Making your own reef points
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:08 pm
So I finally took my boat out for a couple sails, the first being a mild 6-8mph one with my wife and toddler - everything pretty much smooth and worked. And then, after some slight adjustments/repairs, my first solo sail in 16...no wait...23...maybe 30? mph winds. Jesum crow that was scary. Of course I totally lost control the second I got out of the lee of our sailing club peninsula. No know in my mainsheet so it pulled through the traveler and boom swung out and into the water. Even under power, I could barely stay course back to the sailing club without going in a half dozen circles first. Lesson learned: reef or stay in my weight class, wind-wise.
So I went to look at my sails, and unfortunately they seem to have no reef points. There is a grommet on each side above the clew and tack, but they're definitely not the distance they should be to be a 1/4 of the sq. footage, and the one above the tack is about a foot higher than the one above the clew. See attached picture below.
I googled and found a page (https://www.bwsailing.com/adding-reef-points/) that shows how to add your own reef points, and I'm a bit intimidated by adding sailcloth reinforcements (don't even know if I have a sewing machine that can handle sail cloth and that thickness thread.) And I don't even know if I need to add grommets in the middle to lash to the boom, since I have one of those rotating booms that I can wrap the sail around. After checking the sail, it seems the luff is already reinforced with plenty of width to fit grommets, but the leech is only the sail fabric folded over itself (except for additional triangles on the clew and head) and this folded section is just wide enough for a grommet and change. I'll have to canvas my sailing club to see if those guys have any ideas or pre-reef-pointed sails for sale, but what do you think about just grommeting up my existing one (after careful measuring of course) or am I out of my league once again?
So I went to look at my sails, and unfortunately they seem to have no reef points. There is a grommet on each side above the clew and tack, but they're definitely not the distance they should be to be a 1/4 of the sq. footage, and the one above the tack is about a foot higher than the one above the clew. See attached picture below.
I googled and found a page (https://www.bwsailing.com/adding-reef-points/) that shows how to add your own reef points, and I'm a bit intimidated by adding sailcloth reinforcements (don't even know if I have a sewing machine that can handle sail cloth and that thickness thread.) And I don't even know if I need to add grommets in the middle to lash to the boom, since I have one of those rotating booms that I can wrap the sail around. After checking the sail, it seems the luff is already reinforced with plenty of width to fit grommets, but the leech is only the sail fabric folded over itself (except for additional triangles on the clew and head) and this folded section is just wide enough for a grommet and change. I'll have to canvas my sailing club to see if those guys have any ideas or pre-reef-pointed sails for sale, but what do you think about just grommeting up my existing one (after careful measuring of course) or am I out of my league once again?