single-line reefing/jacklines
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 9:02 pm
I went for a sail on my brither-in-law's P26 today to get a look at his all-from-the-cockpit
reefing...using fresh eyes....been a while.
Anyway, he uses the single-line setup...the one that all the books I've read say doesn't work. It works.
He uses micro-blocks on the reef cringles, and he's sewn-in leather chafing strips adjacent to the blocks. We had the opportunity to use the system: while I held the course, he tensed the topping lift, loosed the main haul--also in the cockpit--let out the mainsheet, and tugged on the 1/4" line...not too hard--and viola: his reef was in. He used no winch, and a simple cleat the secure the end of the line.
The books say that friction from a single-line system is a bear, but when the sail is fluttering, any friction is strictly transient. It's like having helpers at the cringles. His addition of blocks in the cringles helps too, but they aren't really necessary.
The "bomb" part of his system, though, are the jacklines he made to contain the main: aside from doing the job when the main is entirely dropped, they also contain the belly of the reef. He doesn't need to tie the reef points!
The jacklines are 1/8" generic nylon, tied at the bases of the spreaders, and led down to about 3/4th the way back on the boom, to tiney eyes screwed into the sides. . There are two more lines running from those main ones at the half-way point from the top, to half-way, and 1/4th the way along the boom. All it cost him was about $15 for the line and eyelets. (how do they get $200. for ready-made jackline kits, anyway?)
I'm going to attempt to replicate his system on #30. I'll let you know how it goes.
Jeff
reefing...using fresh eyes....been a while.
Anyway, he uses the single-line setup...the one that all the books I've read say doesn't work. It works.
He uses micro-blocks on the reef cringles, and he's sewn-in leather chafing strips adjacent to the blocks. We had the opportunity to use the system: while I held the course, he tensed the topping lift, loosed the main haul--also in the cockpit--let out the mainsheet, and tugged on the 1/4" line...not too hard--and viola: his reef was in. He used no winch, and a simple cleat the secure the end of the line.
The books say that friction from a single-line system is a bear, but when the sail is fluttering, any friction is strictly transient. It's like having helpers at the cringles. His addition of blocks in the cringles helps too, but they aren't really necessary.
The "bomb" part of his system, though, are the jacklines he made to contain the main: aside from doing the job when the main is entirely dropped, they also contain the belly of the reef. He doesn't need to tie the reef points!
The jacklines are 1/8" generic nylon, tied at the bases of the spreaders, and led down to about 3/4th the way back on the boom, to tiney eyes screwed into the sides. . There are two more lines running from those main ones at the half-way point from the top, to half-way, and 1/4th the way along the boom. All it cost him was about $15 for the line and eyelets. (how do they get $200. for ready-made jackline kits, anyway?)
I'm going to attempt to replicate his system on #30. I'll let you know how it goes.
Jeff