 
Make sure that the sail flakes on alternate sides with each slug. If the sail flakes to one side more than the other, bunching is exacerbated.

Also some sailmakers put stainless reefing rings onto a webbing V instead of cringles in the luff which makes them easier to hook onto the horns.

Single line reefing takes away the need to hook anything and thus also simplifies the whole process.
 
I would suggest you try removing the slugs up to the first reef point and try that. It will enable at least the first reef to be pulled in or out easly but will not be a satisfactory answer to the deeper reefs.
I like to see the reefing eyelet right down near the boom for a straight weel stretched foot when reefed. Any height above the boom will exacerbate the problem of getting enough pull or strength in the forward direction against the reefing outhaul. olewill
 
On advantage of removing the slides is that you can neatly roll up the foot of the sail and tie it with reef points, or a continuous lashing.
 
The trick for quick and easy slab reefing, without dropping slides from the track, is to have the sailmaker position the slide-eyelets such that the length of clear luff above and below each reef cringle allows it to fold down to within about an inch of the hooks: then fit reefing 'spectacles' with large rings but short tapes.
For my last new mainsail, I specified the positions for 3 reefs and the eyelets: it means the eyelets are not uniformly spaced up the luff, but that is not sacrosanct fo a serious cruising boat, when rapid reefing is most important. I asked for, (and after argument got) a low-stretch luff-rope to compensate for the few above-average eyelet intervals.
Reefing is no problem. My lines exit the side of the boom three inches from the gooseneck straight to a small winch on the side of the boom at waist-height when standing at the mast; haliard winch at knee-height. Our 'standard dump time' (from sheet-out to sheet-in) is 20 seconds, and total time out of the cockpit can be as little as two minutes. That sail has now had 45K miles quite hard use, and is still in good shape.
 
Seriously strong slides at the reef-cringles sounds like a very good alternative to my system: all power to the lateral-thinkers!
 
[ QUOTE ]
...always worried that should the reefing line fail, then they'd probably rip the sail to shreds..

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too! That's why I put a lashing through the eyelet and around the boom after reefing.
 
On the reefing point question, I've seen a length of light shock cord run fore and aft through the eylets. Kept the reef folds out of the way, but would break easily of the pennant or cringle gave way.
 
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