Reefing Mainsail Downwind

[a64pilot]

This may help, at least the pro furl guys, start reading about page 20.
http://www.profurl.com/images/info_p...manual-204.pdf

[Mirage35]

Originally Posted by Cpt Pat

Heave to. Let the main out till it's nearly against the shrouds. Haul your jibsheet so the jib is taken aback, if necessary. Tie off the tiller/wheel if single-handing (steer hard to windward). Reef the main. Resume downwind course if desired.

Caveat: Boats with fin keels my be squirrelly and do "S" turns during the operation.

Doesn't really answer the OP's question, but sure works for me. We got to practice it on the first sail of the season when I believed the forecast and so had too much sail up. This approach takes the strain off boat and crew, and removes the time pressure - helpful for those of us who need a bit more practice before doing the whole thing in 15 seconds.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by ausnp84

Interested in this as I have Pro Furl in-boom furling on a cruising cat. In theory, it should just be a case of centering the traveller then furling the main as halyard tension is loosened.... theory and practice are of course rather different!!

N

I'd love to hear more details about your boat. We're discussing boom furling on our 2011 Orana. It would eliminate a lot of headaches that we deal with when using the main. Or in fact when we're not using the main ... just a lot of extraneous equipment on deck.

[jrau18]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Used to watch the easy spinnaker gibes on MacGregor 65's as they shot by my Cal29 while we struggled a bit,. Now I have bigger boat but it is no faster.

I used to reef my main on my cal 29 when going downwind by easing the main out until it was just short of touching the spreaders. Then I could come to windward 20 or 30 degrees for brief periods of time and reef a little each time, returning to a broad reach between to get boat speed back as high as possible.

I don't think this method would work singlehanded, though, unless you had a remote on your autotiller/pilot.

Singlehanded, its much easier to sail on a close haul on jib only with the main eased to where it luffs prior to going downwind. But you're probably already doing that method, hence why you asked about reefing while heading downwind...