sailing under main alone

[Guest]

This thread is a nice departure from the blowing snow and zero degree weather outside my window. I sail single handed about half the time, but always under main and jib.

I had one reef point put in the original mainsail for my Spindrift DSI. If the weather is too bad for reefed main and jib, I stay on shore and dream of a keelboat.

I don't have roller reefing. I just flake the sail over the boom and secure it loosely with sail ties. The new reef tack and clew do most of the work. The only modification I made was to add a block to the boom to run the outhaul from the reef clew through. It is a little bit of work and you do need to decide before you go out if you want to reef or not. A friend of mine put it best when he told me "If you're thinking about reefing, you should be reefing."

I also have a tiller extension and a tiller lockbox to help manage things when single handing. I plan on adding sail slugs to the main this winter. One other tip I read on this site but haven't tried yet is to tie the ends of the jib sheets together.

Vince

Vince (vdemperi-at-twcny.rr.com)

[Guest]

The mid boom sheet block is attached to my boom with a clevis with a screw pin. I just unscrew the pin and move the clevis and block to the reefing cloth. I have thought about just getting another block for the cloth, but I am afraid to roll the sail around the boom with the boom block still in place as the sail may either tear or become worn by the block.
Jim

jim (jimb-at-dsouth.com)

[Roger]

I thought about the same thing there Jim in that it would be somewhat bulky to roll, but you would also have the hassel of unthreading your main sheet each time you reefed.

I am thinking about the dog leash type of snap swivel. to this you would attach your mainsheet block on a permanent basis, likely through the eye of the block, then snap the contraption to the eye strap on the boom. When reefing you would simply unfasten the snap swivel from the eye strap on the boom, and snap on to the grommet of the reefing cloth and roll the sail with the reefing cloth already attached to the block, mainsheet, swivel block or traveller.

[Guest]

When I bought my DS II she had a reefing claw, so I tried the roller-reefing, used it when needed for the first 2-3 seasons that I owned the boat. The roller-reefing is useless. I had a local Sailmaker install reefpoints ans what a difference! I can now sail with a reef in the sail with complete control, the roller-reefing prevents use of a boom-vang, just when you need it most! With the reefpoints, I can use the vang and get the sail nice and tight. My sails are the 1979 originals, and are a bit stretched out, but the slab reef will flatten the sail enough to spill the excess wind. The big problem with roller-reefing on the DS is that the mainsail has a bolt-rope along the luff (class rules require it) and as you roll the sail, the bolt-rope bunches up around the gooseneck and prevents it from re-engaging the lock that prevents it from turning after you roll in a reef. The bolt-rope also causes more cloth to roll up at the luff than the leech, so the boom sags and the sail gets baggier as well. If you do a lot of singlehanding, or any sailing in winds above 15-20 knots, it is well worth the expense (mine cost $60) to have the reefpoints added. I do 95% of my sailing solo on windy Buzzards Bay, and find that the first "reef" is to lower the jib and bring the centerboard slightly up (restores balance), second reef is to reduce the main using the reefpoints. If the wind is too heavy for full sail, but too light for just the reefed main, I'll use the reefed main and full jib, bring ing the board back down all the way to balance the helm. I also have a tiller extension, also called a hiking stick, and this allows me to sit on the side deck while sailing, this makes a major difference in keeping the boat upright, often I've been sailing along sitting in the cockpit and wished that I'd reefed the sail....simply moving out onto the side deck will flatten the heel of the boat out to an angle that I'm comfortable with, and often..boat speed goes up.

The DS will sail without problems under full main alone, if you simply retract the cb about 10 degrees or so. This moves the center of resistance back closer to the center of the sail area. If I were sailing into a harbor and had little room to tack, I'd drop the jib and sail under main alone, it makes tacking easier and quicker (only one sail to tend).

One final piece of advice (already mentioned, but worth repeating) ALWAYS sail with the mainsheet in your hand! Use the camcleat to hold the tension, but ALWAYS hold the sheet in your hand so that you can instantly release the sheet to spill the wind before you even come close to capsize. I've now gone over 14 years without a capsize (8 years in a Widgeon, 6 in the DS II) due to these methods.

Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

I'm currently having a reef point added to my main. To those of you who have done likewise: how have you rigged your tack and clew? I'm planning on putting a cheek block on the boom, with a reefing line led forward so I don't have to go to the end of the boom to reef. The tack doesn't seem so obvious. I have an 71 DS1, and the tack fitting doesn't lend itself to receiving a reefing hook. Any suggestions?
Tim

Tim Dowell (pastor_tim-at-mindspring.com)

[Lee Peterson]

Tim,

My '86 DS1 main came with reef points and a cheek block and cleat on the boom for the reef clew. However, there was no way to attach the reef tack cringle so I bought a hook at the hardware store (not stainless) and riveted it to the boom about 1 inch aft of the tack fitting. The cheek block and hook are both on the port side of the boom. Since my main halyard cleats on the starboard side of the mast, it would be better to have the reef fittings on the starboard side also. To reef I ease the halyard, slip the reef tack onto the hook, pull the tack clew line to tension the foot, quickly tie the reef points and tension the halyard. This all takes less than about 90 seconds. Another method of securing the tack is to attach an eye strap to one side of the mast below the level of the boom, run a line from the strap thru the reef tack cringle then thru a cheek block on the other side of the mast and down to a cleat. This method may put less strain on your sail cloth, luff bolt rope or slugs.

Lee

[Lee Peterson]

Oops, my description of the reefing procedure should have said, ... pull the "reef" clew line ..., not "tack" clew line. Sorry if that caused confusion.

Lee

[Guest]

I rigged my reef to be a "Single-Line reef". There is one line, tied to the clew (normal) of the sail, it runs up through the reef clew, down to a cheek block on the boom (port-side) positioned just aft of the position of the reefed clew, the line then runs forward along the boom (through eyestraps) to a block at the forward (tack) end of the boom (port-side), up to the reef tack, then down to a cleat on the starboard side of the boom. To reef, I ease the halyard, pull on the reefing line until the tack is at the boom, then tighten the line to bring the clew down and tension the foot of the sail. I then tie in the reefpoints (nettles, my sailmaker calls them), retension the halyard and sail away. This is best done at the mooring or anchor, but I have done it while sailing by just drifting while tucking in the reef, hardly ideal.....but sometimes easier than returning to the mooring or getting the anchor out.
On our larger boat, a CAL 21, we have a hook bolted to the gooseneck for the tack and a line rigged to the reef clew the same as the one on my DS II, except it only adjusts the clew, not the tack.

Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)