Reefing Line Attachment

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Brent65
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Reefing Line Attachment

Post by Brent65 »

Fellow Sailors,

I'm thinking of how I might simplify reefing lines and pose the following question:

Might one secure the reefing lines to the sail leech and luff grommets as opposed to running the lines through the leech and luff grommets and down to the starboard side of the boom, secured to an eye? It seems to me this would significantly reduce the friction of the reefing lines and reduce the amount of line to gather on the boom.

Am I missing something here? Your experience is appreciated and respected.
Brent Butikofer

Scamp: Hagoth
https://buildinghagoth.wordpress.com

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knasman
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by knasman »

Brent,

Good thought. I think the main benefit to having the reefing line go down the other side of the sail to the boom is that when you reef, that line will contain the "extra" part of the reefed sail from just flopping out. Obviously this gets worse with the 2nd and 3rd reefs.

I rigged Zephyr per the plans when I launched her and couldn't stand having all the dangly bits of the reefing lines. So I got rid of them. I have a carabiner at the tack and clew to attach to the reef points. The downside to this is that I have to lean forward over the cabin top to snap the new tack in (but I'm leaning that way to tie the cringle forward of the mast anyway). Leaning forward over the cabin is an unstable maneuver that each sailor will have to do a risk analysis about.

Since I built a box boom that has worked out nicely, I'm now thinking a hybrid system would work the best. A carrabiner aft and reefing lines forward that lead internally in the boom and pop out right above where the cabintop ends. When I get around to building another box boom and deploying it I'll let everyone know how it works.
Keith Nasman
SCAMP Zephyr #161
miguelito
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by miguelito »

HI Jeff,
I've been using a hook without a gate on the outhaul, and it has been OK, except that in very flappy conditions the clew tends to pop out before I get the outhaul tensioned. I've now attached a 'biner with a gate, and it works great. Who would have thought?........ I'm also using a simplified forward reefing system using low friction "eyes" rather than pullys, and I think that cleans things up a little. Still have all of those lines hanging about, but I'd like to stay off the foredeck as much as I can.
It's fun making comparisons on these experimental boats.
Happy sailing,
Mike 170
Brent65
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by Brent65 »

Thanks for the comments!

Here's what I'm cooking up. Hopefully the attached diagram makes sense. In essence, when the sail is fully deployed, the reefing lines are held in place (tidy) by pad eyes secured on the boom. The distance between the pad eyes (tending the aft end of the reefing line) and the cleats (securing the lines when reefed) equals the distance between the cringle grommet and the fore end of the boom.

This system assumes you secure the reefing lines at the sail grommets in the sail.



Benefits:

1-Tidy reefing lines when sail is fully deployed (because their held by the pad eyes)
2-Tidy reefing lines when reefed (because the lines are engineered to allow 2 wraps around the cleats and then end, leaving no excess to deal with)

Hopefully this makes sense. Has anyone tried this approach? Might this work?

Your insights are appreciated.
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Brent Butikofer

Scamp: Hagoth
https://buildinghagoth.wordpress.com

Scamp: Shackleton
https://buildingshackelton.wordpress.com

Pocketship:
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Never Stop Learning or Exploring
boatsbabies
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by boatsbabies »

Two things you may wish to consider - with the reefing lines dead-ended at the luff cringles, the cringle likely will be pulled off to the side of the boom where the turning point is. If this is not a problem for you, then that's not a big deal. The second point is that by having the reefing line dead-ended at the cringle on the luff, the force required to pull in the reef will be more (about twice as much) as if the reefing line was threaded through the cringle and dead-ended back down on the boom. Again, if that's not a problem for you, not a big deal. While you haven't provided dimensions, if you decide to dead-end the reefing line back down on the boom, you could perhaps use the same concept for the length so you don't have floppy lines - just extend the reefing line cleats aft on the boom.
Respectfully,
Steve Judson
Brent65
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by Brent65 »

Thanks Steve, good points to consider. I finalized my thoughts and approach on my last blog post (link below, building Hagoth) if it's of interest to others. I hope it proves helpful and I hope it works.
Brent Butikofer

Scamp: Hagoth
https://buildinghagoth.wordpress.com

Scamp: Shackleton
https://buildingshackelton.wordpress.com

Pocketship:
https://idahopocketship.wordpress.com

Never Stop Learning or Exploring
Brent65
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Re: Reefing Line Attachment

Post by Brent65 »

Fellow Scamp Sailors,

I now have all reefing lines installed on my boom with actual measurements up on my Hagoth build blog (link below) utilizing my simplified reefing line system for those interested in checking it out.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Butikofer

Scamp: Hagoth
https://buildinghagoth.wordpress.com

Scamp: Shackleton
https://buildingshackelton.wordpress.com

Pocketship:
https://idahopocketship.wordpress.com

Never Stop Learning or Exploring
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