[C320-list] Second Reef Line Arrangement

[Guy Smith]

 Hi Dennis!
I had my sailmaker put a set of second reef cringles in my Main a few years back... I reckoned that if my wife and I were down the bay for an extended trip and a blow came up, I could use the second reef to get home.Most times now a days, we would not go out when nasty stuff is predicted (I would but the TRUE Captain would not!)The only time I used the second reef so far was a daysail outing with my daughter where the wind was predicted to be in the high 20s/low 30s with higher gusts. I reran the jiffy reefing lines at the second reef cringles knowing that we would be reefed all day, if not dropping the Main altogether.
So this is a post that may not help you much. I would rerun the reefing lines to #2 if there was a threat of bad weather before leaving the anchorage and live with the short sail if the actual weather was not so bad.I've been trying to think of a way to rig some mechanism in the second reef cringles so that I could easily use it on the water if need be when the first reef wasn't cutting it, just like yourself. Something like a set of carabiners that could be rigged by clipping a ring/webbing through the cringle grommet and then snap it on the first reef line. Don't know how the sail material would hold up to that though. I'll be interested in anything you find.
BTW, my daughter and I had a blast that day! Winds topped out in the low 40s for a bit! She got some great video of the maelstrom! 
Best regards,~g
Guy and Liz Smithsv Pleiades C320 #452Worton Creek, MD, USA
    On Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 01:19:52 PM EDT, Dennis Cookson <dennis at cooksons.net> wrote:  
 
 Hmm - no replies on my query to date.  Does anybody have a functional second reef?

> Dennis Cookson
> #577, 1999

> On 3 Jun 2020, at 17:32, Dennis Cookson <dennis at cooksons.net> wrote:
> 
> Our 1999 C320 came to us fitted with a mainsail equipped with two reefing points, but whereas #1 reef has a single line that pulls in both fore and aft (thanks to the in-boom pulley block), #2 reef has a line that only hauls in at the boom end. We currently have no mechanism at the luff and I’m interested in what other 320 owners have done to remedy this. There are no reef horns at the gooseneck, and I’d prefer not to fit them given the possibility of accidental sail damage.  The C320 manual offers no advice in this area other than to say the second reef line is a single line of 70’ in length.
> 
> I’m thinking of using a Cunningham for the #2 luff reef, or even just a short Dyneema line from the gooseneck fitted with a snap shackle or S hook for quick attachment when required. Do I really need 4:1 purchase or similar for a reef line?  
> 
> What works best for you?
> 
> Dennis Cookson
> #577, 1999
> 
>