down wind reefing???

[beta600]

hello, are tricks for downwind reefing in heavy wind?'thanks,,

[MicHughV]

I've read the aiming a blow torch at the base of the sail works wonders

[TrentePieds]

Beta:

I see you are fairly new to seafaring :-)

Yes you CAN reef while running before the wind, but it ain't easy, and it can be dangerous, but sometimes it's the least of the dangers you face.

I dare say that it is often your ONLY choice in a catamaran if you have left reefing too late ,as newbies often do. I admit to the biases of a mono-man, but bringing a cat beam to the seas when Neptune is growling at you is a fearsome prospect, so heading into the eye of the wind, as we mono-men prefer to do, may not be an option for you. You timing would have to be spot on as you come "up and over". When you get to port, if you do, you'll have plenty of time to deal with the spoiled laundry :-)!

These difficulties are, of course, aggravated if you have roller furling for your mainsail, as catamarans tend to have, so deal with your mechanical problems - and you will have them - long before you ever have to reef.

There is really only one trick to reefing, particularly for newbies: "Reef early, reef often!"

Beyond that, all other "tricks" are dependent on how your boat is rigged and on YOUR competence as a seaman. We cannot know anything about either unless you tell us :-)!

Best o' luck to you.

TrentePieds

[beta600]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Beta:

I see you are fairly new to seafaring :-)

Yes you CAN reef while running before the wind, but it ain't easy, and it can be dangerous, but sometimes it's the least of the dangers you face.

I dare say that it is often your ONLY choice in a catamaran if you have left reefing too late ,as newbies often do. I admit to the biases of a mono-man, but bringing a cat beam to the seas when Neptune is growling at you is a fearsome prospect, so heading into the eye of the wind, as we mono-men prefer to do, may not be an option for you. You timing would have to be spot on as you come "up and over". When you get to port, if you do, you'll have plenty of time to deal with the spoiled laundry :-)!

These difficulties are, of course, aggravated if you have roller furling for your mainsail, as catamarans tend to have, so deal with your mechanical problems - and you will have them - long before you ever have to reef.

There is really only one trick to reefing, particularly for newbies: "Reef early, reef often!"

Beyond that, all other "tricks" are dependent on how your boat is rigged and on YOUR competence as a seaman. We cannot know anything about either unless you tell us :-)!

Best o' luck to you.

TrentePieds

from the expert' nigel iren,,,
https://www.google.com/search?q=reef...eDD_WDTRQ,st:0

[catsketcher]

I do it often Beta but it depends. What cat do you have. Tell me more about its rig.

[wholybee]

You need a tides marine track or similar, and a full battened main. I guess you technically don't, but having those, reefing my 38' mono isn't any more difficult downwind than upwind. It's easy enough that when on other boats I sometimes forget that heading upwind is necessary.

I would also say that you need to be really good at reefing in general. A crew of 3 should be able to do it in about 1 minute with a traditional slab reefing, and without any fancy single line reefing setup. If you aren't there yet, practice and get it there. Then work on other points of sail.

[MicHughV]

I mentioned the blow torch thing kinda tongue in cheek, but some many years ago, a good friend of mine did just that. He was with his wife and several very young kids and got into some really bad weather on his home built Piver trimaran running down wind, and he couldn't get the main to reef going downwind, so decided to burn it down.
He couldn't keep the flame on his little blowtorch burning in the high winds, which was probably a good thing.
Eventually however, he was able to bring the main down incrementally and so avert a broach, but I remember the tale.

[John_Trusty]

We reef downwind on our Leopard 40 - slab reefing main, roller genoa. As Trentepieds said, earlier is better as the forces are less. The genoa is easier as you can blanket it behind the main and roll it in with less pressure. We never sail unbalanced (genoa only ). The main takes some timing and a smooth running track. On a broad reach, haul in to stall the sail and release the halyard. It’s nice if you have help, but can be single handed. Perhaps the stalled sail has less pressure and will drop, or you can quickly release the sheet to let it swing, and in that 5 seconds haul the sail down - rinse and repeat. A downhaul helps, and in perky air it’s not fun to go forward. This is not something to try the first time in 20 knots breeze in a sea when you’re scared, so practice!

[Tupaia]

I have written this up many times for other people so this may help.

Reefing downwind, can be used upwind as well.

The method is best achieved with a double line slab reefing system with separate leech and luff lines. It can be done with leech lines only and horns. It does not work with single line reefing systems.

Procedure

1. Centre the mainsheet.

2. Let the mainsheet out until the main is nearly touching the shrouds.

3. Pull in the leech line causing the boom to lift. (usually about 1/3rd of the distance between reef points).

4. Lock off the leech line.

5. Take in the main sheet at the same time as easing the main halyard. The mainsheet will pull the boom down, the sail away from the shrouds and act as a lever to pull the main down.

6. Take in the luff line and lock it off. (Pull down the luff if relaying on horns).

7. Repeat the process until the reef is set.

Depending on the distance between reef points and the strength of the wind you may have to repeat the process, typically three times but maybe four or five times.

Because there is always wind in the main there is no flogging of the sail. The sail is pulled away from the shrouds so no chaffing or dragging the sail down. The boom acts as a giant lever so very little force is required.

Notes:
IMO:- In mast reefing is a bad idea for a cat as even with the sail rolled the weight of the sail aloft is not reduced.
In boom reefing is a bad idea for a cat as batten pressure on the luff track when trying to reef downwind may prevent or hinder reduction of sail. There is nearly always excessive wear on the batten pockets at the luff.

[SailingHarmonie]

I taught catamaran cruising for years. We drilled into out students, over and over: Reef by the numbers. and Reef for the gusts. Never carry more sail downwind than you would be comfortable carrying close hauled at that True Wind Speed. What those numbers are varies from one boat to the next. With any experience at all you quickly learn what those numbers are for your boat.

It is way too easy to get in a world of hurt when running downwind because the lower apparent wind lulls you into a false sense of security.

If you always reef to the numbers, you will always be able to reduce sail and not get in to a situation that is scary or out right dangerous.

[fxykty]

On a catamaran, reefing downwind once you've practiced the technique is straight forward and safe, and safer and convenient than turning the boat upwind, especially in big seas. The same techniques can be used for raising or lowering the main when reaching or running.

Tupaia in post #9 described one downwind reefing method. Here is another method for putting in a mainsail reef downwind (or reaching):

1. Move the traveller half way to windward
2. Trim the mainsheet so that the boom is on the centreline. The sheet should make a wide angle between the traveller and the end of the boom
3. Ease the main halyard until the sail starts to lay against the rig (most likely the cap shroud)
4. Take up the clew reef line until the sail is off the rig and the leech is straight
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the tack is made (in its final position and secured by strop, horn, or whatever) and halyard tightened for desired luff tension
6. Take up the clew reef line until the clew is made
7. Ease the traveller down to its desired position and trim the main sheet for the desired angle

The same method can be used to drop the mainsail while running. Use the next clew reef line when the current clew reef is made.

The same method in reverse can be used to hoist the mainsail while running. First two steps the same. Then reverse the direction of halyard and clew reef line movement, starting with the top reef.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

I taught catamaran cruising for years. We drilled into out students, over and over: Reef by the numbers. and Reef for the gusts. Never carry more sail downwind than you would be comfortable carrying close hauled at that True Wind Speed. What those numbers are varies from one boat to the next. With any experience at all you quickly learn what those numbers are for your boat.

It is way too easy to get in a world of hurt when running downwind because the lower apparent wind lulls you into a false sense of security.

If you always reef to the numbers, you will always be able to reduce sail and not get in to a situation that is scary or out right dangerous.

Quoted text in red is not universally correct and for more experienced sailors (particularly those who know how to reef their mainsail downwind) can be ignored, as there is NO reason to turn upwind for sail handling. For example, our reefing guide is expressed in apparent wind speed, which of course means that more sail for a given true wind speed can be carried reaching or downwind. That is perfectly safe, in experienced hands, and allows a cat to really move as opposed to trudging along.

[fcftampa]

I enjoyed this video on downwind reefing:

www.youtube (don´t want the forced preview!!!) .com/watch?v=LzxWNaDpG2k

[seandepagnier]

every boat is different. On my boats I never thought about it, I have a tides marine track and the sail drops when the halyard is released on its own weight. I have synthetic stays that the sail slides over easily without damaging the sail.

Downwind I can pull on the sail and it slides down regardless of the wind without having to sheet the sail in.

Consider unstayed rigs like junk rig. This must be very easy to reef.

Boats that cannot reef easily downwind are sorry indeed.

imagine the wind sharply increasing then having to sheet in to reef but a large wave knocks the boat sideways, and with so much sail up sheeted tight the boat capsizes in the next wave and gust.

[Stu Jackson]

Harken Batt Cars