Editorial:
In the Morse Alpha Facebook group, a sailor asked, "How should I reef?"
The answer is "early and often."
I’ve reefed dozens of boats. Some systems were great, others were more dangerous than they were beneficial. But we wouldn’t change a thing on the system we have aboard Rocinante.
My reefing history starts aboard the 65' schooner Lewis R French, one of my first professional sailing gigs. I still see her sailing out on Penobscot Bay – tugging at my heartstrings.
Despite the adage, we didn’t reef the French frequently because she was a bear to reef, we always reefed early – in the morning, while anchored. The Captain would check the forecast and decide before breakfast whether to reef, which was brilliant because the process took about 20-25 mins. At the time, I thought reefing was confusing and complicated: Pull out all the reef nettles, raise the throat, and peek. With two separate ½" lines, we'd lash down the tack and then three or four hands would haul back on the clew as hard as we could.There were no winches and no permanently installed reefing lines. It was anything but convenient, but it was all I knew.
Chamois, my first boat, a Nor'sea 27, introduced me to single-line reefing. It was a slight upgrade from the primitive system aboard the French. But I found it nearly useless. There was far too much friction to get anything adequately tensioned, which left the foot loose and the sail baggy.
My second boat, Elizabeth, my BCC 28, had her reef clew outhaul winch on the boom. Not a bad place, but sometimes I'd find myself leaning precariously over the bulwarks side to tuck a reef, or worse yet, on the leeward side, drowning under a pile of sail as I tried to tighten that outhaul.
Teresa’s boat, Daphne, was even worse. All her lines (halyards, reef lines, etc) ran through turning blocks to the cockpit, and fed through cam cleats. There was only one winch to service them all. All those turns and friction meant she would often need to go to the mast to overhaul the lines. For more on this, read The Con of Leading Lines Aft.
It should be easy to reef on any and all points of sail. If it isn’t easy, if you have to be a Yoga master, if you have to round up to reef, if the lines hockle, or if it is cumbersome enough that you just don’t feel like doing it – then your reef system is not optimal and it could become dangerous. Keep it simple and make it easy.
I never knew how sweet a winch on the back of a mast could be. On board Rocinante, we have traditional slab reefing, with two reef points. We have a winch on the mast, just below the gooseneck.
Moving that winch to the mast amidships eliminates many issues, and we like that! Just standing in one secure spot, on the centerline of the boat, I can reach the halyard and the outhaul winches. There is a hook on both sides of our gooseneck to easily slip on the tack ring.
The steps to reefing are simple:
Ease the main sheet to spill the wind
Lower the halyard to the desired reef
Attach the tack ring to the hook at the gooseneck
Raise the halyard
Haul on the clew outhaul line until the foot is tight
Adjust the main sheet as needed
If reefing is challenging, you won't want to do it, or it might be an unsafe process. That can quickly turn into a precarious situation. If your reefing system takes more than 2 minutes it could put you in a dangerous position. "Early and often" is no joke.
For further reading on this potentially life-threatening subject, see the article by Peter Goss, and follow his link to the article about SV Escape.
~ Ben
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From Morse Alpha:
Our latest Podcast Episode: Getting A Grip On Lines And Rigging
We’ve got Amanda Swan and John Thurston of Lanex USA on the show today and we’ll be talking about rigging. Yes – the ropes and wires we rely on but rarely make our maintenance checklists. When was the last time you walked around you boat and ran your fingers along the wires, feeling for burs. Or went aloft, and checked the chafe on those halyards. Well those checks are critical. And we’ll be talking about why this matter today.
Bunks available on our July 17-21 Expedition
Our early season is booked, but we’ve got a few bunks left on our later expeditions. Jump on the earliest one you can: July 17-21. This will be a fantastic opportunity to do some real coastal sailing in Maine and stand a watch during an overnight sail.
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