Reefing - Help Needed

[SteveLyle]

This is year 2 with Sewanee Belle.  We had to reef maybe twice last year, and it never seemed to be a smooth exercise.  I chalked it up to inexperience, and there was certainly a lot of that, but I'm also thinking that the stock, circa 1986 reef rigging leaves a lot to be desired (2 line slab reefing, 2 cheek blocks running on a track on the aft end of the boom, cleated on horn cleats on the fwd 1/3rd of the boom).

I was rigging the boat last weekend, and setting up the reefing lines, and noticed that on both cheek blocks on the boom, the inner (closest to the boom) lip of the sheave was broken off.  On the aft block, that gets more work, the lip was broken around the entire circumference of the sheave.  When I raised the sail at the dock and went through a reefing exercise, I think I figured out why.

When I did my practice reef, I noticed that the clew reef line angled pretty sharply across the sheave as it ran from the sheave, on the windward side of the boom, to the reef grommet that was on the leeward side.  This side pressure of the line on the sheave is what broke the lip.  I think it's also what contributes to making the clew reef line a real (insert favorite expletive here) to haul in.

My gut told me last year that the easiest way to reef would be to 1) go to the mast and remove the luff-lug retainer from the mast slot, 2) go close-hauled on starboard tack, 3) ease the mainsheet a bit to take pressure off the luff, 4) drop the halyard to a pre-marked point, 5) go fwd, tighten up the tack reef line, 6) move back on the boom and haul in the clew reef line, 7) get back on the halyard and retension the luff, then get back in the cockpit and sheet the main back in.

This has more steps than I'd like, and requires either 3 people or a lot of moving around, and is one of the reasons I didn't reef much last year - it was a pain in the rear.  The biggest problem was hauling in the clew reef line - it was a real chore, and I had to really offload the main to have any chance at getting the clew down, which made it luff really bad, which increased the risk to the lucky person (me) trying to haul that line in, standing on the cabin top next to the boom with a luffing main next to me in a stiff breeze.

How to make it easier?  Reef on port tack so the clew grommet and the cheek block are on the same side of the boom?  Install a little winch on the boom so I can power the clew reef line down in spite of resistance?  Switch to single line reefing, run off the stbd deck top winch?  In one of my reefing experiences last year I tied a trucker's hitch in the clew reef line that gave me a 3:1 mechanical advantage, but that adds time and another step as well, since you can't tie it until the halyard is dropped because there isn't enough line, or the loop in the standing part would be aft of the cheek block when the reef is out.

Any ideas?  Suggestions?  Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,
Steve

[dave davis]

Steve, reefing can be a big pain but here are some suggestions.
At the tack end rig a 4/1 purchace with a hook that fits in the normal cunningham cringle. This hook can also be used for the reef when the halyard is dropped. That will take care of the tack. Now that the tack is secure, you don't have to drop the halyard anymore. Think the rest of the job as raising the boom. Therefore you have to release the vang, release the mainsheet and if you have one more person in the pit, he/she can push the boom up and you can, at the same time, pull and secure the clew reefing line. Pratice ...Good luck...
Needlass to say, you have to get the blocks and sheeves all in good working condition. At the clew end, the reef line should start at the becket on the block, run under the boom, run up to the reefing cringle, back down to the sheeve in the same aft block and than forward to a cleat.

All this without a spell check, but it will come next. Sorry for the reader...Dave