reef points

[jdoorly]

I just got a new Intensity main and jib. I put the jib on a furler and it works great. The sails look new and fast, and if you can believe my gps we were close reaching at 5 and 5.5 mph with short accells to 6.5. And, I am sure I saw 7.2 for 1/10 of a second. Ever since I got new sails there seems to be plenty of wind!

The main came with one set of reef points and they are certainly lower than where I would have put them. Can anyone reassure me that the reef points reduce sail area adequately?

[K.C. Walker]

I would have to guess on my reef points being about 2 feet and I think that's plenty. This seems like a good excuse to go sailing to me. You need to try it out.

KC

[kkearns]

I'm finishing my second season with the Intensity sails. They are quite a value for the money. I sail alone quite often and have used the reef many times in heavier winds. I find that they depower the boat quite a bit and make it quite manageable. However, our winds in SW Pennsylvania tend not to be too high. When I'm alone, I reef when the wind is showing gusts over 12 mph. I'm 56 and I just don't feel like hiking like I once did. With others on board I won't generally reef unless its really blowing. Anyway, the Intensity sails have held up nicely so far.

Kevin

[jdoorly]

Yup, my reef point is about 2 feet above the boom, and I am eagerly awaiting the right circumstances to 'put a reef in' and decide about a second set of points.

Glad to hear your happy with your Intensity sails, Kevin, mine have made a big improvement in speed and pointing. But I see some areas where durability will probably suffer due to cost savings.

[talbot]

I use Intensity sails with a reefing main and have been quite happy with it. But yes, the reef points are slightly lower than those on my previous sail. Those were installed by Sailmaker's Art, a local shop, and they told me the standard reduction was 25%. The foot of a DS main is about 10', and the total sail area is 100sqft. Pulling in 2' would be a reduction of about 20%. The exact location of the reef cringle may depend on the placement of the lowest batten in the leech.

[GreenLake]

Remember, the reduction in heeling force is more than proportional, since the center of effort for the main will move down 2' or 20%. For the same wind force per sqft you get a reduction of heeling moment by 36%, not 20%. There's an additional small contribution due to the fact that wind speeds increase with height, but that effect should be much smaller in high winds than for winds under 5-6kn, because of the fact that the breeze becomes turbulent over the water and doesn't slow down near the surface as much a laminar flow would.

(There are other factors, having to do with the sail shape of the reefed sail, that might increase the heeling force, so only an experiment will be able to tell you whether a reef that size is right for your conditions.)

The next step would be to sail w/o the jib and partially raised centerboard. I'd be curious to hear from people here at what wind speeds those don't suffice any more.

I know that with a combined crew weight of 500lbs, we could weather 20-22kn gusts without hiking and without a reef.

[mistermoon]

I got a new Intensity main this year. I think I'd like the reef a bit higher, all things considered. I'll probably add a second reef this winter. But that's only because I have some expedition sailing in my future.

That being said, sailing solo with about 100 lbs of gear on board, I found the single reef to be adequate for gusty 20-25 mph winds. I had about 20 miles of upwind work that day and spent the whole time reefed. Handling the jib was problematic singlehanded (I later counted 95 tacks on my GPS), so I dropped it and sailed under reefed main alone. I think I'd be comfortable with that set up for up to 25 mph and reasonably flat water. If I were in real waves, however, I think I'd want to be able to reef down a little more.

[talbot]

I would agree with the 25mph as an upper limit. It depends, of course, on how much baggage you have in the cabin, and how much weight on the rail. I'm also looking at a second set of reef points, and possibly a smaller jib. The speed drops off so much under main alone, that in one storm where we wanted to get off the water, my wife and I elected to keep the jib up, even though we had to let the sails luff part of the time.

[seandwyer]

Personally I like the idea of being able to reef the jib as well. I know I've heard some guys have roller reefing for the jib on this boat and I "think" sometimes that's what I'd like in addition to reefing the main. I hate trying to sail on main alone - I am constantly getting stuck. The only thing really keeping me from looking further into buying one of those set ups is 1 - cost and 2 - complicating things further. Every time I go out I have to rig and launch because of the drive, so keeping things as simple as possible is a pretty high priority.

Anyone else watching the Keep Turning Left site?

[ChrisB]

Sean,

I remember reading on this forum that someone bought an undersized jib made for a smaller boat. For example, Intensity sells a JY15 jib for $130. The JY15 jib is 10 sq ft smaller than the DS jib. Granted you cannot easily change it out underway.