Quote:
Originally Posted by BigNut
Hehe, been there, done that! 
As a newbie, I am trying to learn the nuances of how and why to safely and comfortably sail our vessel to her best performance. I am very aware of the tremendous reserve of knowledge on this forum, and respect it immensely. However, when someone doesn't post any details, (such as Philiosophy's post), I want to determine whether the comment was made off the cuff, and should be ignored, or paid attention to.
Having been in some rough conditions already, I know it behooves me to know everything I can. I imagine Lagoon would state that it IS already "rigged properly", so why should I heed Philiosophy's admonition to "rig it properly" and what does that mean then?
So, although I agree with your sentiment, Catapult, I still want to know what Philosophy meant by "rigged properly". My presumption, at least for now, is that Philosophy knows something I don't. |
It is “rigged properly”. There are a couple of reasons why it is fine despite being different.
The first two
reefs are used much more frequently than the third - refer to your reefing guide to see at what
wind speed and wind direction you should be going to your third reef. So, it’s partly a
commercial decision to save
money on a feature that is not used very often.
Your first two reef lines are lead to the
cockpit and bring down both the clew and the tack. This is a lot of
hardware and long lengths of line just to provide you some extra convenience to be able to reef from your cockpit. To
work well, this system requires minimising friction, so you have pulleys at clew and tack on the sail to help with that. All the
hardware costs
money and adds complexity and weight. Lagoon obviously feels that there is less need for the third reef so they saved (you) money by leading the third reef to the
mast only and not all the way through the tack and back to the cockpit.
So the second reason for a clew ring is that since you’re only pulling in reef line through the clew to the mast and not also up to the tack and back to the cockpit there is no need for the reduction in friction of using a pulley on the clew. Remember also that there is much less sail and therefore less pressure on the clew line as you reef the main.
All told, a pressed ring in the clew of the third reef is perfectly fine.
It’s up to you to decide whether you feel it’s OK or not to need to go to the mast to put in or take out the third reef. Other owners of your model can certainly advise your decision.
As a point of reference, albeit with a different style of
catamaran that is larger than yours, all of our
mainsail reefing is done at the mast - the
halyard is there as well. Our first and second reef clews have pulleys for the reef line and the third reef (and the soon to be installed fourth reef) has a clew ring. Each of the tacks are secured by a strap at the gooseneck. A
catamaran is a pretty stable platform and we’ve never felt in
danger up at the mast or moving between the mast and the cockpit, though of course we’ve got jack lines and clip in.
Regarding the main outhaul, we have a line on ours and adjust it hardly ever. It’s usually medium firm and by the time we’d want to tighten it we’re ready to reef. Occasionally in light wind when I feel particularly sporting I’ll ease it a bit for more
depth, but with our old Hydranet main it hardly makes any difference. And then I have to bring it back on. Why bother?
I suppose having the backup provides some redundancy. Thanks 
Seriously, though, as a newbie, I wonder why 
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