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IN-MAST REEFING:
mainsails made easy?
I
f there’s one subject
guaranteed to divide
opinion among cruising
sailors, it’s in-mast reefing.
Those in favour often wax
lyrical about the ease and speed
of reefing and un-reefing and
how the sail just disappears
when you furl it away. There’s
no need to leave the cockpit to
set sail or to help it down; no
flapping Dacron on deck or
bundles on the boom. Just
release one line and pull
another. You have a sail of
infinitely variable area that,
because it’s rolled from the
luff, can quickly be made
smaller should the need
arise. What’s not to like?
Those less enamoured will point
out – among other things – that the
sail is normally smaller and that
the shape is hugely compromised,
because an in-mast mainsail
has to be so much flatter than a
conventional alternative. In the
words of one happy but realistic
owner, ‘It’s essentially a roller
blind’. Unlike a roller genoa, an
in-mast mainsail has to roll flat
to fit through a slot and into a
confined space. There’s simply
no room for excess bulk.
With in-mast reefing you have to
accept that convenience comes at
a cost in terms of both cash and
performance – and, potentially,
reliability as well if you don’t look
after both the system and the sail.What you need
to know
It’s easy to imagine that all in-mast
systems are broadly the same.
In fact there are significant
differences between them, and
there’s a lot to consider in terms of
both the mechanism itself and the
sail. These are relevant whether
you’re buying a new boat,
converting your existing boat
or, perhaps, looking to buy a
second-hand boat that has
in-mast reefing fitted – in which
case you might want to know
whether you can you upgrade to
a newer system while keeping
the existing mast. Does in-mastIt’s often seen as the simple
solution for mainsail handling,
but what are the pros and
cons of a sail that rolls away
inside the mast? David
Harding investigates
Seamanship