Reefi ng in practice
...until the sail
starts to luffW
ith a system that
works well, there’s
not a lot to worry about
when furling, unfurling,
reefi ng and unreefi ng
the sail.
Each manufacturer and
sailmaker offers advice on
the best way to do it. Some
suggest keeping a little
tension on the outhaul
when you wind the sail in;
others say it’s best to leave
the outhaul slack but have
the wind slightly off the
bow, then tension the sail
around the luff spar once
it’s wound in.
As a starting point, the
boom should be set at
around 90° to the mast.
Seldén recommend 87° in
their notes to sailmakers. If
it’s too low, the leech will be
tighter than the foot as the
sail is wound in. Too high
and the leech will be too
slack. A slack leech can
lead to the sail rolling inwith sections of the leech
folded over itself – most
likely with a battenless sail.
Then the sail will roll in but
not want to come out again.
Seek advice from the
manufacturer, sailmaker
and other owners and then
combine this with your own
experience. Experiment in
light conditions, note the
optimum height of the
boom and adjust the
kicking strap (and topping
lift if necessary) to make
sure it’s at that height when
you’re reefi ng or furling in
or out.
Kemp Sails stress the
signifi cance of the stopper
in the boom, which stops
the slider moving more
than about half way forward
and prevents too much
downward pull on the clew.
If the system is stiff or
prone to jamming, don’t
assume it’s the mechanism
inside the mast. It might bethat the sail has stretched
so there’s simply excess
cloth that’s not rolling in
fl at, or it might be the way
you’re furling the sail. Don’t
forget the deck hardware,
either. If the blocks and
deck organisers leading
the lines to the cockpit are
old and worn, they can
add a lot of friction.
One important feature
on Subtle Alchemist is the
donut at the clew, on the
outhaul line between the
slider on the boom and the
sheave in the sail. This
prevents metal-to-metal
contact from the sheave
being pulled down on to
the slider.In-mast reefi ng: a case history
Subtle Alchemist with
her MaxiRoach
mainsail and original
Selden system......and as she is now,
with the tensioned
luff spar and a new
Kemp sailBEFORE
AFTER
T
o experience a new in-mast
system I went for a sail
with David Peters on his
Southerly 115. David and his wife
Jenny bought Subtle Alchemist
about 15 years ago, at which
time she was fi tted with the
then-current Seldén system and
a battenless, hollow-leech sail.
It didn’t work particularly well
and that was partly because the
sail had stretched (baggy sails
cause problems), so David had it
re-cut. That reduced rather than
resolved the problem, so the next
step was to order a new sail from
MaxiRoach. Although the sail was
bigger and better, getting it in and
out was still a challenge at times,
partly because of the extra bulk
of the battens. The decision was
made to upgrade to Seldén’s
latest Furlin RB system with the
tensioned luff spar. The mast had
to come down, but the rigging
remained the same. The biggest
external changes were to the deck
hardware to accommodate the
endless furling line.
Having a son who by then was
working at Kemp Sails, David and
Jenny thought the best way to do
justice to the new system would
be to have a new sail, also with
full-length battens, so that’s what
David, Owain and I went sailing
with. David bought this particular
Southerly 115 because she had
in-mast reefi ng and he had noreason to believe that it would be
less than perfectly functional. After
all, the system was fi tted from new
by the builder. With two reputable
companies working together, whyshould anything be amiss? ’Not
having done the research I’ve
done since,’ he said, ‘I had no
idea there were systems that
didn’t work and others that did.’A donut at the clew keeps the
sheave from making contact
with the outhaul sliderThe boat is on a
close reach and
Owain eases the
main sheet...Seamanship