Reef Points /Mystery grommet

[toddbrsd]

Getting ready to rig my sailboat with a jiffy reefing system. I have included a picture of my main sail.

I assume the first reef point is the grommet in line with the "sail ties" attached to the sail and the second reef grommet is the one above that just below the horizontal black line.

If I am correct, what is the grommet just above the clew used for?

While I am at it, thought I woult post the other picture of the tall ship that I ran across today.

Thanks

 

[Matey]

It's a flattener. Seperate from the outhaul .. it pulls the sail back, down and flattens it. It you have a shelf foot (can't tell from the picture) .. it sucks it up as well. I have one on my old Pinapple main. Kind of old technology, but it works

Regards, Greg

 

[toddbrsd]

Thanks Greg,

I suppose there are all kinds of ways to "tweak" the sails. Since I don't race, I doubt I would ever use it.

I have owned this boat less than a year and the main does appear to be several years old by evidence of what I would call its "belly" that sticks out near the boom even with the outhaul pulled as tight as it can.

But not worth replacing yet. Refer to first paragraph.

 

[markvone]

Experiment with the flattner!

Todd,

If your main still looks too full with the outhaul full on for some conditions, I'd hook up one of your reef lines (the one you use the least) to the flattening reef and see what it looks like. If your main is older and/or you sail in heavier air or at the upper wind limit of your jib it may just de-power your rig enough to compensate. The nice part is it's just a single line tensioned (like an outhaul adjustment) and you leave the outhaul where it was for lighter air. If you like the look for all conditions, hook the outhaul to the flattener. And start saving for a new main.

Mark

 

[Randy Rutledge]

You may find that the bolt rope has shrank and is holding the sail bunched at the luff and foot. On my e-29 main that was 28 years old the foot was 4" and the luff was 6" short of specifications. I cut the stitching in the bolt rope and milked the sail down and got much better shape and the sail was back to origimal measurememts. I replaced the sail anyway but a friend uses it and is very competative in racing.

 

[Seth]

flatten up

Markvone is right, although I see in this picture you have some purchase on the outhaul (nice), but are still several inches short of the black band-are you saying even with the outhaul pulled out to the band the lower section is too full?

This is certainly possible since the sail was designed with the flattening reef grommet, but either way, since you almost never use 2 reefs, run the first one through the flattener, and the second reef line up to the first real reef point.

On breezy days wind mash the flattener until the grommet is pulled down to the boom. The nice thing is you don't have to make any adjustments to the halyard-just ease off the mainsheet (and vang-ya gotta ease the vang before any reefing or flattening!), and grind in the flattener. The re-vang and sheet and off you go with a nice flat mansail!

Why not use it? You have it, and it helps.

Cheers!

 

[toddbrsd]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'll play with some of your suggestions. I really was not considering rigging the 2nd reef line at this point. I just don't think that I would use it that often to substantiate the "jiffy reef" rigging. I am not sure I want to knowingly go out in those kinds of conditions that warrant it yet. If I am caught in those conditions, then I'll just get into irons and lower the main "manually" to the second reef point.

BTW, I am pretty sure that the outhaul is already out as far as it goes. I am not sure what that black line is on the boom other than a piece of electrical tape! I'll have to check it out next time I go out. The "belly" I was talking about has developed in the bottom 6" to 12" right at the boom, think "beer belly" hanging over a belt! I think that the main has just streched from too much use. I'll try and take a picture the next time I am out and post it just to confirm. With less than year of sailing under my belt, I can only guess at some of these things and of course rely heavily on this site!!

 

[Seth]

stay safe......

....and there are lots of folks here who are happy to help.


Just so you are clear- you cannot "manually" reef the sail in the way you are describing. The reef lines are there to make sure you have the correct tension on the correct parts of the sail after you have reduced the area. Even if you were to luff up and lower the sail, you still need to use the reef line to pull the clew down and aft at the correct angle, and you will need to bring the line to a winch or some type of purchase in order to get sufficient tension so the sail is shaped correctly. If you try to secure the reef clew grommet either by hand, or somehow use another line around the boom, it will not be tight enough and/or the clew will be too far forward and not close enough to the boom-this will result in an overly deep sail with stress loading in places which were not meant to take it.

If you elect not to rig any reefing gear, you best and only choice is to lower and stow the sail completely if it gets too windy for comfort, and BTW-this is a workable choice.

The black band is intended to indicate the "E" dimension of the mainsail (distance from the aft face of the mast to the designed limit of "E", which loosely equates to max designed foot length). This dimension is shown on the designer's sailplan and the sailmaker designs the mainsail foot length to match this dimension when the outhaul is at max tension. So, unless the sail was designed short on the foot, you should be able to tension the sail out to the edge of the band (assuming it was located properly-which is easy to measure and verify-just run a tape measure from the aft face of the mast along the boom until you reach the published "E" dimension. In your case, for the 27 it should be 10' to the front edge of the tape)


The "belly" you are seeing is by design, it is called a "shelf" and is meant to add depth to the lower section of the sail when the outhaul is eased in lighter winds. The sail is designed so that it will disappear as you stretch the foot with the outhaul, thus flattening the sail and depowering it. Betcha 10 bucks if you crank on the outhaul it will flatten right out.

Stay with it-you are on the right track! Ask lots of questions and have fun.

Cheers,
S

 

[toddbrsd]

Seth,

Everything you said makes perfect sense. Thanks for your advice.