Sprit Sail Jiffy Reefing.

[Scott Dufour]

I've run across this article several times, and I'm wondering if anybody out there has set up their sprit rigs to try it.  I've got sailtrack.

http://members.fortunecity.com/duckworks/1999/0701/Index.htm

The other day I got swept off the boat trying to reef in pretty ugly conditions.  Should have reefed earlier, I know, but sometimes the unexpected happens.  Anthing that can make reefing easier makes the boat safer.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

I have sail track on my rig.  Pretty straight forward reefing there.

Harden Mizzen up.  Reef main.  Unclip mainsheet from main sail and then reef mizzen .  Re clip  mainsheet on and back main to go where you want.

[wkisting]

I use horizontal slab reefing as Ray describes, which seems much simpler than the vertical reefing shown in the first few examples on that link.

My sails are on sailtrack/slides, with two sets/rows of reef points on each sail.

To elaborate on Ray's steps in slightly greater detail:

1. Let out the main and sheet in the mizzen tightly to point the boat into the wind; lock the tiller in the straight position, if possible, as it helps keep the boat pointed properly.

2. Go forward and ease the main halyard and main snotter. Raise the main downhaul hook and the main sprit end to the desired reefing location (sewn-in grommets/loops), then tighten the main downhaul to take up the slack of the lowered sail/reefed area.

3. Tie up the excess sail (which you just reefed) along the foot of the sail neatly.

4. Reef the mizzen in the same manner as described for the main.

5. Ease the mizzen sheet and sheet in the main to pull you out of the irons/hove-to position (the boat should be sailing backwards slowly, pointed into the wind during most of this process). Once you begin to turn off the wind, ease the main a bit and sheet in the mizzen to take off on that tack. If you want control over which direction you turn off the wind, you can also manually "back" one of the sails (push it into the wind) to turn the boat offwind as desired.

[Scott Dufour]

There's a couple of snags with the sprit rig reefing that I've found problematic-

1)  The need to pull the sprit end out of the clew- if it's blowing, once the sprit's out, it's very hard to get it back into the higher loop.

2)  The need to go forward on a pitching and rolling deck to move the main downhaul to the reef tack.  (That's when I got swept off the boat.  Two kids on board (9 and 11), scared out of their wits...)

This jiffy reefing (if it works) seems to address both those issues.  If it works...  Anybody tried it?

[Scott Dufour]

Question about mizzen reefing: how do you keep pointed into the wind during this part?

[Ray Frechette Jr]

Rather than simply easing Main I unhook the sheet from it.

That way if you fall of a bit,  the sail will not fill and pull.

Esp  bad if you were reefing mizzen and Main filled and was stopped by mainsheet and COE moved forward radically and pulled you over and sent you swimming.

With Main sheet off completly,  boat can end up pointing stright downwind and main won't get you in trouble.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

There's a couple of snags with the sprit rig reefing that I've found problematic-

1)  The need to pull the sprit end out of the clew- if it's blowing, once the sprit's out, it's very hard to get it back into the higher loop.

2)  The need to go forward on a pitching and rolling deck to move the main downhaul to the reef tack.  (That's when I got swept off the boat.  Two kids on board (9 and 11), scared out of their wits...)

You can of course rig reefing lines with cheek blocks on sprit to reefing clue points rather than pulling sprit point out and refitting.

As for being on deck,  I can reach forward on my 20 from cockpit without having to stand on deck.

At cost of greater complexity, lines , hardware,  you could fit additional downhauls to reef points to deploy as needed underway..

[tom151]

There's a couple of snags with the sprit rig reefing that I've found problematic-

1)  The need to pull the sprit end out of the clew- if it's blowing, once the sprit's out, it's very hard to get it back into the higher loop.

Haven't tried this, but it partially addresses your concern above in that the clew stays fixed to the sprit as before the reef. Looked like a winner, but as I said, it's untried by me - maybe others will add some personal experience.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/10/howto/reefing/index.htm

[Ken_Potts]

  Scott,

  One way to mess with the mizzen - If you have room to leeward you can secure the tiller in the center, raise the centerboard and let the sails do whatever they want (make sure the sheets don't catch on anything).  The boat will head downwind with the sails streaming forward.

[Dale Niemann]

Scott,

I have reefed 'Lively' in 25 knot winds using esentially the method Wes described.  It was interesting but safely doable. Troublesome at the point you mentioned when attaching the end of the sprit through the higher loop on the sail.  I may try to do something like described in the article Tom posted in the future. 

The other problem I have in reefing is caused by the downhaul and snotter lines flowing back to cleat on side deck.  I do not want to release them until I am on deck ready to release the halard, etc. but I cannot do this on the bow deck. Therefore, I must release from cleat and then keep tension on them as I go forward.

I am curous how others handle this situation.

I think I like Rays idea of detaching the sheet while reefing and setting up the sprit in its new loop.  It seems safer but then of course you then have to capture the sprit to re-attach the sheet.

Dale

[Ray Frechette Jr]

I have snap shackles to attach sheets to sprits.

Grabbing the sprit is a no stress event.  Sprit has sail vanged and is pretty much dead downwind.

I do this whenever I raise sails  on anchor untill I am ready to cast off.

[Peter HK]

I decided to go with the more complex setup for reefing from the beginning, so I have clew reefing lines permanently set, with topping lifts and a permanently run tack reefing line to the first reef led aft to the cockpit so that I don't have to get onto the foredeck (except to shift it to the second reef when I would drop the main).

The clew reefing line can be seen here when I was fitting everything- you can see the loop around the boom which makes it self adjusting so the snotter doesn't need to be eased. The attachment to the reef clew point is with a snap shackle so it can be shifted up to the next reef point. The line is led internally in the aluminium spritboom to an internal turning block and then back led out to a cleat on the boom positioned in easy reach.

[wkisting]

Well, you could rig a second (reefing) downhaul and a (reefing) cheek block on the sprit for faster reefing without the need to remove the sprit end from the loop or to move the regular downhaul... but I wouldn't like the added complexity of this approach.

Personally, I've only reefed our CS20 twice now (just to try it out), in about 15 knots of wind both times. Went smoothly, despite some flapping as I moved the sprit end to the higher loop (awkward, but not difficult). Of course, at 25 knots, it might be a different story.

[Scott Dufour]

I'm already thinking of double-ending the main snotter to both sides of the boat so I can adjust it on either tack.  I might just run the topping lift and a reef point downhaul down the port side along with it.  Maybe also add the sprit 2nd cringle thingy, too.  But it's true- all that can make for a complicated rig.  There's tradeoffs everywhere.