Reefing line

[After Five]

Hey there,
I'm wondering if anyone can send pictures of their Cal 2-27's reef line and how it is run to the back of boom to be accessible in the cockpit. Currently ours needs to be pulled from the middle of the boom which is very inefficient when you are in the conditions that require reefing!
Thanks!
L-mar

[Scrimshaw]

If possible it is better to reef the main before it is really necessary, much safer and easier to do. Most boats of any make or size reef from the mast position. If you want to reef from the cockpit will probably need to have the lines run forward on the boom, then near the mast run them down to the deck to a turn block lead the line aft.


warren fox
Scrimshaw, Cal 34 III
Marina del Rey, CA

[SailingChris]

When I am thinking about reefing, I always remember the old saying: "If you are thinking about reefing, you should have done it a half-hour ago."

[allen]

We were sailing along on a close reach in 22 knots and I thought about reefing. We were approaching Hunters Point so I went forward and as soon as my crew yelled "10" I dropped the main, hooked it on the reef hook and tightened the halyard on the mast mounted winch. As I went back to the cockpit, crew was already starting to pull in the cockpit mounted reefing winch. The reef line goes down the boom to the gooseneck, going through a rope clutch before the shive that brings it down to the deck mounted halyard lift block that brings it back the winch. I tightened the reef line, which goes to the aft of the boom, through the eye in the sail and back to the boom where it is tied around with a bowline so it can find it's own position. At that point I realized I forgot to close the clutch and went forward and did that so I could take the load off the cabin top.

I tried to post the nuts and bolts of what I do earlier but I must have forgotten to hit submit or post or something that Mary was talking about. Hope this works.

[Mary Mac]

Hi Allen, I don't know what happened to your post. What I was talking about in the other post is that some people have replied to their digest emails thinking they are posting. That doesn't work. You have to reply here on the website. Does that make sense? It looks like you are doing it correctly and maybe you forgot to submit your post before.

[rcvesselstyn]

We have had our reefing all led back to the cockpit up until recently. We got a new mainsail and it does not have reef cringles nor reef points. The rig that we had though was very efficient. We could throw a reef in the main in just a matter of a couple of minutes.

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The leech reef line runs from the boom to the reef cringle and down to the cheek block on the aft of the boom. From the cheek block it goes forward along the boom through two guides to a block under the boom.

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From there to a block at the base of the mast to a cheek block on the deck

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and then aft to a cam cleat at the forward edge of the cockpit.

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The forward reef line is an extension of our Cunningham rig. It runs from the luff reef cringle to

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a several purchase two block system for the Cunningham down to a block at the base of the mast,

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a cheek block on the deck and back to a cam cleat at the forward edge of the cockpit.
When reefing we would cast off the main sheet and pull in the aft reef line which would raise the aft section of the boom up to the reef cringle. At that point we lower the main halyard to a marked point which puts the boom level and trim the main sheet. Then we haul in the Cunningham/luff reef line and tighten the main halyard. If you try it in any other sequence you end up dumping the boom into the cockpit or over the side. Since cam cleats have lost favor, I don't know why, other boats are rigging with rope clutches.

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