Roller reefing vs. slab reefing

[PWadsworth]

My newly-acquired, newly-arrived 1974 CD 25 has a roller reefing boom. My previous boat, a Bristol Corinthian, also had roller reefing. Maybe I just lack practice, but I´m not that thrilled with the technique.

Since the mainsail is not the original, and is made of light sailcloth, and has a tear in the luff, I´ll probably be in the market for a new mainsail fairly soon.

Questions: what are the pros and cons of roller reefing vs. slab reefing ?

Where can I find a decent tutorial on roller reefing ?

What are the recommended modifications for the mainsail, in the light of recent technology, experience, etc.? I´ll be sailing offshore in Chilean waters, with strong winds and heavy swells six months out of the year.

Fair winds,

Peter Wadsworth
CD 25 S/V Trinity

[Paul D.]

If your boat has the original old school boom roller furling for the main I would not use it. I had it on our Typhoon and it was more awkward to reef the sail, sail shape was poor when reefed even a little and I have never heard anyone really say good things about them. I converted to slab with two reefs in the mainsail when I sewed up a Sailrite kit and powered through 30 knots of wind on Lake Superior. We have slab reefing on our 33 as well.

I would consider slab reefing for your rough offshore waters plan or some newer, proven main reefing system like a Profurl. In that case you likely would need to consider an entire new system including sail and rigging new lines etc.

Good luck!

[mgphl52]

I fully concur with Paul. The first Ty I owned had the original roller boom. After just one experience with it, I stripped the sail and took it in to have two reef (proper) points added.

[Steve Laume]

Any reefing system that recommends tossing a sweater into the rolled up sail, to improve shape, leaves something to be desired.

Slab reefing is a much better system. Just make sure you have a topping lift, Steve.

[Chrisa006]

The 3 CD25 I looked at before buying mine had all changed the booms and used slab reefing.

[mgphl52]

The 3 CD25 I looked at before buying mine had all changed the booms and used slab reefing.

That's very interesting! My two Typhoons both had 'roller' booms but neither of CD25s did.
Heck, I thought they only did that on the Typhoons.

Quite glad they didn't do this on the CD28s!

[Paul D.]

The roller boom furling was an old system some builders used in the 60's and early 70's. Some of the booms were even wooden. I don't know when it officially stopped being used though.

Basically, for the Typhoon, the booms were round and made fast to the gooseneck with a spring loaded pin. Pulling the boom out from the mast enabled you to roll up the sail after loosening the halyard. Pushing it back towards the mast locked the boom with the slot up so the sail would not roll out. The main sheet was affixed to the end of the boom on another swivel pin so you could just roll it up right there. The stainless plate had a place for the topping lift as well to take the weight while you rolled if you needed, but that locked the sail in the center of the boat adding a risk I chose to avoid in all but the lightest of breezes. Larger boats had more complex booms with some form of crank mechanism near the mast.

The systems were known to have the aft end of the boom droop 5 or 10 degrees when reefed. This didn't help sail shape and in general looked pretty sad. Newer systems for larger boats use a specially constructed boom with an internal roller system and are designed to avoid the drooping problem. I cannot speak to whether they create better sail shape than the, what seem to me, more popular in-mast systems.

It should be a simple process to set up a solid, easily operated slab reef system on your CD. My recommendation, though others may disagree, is to have the sail control lines in the same place - for example, both halyard and reefing lines end at the mast. That way, you can loosen the mainsheet, go forward to the mast and do the whole reefing operation from there. I have this on our 33 and can tuck in a reef in under a minute. I don't bother with tying the middle reef points any more so it goes pretty quickly. The alternative is running everything to the cockpit.

Another important consideration if you are putting two or more reefs in the mainsail is the attachment for the reef tack at the boom. Because the sail bunches up after the first reef, you may need to tie a special line to the new tack or sew in to the reef tack cringle a length of webbing with rings to reach the reef hook.

Hope this helps. I love contemplating sail controls!