Single line reefing

[harryvee]

I am new to sailing, and just purchased a seven year old Catalina 320. It came with a single line jiffy reefing system, which was disconnected because the previous owner had just had a Doyle Stack Pac installed on the mainsail. I am not sure how to connect the foreward reefing point. The reefing line has a block and a shackle hanging from it, just before it goes into the boom and heads aft. The block is not connected to anything else. There is a metal ring attached to the shackle, which I believe connects somehow to the forward reefing point, but I do not know how to do this. any thoughts?

[Pura Vida]

harryvee,
Welcome to the pond. One common (simple) method is as follows:
Line is fixed to the boom even with the aft reefing point.
The line is then lead through the aft reefing point and back to a block on the other side of the boom.
Then along the boom to a block on the front of the boom near the gooseneck.
From that block up through the forward reefing point.
Then back down to the base of the mast.
Finally back to the cockpit.

This method creates a lot of drag as the line makes all of the turns and twists. Without seeing the boat it is difficult to say if this is how it was set up. Which marina are you in?

[Talbot]

Here are a couple of diagrams:

Comparison to a normal slab reefing suystem:

[Alan Wheeler]

Here's another diagram from Ronstan's book. It would also be worth taking a look at some other names like wichard etc web sites and see if they have similar diagrams.

[harryvee]

Thanks. I think I have figured out everything except how to attach the reefing line to the tack on the main sail. The reefing line goes from the cockpit through the boom and ends near the topping lift. This would be the part of the line that I attach to the clew and around the boom. At the point where the line goes into the boom there is a block and shackle that is attached to the line and nothing else. It looks as if this block somehow would connect to the tack. Then, when the line is pulled, both the tack and clew are pulled down. What I don't know is how to connect this block to the sail. I guess I could attach a reefing hook to the shackle and then to the tack, but this would not be a permanent solution. By the way, we are at the Watergate marina.

[Alan Wheeler]

Ummmm, if I understand you correctly. The reefing line goes through a reefing eye in the sail. In other words, the end of the reefing line is fixed to the boom. The line goes up through the eye and back down through the turning block and runs along the boom, through another turning block up through the eye in the mastr end of the sail and back down to run were ever. Is that what you were refering too????

[Pura Vida]

Watergate, my home when I'm at home... See you 'round...

[harryvee]

that's pretty much it. Attached (hopefully) is a drawing showing the setup. My question is how to connect the line to the forward reefing eye on the main sail.

[Catamount]

Originally Posted by harryvee

that's pretty much it. Attached (hopefully) is a drawing showing the setup. My question is how to connect the line to the forward reefing eye on the main sail.

Here's how the single-line reefing is set up on GREYHAWK at the forward end of the boom:





The reefing line runs up from a sheave at the forward end of the boom to a block shackled to the ring that would otherwise be used to hook over a horn at the gooseneck. The webbing strap is just to keep the block from flopping around too much. From the block, the line then runs down through a fairlead on the mast near the goosenck, and then to a block at the mast base and back to the cockpit.

At the aft end of the boom, it looks like this:



The reefing line is made fast around the boom, runs up through a ball-bearing block at the reefing clew cringle, down to a sheave at the end of the boom, and then internally through the boom to the forward end.

Harryvee, if you don't have rings on the sail already for hooking over horns (at the reefing tack cringles), you'll need to make up some "dog-bones" out of two rings and some webbing run through the reef cringle eyes, as I did here at the reefing clews:





Regards,

[Alan Wheeler]

My lines go through large eylets in the sail, but the friction makes it very hard to reef the sail down under any load.
I like the idea of using the blocks as yoou have in the photo. But do you have any issues with them up there against the sail??? like weight or wear or????

[Catamount]

Wheels,

Haven't had this set up (with the blocks on the sails) long enough to really rule out any issues. But last week we made a delivery trip that entailed a lot of reefing, and the system worked pretty well.

Regards,

[harryvee]

Great. Thanks. There is nothing sewn into the sail, so I will try the ring and webbing ideas

[roverhi]

Has anyone tried a Cunningham or reef hook attached to a block to give you a two part purchase and low friction for pulling down the reef clew. Seems like a possible way to use one reef line for multiple reef points and make pulling in the reef, easier.

Aloha
Peter O.

[Alan Wheeler]

I don't use a reef hook but my reefing line goes through that front eye as well. Now that I have seen the block idea, I am going to place a block on each eye. I couldn't use one for all reefs. I have three reefs and the No 2 and No 3 are way to high for me top reach.