[C320-list] Clew Tension with Reef in Mainsail

[Scott Thompson]

I already have a loose footed main and find that the loop invariably slides too far forward even if I tie a snug loop and slide it all the way aft before reneging. To flatten the sail the angle of pull needs to be from aft on both sides of the sail. But tightening the reef line tends to pull it forward towards the cringle until it is no longer aft.  I invariably end up with the loop slightly forward of the cringle and no good angle to pull the cringle aft to flatten the lower part of the main. 

So for me a loose footed main does not solve the problem. If anything it makes the problem worse. 

> On Sep 19, 2016, at 6:08 PM, Guy Smith <smitski2001 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey Scott!
> That's the nice thing about converting the Main to loose footed. The loop slides back on the Boom without the restriction of the Reef grommet in the foot. I have to concentrate on tying a bowline relatively close to the boom, in either case. I don't remember having a problem when I had the bolt rope though. You just need to crank the crap out of the reefing line with the winch. It'll take the pressure. Make sure that you've eased the Main Halyard so that the Reef Tack Cringle *and* the Clew Cringle  are not impeded from the flogging sail. 
> A little aside while we're on the subject or reefing... I helped a friend deliver his 38 ft boat "Sojourner" to Tortola in the 2012 ARC. We were in a gale crossing the Gulf stream and we had to put a third reef in at 0030. Quite a thrill in 20 ft seas, pitch black except for our red headlamps! He had a loose footed Main and so after we got the reef in, I was cleaning up the loose sail and took the sail ties through the Cringles and around the Boom with a quick release not...The captain (owner) saw what I was doing and, shall I say, "Scolded" me for tying the middle of the Main around the Boom. He said that the grommets in the middle of the Main had no backing and would not take much pressure at all. He wanted me to gather the sail material in a bunch by itself off the Boom since it was loose footed. He said that if the Reefing line parted from the Clew Cringle in a blow, we would shred the Main like paper doing it the way I was! Made sense...But I had always had a Bolt rope Foot on my Mains so I was used to gathering the sail slop around the Boom.I guess the moral of the story is that you should make a very loose knot when gathering the excess sail material after reefing on a Footed Main. Always good to anticipate what could go wrong... Like the Reefing line parting!
> Best Regards,~g
> 
>      From: Scott Thompson <surprise at thompson87.com>
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com 
> Cc: "c320-list at lists.catalina320.com" <c320-list at lists.catalina320.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 2:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Clew Tension with Reef in Mainsail
> 
> I do the same but if the loop around the boom is too far forward, and it always slips forward, you can't get enough pull towards the end of the boom and the sail is too full.
> 
>> On Sep 19, 2016, at 12:50 PM, Guy Smith <smitski2001 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Awe jeez...
>> Sorry for the last post Scott...
>> I got confused between the discussion on the Outhaul and the tension on the Clew when reefing...I have not had any issues with the Single line reefing. With the Mainsheet eased, I use the cabin top winch to crank down on the Reefing line and have been happy the results in 25kts, gusts to 35kts, which is about the worst I've seen on the Chesapeake. Anything more and I don't sail... :)
>> ~g
>> 
>>       From: Scott Thompson <surprise at thompson87.com>
>> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com; c320-list at lists.catalina320.com 
>> Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2016 8:56 PM
>> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Clew Tension with Reef in Mainsail
>> 
>> I've noticed the same problem, most recently when sailing in a blow last 
>> weekend. I have the added eye on the underside of the boom but haven't 
>> tried tying the reef line end to it because it seems to be too far aft, 
>> and so using that as the end point for the reef would result in too much 
>> "outhaul" effect and perhaps not enough leech tension. But it occurred 
>> to me recently to try tying a short line from that eye to the loop of 
>> reef line going around the boom in order to keep the reef line a bit 
>> further aft than it naturally wants to be. I'm going to try this next 
>> time I sail in conditions demanding a reef.
>> 
>> The ideal solution would be to have an eye on a short piece of track on 
>> the side of the boom so that the position would be adjustable. I've used 
>> this arrangement on other boats. With this setup the reef line exits the 
>> boom and goes through the eye on the track, then through the reef 
>> cringle, then down and under the boom, ending with a bowline on the eye 
>> on the track. This keeps the angle of pull more or less even on both 
>> sides of the sail, and that angle is adjustable by moving the eye on the 
>> track.
>> 
>> 
>>> On 9/18/2016 9:57 AM, David Cushman wrote:
>>> My reefing system for the main is rigged exactly as drawn in my 
>>> owner's manual with the lead clew reefing line passing through a 
>>> grommet hole in the mainsail and being tied around the boom. When 
>>> reefed, there does not seem to be enough outhaul tension(too much 
>>> draft in the reefed main) and the direction of the resulting outhaul 
>>> should be pulling further aft. I noticed at the rendezvous that some 
>>> owners have an additional eye beneath the boom at the aft end. Are 
>>> there any suggestions as to how to get more outhaul tension when 
>>> reefing the main by relocating the lead clew reef line position? Or 
>>> any other suggestions adding different boom hardware or without having 
>>> to add any hardware to the boom?
>>> 
>>> Dave Cushman
>>> 
>>> It Tips
>>> 
>>> #628
> 
> 
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