Reefing while underway

[John Stone]

I'll catch on with the lingo. I did notice that I really have to tie the "reefing pennants just right to not tear the grommets out. Now I won't be using them any more but I will secure bundt at the clew. One reason is so It doesn't chaff at the dodger. One question for John S. I also have the Tides Marine strong track. I wonder if I will need to modify my try sail . I've never looked at it. I think I will raise it this weekend. Do they usually have slides . that go in the same track as the main. I guess I'll find out. But I always appreciate your comments.

JD
I have a separate dedicated 7/8” wide SS track I installed on the mast for the trys’l. It’s paraell to the strong track on the starboard side. That’s the ideal solution. The trys’l track should extend down to the deck. That way when you are offshore the trys’l remains bagged but already hooked to it’s separate track. To hoist it just pull the bag off and connect the halyard and hoist away.

But sometimes we don’t live in a perfect world. Sometimes using the same track as the mains’l is the best option. I think strong track makes a “gate” for this very purpose. Not my first choice but doable.

The other option is just to have a third reef installed in the mains’l. I read an article by a very experienced high latitude sailor named Skip Novak that makes a good case for a third reef vice a separate trys’l. But, if you go that route you need to start with a sail made from heavy cloth as the extreme wind pressure will be bery hard on a it if the material is too light. So, like most things there is no one way fits all solution.

[casampson]

Thanks again for all the great advice.

Here's another question along the same vein as reefing while underway: if you are sailing solo and want to take your sails down in preparation for picking up your mooring, what do you do? This is assuming you have auxiliary power, of course. If you don't have autopilot and tying off the tiller won't work well, then how do you head upwind safely? (I don't have a roller furling jib, fyi.)

Do you start the motor, leave the sails up, and just let them luff as you approach your mooring?

Thoughts appreciated.

Chris

[John Stone]

Well, there are a number of ways of accomplishing this. I don't have a furler on my CD 36 either. This used to be common but almost everyone has a furler these days. But, if you learn a few techniques it's not hard. Here are two techniques you can use singlehanding.

Sail the boat close hauled. Then tack but don't release the jib...or the main. The jib is now backwinded. Tie the tiller off to leeward. I assure you your boat will be as docile as a lamb. She is essentially hove-to. Ease the jib sheet off about a foot or two. Then go forward and let go the jib halyard. The jib will drop on the foredeck and will not go in the water. It helps if you have a jib downhaul...a helpful thing to have with hank-on headsails. Secure the jib to the life lines or stanchions with a couple of sail ties. (I sometimes drop the jib going dead down wind. The main blankets it and I wait till the jib hangs lose over the foredeck and then let go the halyard. But this technique requires you to rig a preventer and have an auto pilot or windvane.) I use these two techniques for controlling a hank on jib all the time on the Far Reach. Both inshore and offshore. Light air and heavy air. Day and night. Singlehanded or with crew. Though when I have crew I also go head to wind and drop the jib on the foredeck.

The boat will remain hove-to but might start to fore-reach a little. You still have not started the engine...or if you want you can start it and let it idle through this whole sequence. I don't have an inboard so I do it without an engine. Anyway, you have two options:

1. Let go the mainsheet, as far as it will go. The boat might try to start to turn up wind a little but she should not be able to tack. If you move smartly to the mast and let go the halyard you can pull the main down before the boat can demonstrate she has an independent will. As soon as you drop the main the boat will lie beam to the wind. Almost all boats (including powerboats) drift downwind, beam to wind. Once the main is down, start the engine and motor upwind or up current (current usually takes precedence) and pick up the mooring. Most people turn on the engine before they start any of this. Do what makes you feel most comfortable. But always maintain control over your boat and don't impede any other boats. I like to use a long line to capture the mooring pendant. I donitnover the side of the boat not over the bow. Then shorten it once I have the boat secured to the mooring. There are some subtle differences to how you actually secure the mooring pendant depending on the mooring set up.

Note: Don't try to pick up the mooring while motoring with the main and jib raised. Bad idea. Sails down (main up is OK) when you pick up the mooring unless you are picking the mooring up under sail and that is a different topic.

2. Or, you can then motor up-wind and tie off the tiller amidships so the boat motors slowly up wind then drop the main. Go back to the tiller and motor the boat up wind or up current to the mooring.

A small point. If you turn on the engine, once you put it in gear you lose the ability to control her under sail. Without an auto pilot she may go in a direction you don't want. Once you developmsomw advanced skills and know how your boat responds you maintain more control by using the sails. It's just technique. Takes some time to learn it. Perhaps it is more advanced. I don't know. Been doing it a long time so I don't really think a lot about it. But you can learn these techniques in short order if you practice them.

Last point. Get a good book on sailing. That will serve you a lot better than forum members pounding out opinions, including me, on the keyboard. Our boats are full keel and on the heavier side of displacement for their length than more modern boats. Techniques that work for light displacement fin keelers don't always work so well for our boats and vice versa.

I recommend you get a copy of Cruising Under Sail by Eric Hiscock. Written 60 years ago. No trouble getting it on the used book market. Try Alibris.com. As I mentioned on another thread recently. CUS was the bible for tens of thousands of sailors from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. Everything you want to know about maneuvering under sail in boats like ours. I have learned a whole lot from CUS...and I still do. Every time I pick it up...and I have had my copy for 45 years.

Note: I edited this post since I first submitted it and posted the pictures below.

Also, consider Frank Mulvilles’s book Single Handed Sailing. Doesn’t have the depth nor detail as Hiscock’s book but it’s more from the singlehanding perspective.

[JD-MDR]

I'll catch on with the lingo. I did notice that I really have to tie the "reefing pennants just right to not tear the grommets out. Now I won't be using them any more but I will secure bundt at the clew. One reason is so It doesn't chaff at the dodger. One question for John S. I also have the Tides Marine strong track. I wonder if I will need to modify my try sail . I've never looked at it. I think I will raise it this weekend. Do they usually have slides . that go in the same track as the main. I guess I'll find out. But I always appreciate your comments.

JD
I have a separate dedicated 7/8” wide SS track I installed on the mast for the trys’l. It’s paraell to the strong track on the starboard side. That’s the ideal solution. The trys’l track should extend down to the deck. That way when you are offshore the trys’l remains bagged but already hooked to it’s separate track. To hoist it just pull the bag off and connect the halyard and hoist away.

But sometimes we don’t live in a perfect world. Sometimes using the same track as the mains’l is the best option. I think strong track makes a “gate” for this very purpose. Not my first choice but doable.

The other option is just to have a third reef installed in the mains’l. I read an article by a very experienced high latitude sailor named Skip Novak that makes a good case for a third reef vice a separate trys’l. But, if you go that route you need to start with a sail made from heavy cloth as the extreme wind pressure will be bery hard on a it if the material is too light. So, like most things there is no one way fits all solution.

How high does the trys'l go above the furled mainsail. Here's a photo of what I got . It's the first time I looked at it. there is also a storm jib

[John Stone]

It will be self evident to you. Raise the sail till it clears the furled mainsail. Take the two sheets on the clew and lead each to a block on the fantail, usually one on each side near the location of the jib sheet foot blocks. Of course you have a ketch so you will probably lead them to blocks a bit further forward than on a cutter. Then, lead the sheets to the jib winches. Put light tension on one sheet. Raise the halyard till you have even tension on the leach and the foot. Snug the line on the tack of the sail to a cleat on the mast near the main halyard winch or some other strong cleat close by. Finesse the halyard tension till the tension on the foot and leach look right.

The tack of the trys’l will probably end up about 1’-3’ above the top of the furled main. That’s just a guess. Below is a picture of my trys’l to get an idea of what it looks like.

The specifics of how to rig it are based on the deck layout of the specific boat, how your rig is set up, how the trys’l is cut, etc.

[Warren Kaplan]

My CD27 has reefing lines and main halyard brought back to the cockpit. I had a self tailing winch on the coach roof. I’d usually start the engine and set the tillerpilot to steer into the wind at a low speed. From the cockpit I could then reef the main in under 30 seconds, solo sailing. I sometimes did it without using the engine at all. But the engine is a good safety measure in case the reef doesn’t go smoothly.

[mgphl52]

Just a reminder for viewing pictures that appear rotated:
Right click on the picture then left click on "view image."
If the cursor appears as a plus sign on the picture, another left click will enlarge it.

[PortTack]

If you choose to go the earring/reefing hook method, where can one order a typhoon-sized reefing hook? Also, I would imagine that one has to sew the earrings strap together themselves. Any tips?

[John Stone]

If you choose to go the earring/reefing hook method, where can one order a typhoon-sized reefing hook? Also, I would imagine that one has to sew the earrings strap together themselves. Any tips?

I have reefing hooks. But you can also use a quick release snap shackle. In some ways the snap shackle is a better system. The ear-ring (not sure that’s technically the correct term) can’t slip off when you are hoisting on the halyard.

[casampson]

I have to admit that I became a little discouraged by all this information and actually decided to downsize to a Typhoon. But I’ve thought better of it and have decided to go out and get some lessons instead. I just need to find a good instructor in my area. Thanks for all the extremely helpful advice.

[John Stone]

I have to admit that I became a little discouraged by all this information and actually decided to downsize to a Typhoon. But I’ve thought better of it and have decided to go out and get some lessons instead. I just need to find a good instructor in my area. Thanks for all the extremely helpful advice.

Chris
Where do you live?

[mgphl52]

I have to admit that I became a little discouraged by all this information and actually decided to downsize to a Typhoon. But I’ve thought better of it and have decided to go out and get some lessons instead. I just need to find a good instructor in my area. Thanks for all the extremely helpful advice.

Practice at the dock or on your mooring *many* times... Every boat is a bit different, you just need to "become one with your boat!" and that takes practice *and* trying different methods/procedures to see what works best for you.

I've owned 2 Typhoons and 2 CD25s and loved them all very much!

[Sea Hunt Video]

Chris:

I probably have less experience than you; I certainly have less experience than 99.44% of the sailors who post on this board.

That said, from my experience (limited as I said), heaving to is in my opinion the safest and, most importantly, calmest way to reef the main. When hove to your sailboat is basically sitting in a calm area made calm by the gentle action of the bow heading up and then bearing off a little. It is actually kind of relaxing. The "ying and yang" of the main and genoa.

You don't have to worry about starting the engine (did I leave the intake seacock open or closed ), no noise, and you are focused on the sails (if you want to reef) because you adjusted them initially to get into a hove to position.

Just make sure you are in a clear area where you will not accidentally "hove to" yourself into another boat, an obstruction, etc. while distracted by the calmness of your sailboat. Been there; done that; bad outcome.

A few sailors also suggested heaving to while on a starboard tack. This, of course allows you to yell at the top of your lungs "STARBOARD" should another boat dare to come close to you while you are hove to.

[casampson]

Michael and Roberto -- Thanks for the tips!

John -- I live and sail in Marion, Massachusetts on Buzzards Bay. If you know of anyone in the area, please refer them to me. I have placed an ad in the local paper and look forward to finding a good instructor. I think weekly lessons for the rest of the summer would be a great investment.

Chris

[John Stone]

Chris
It will be a huge investment. Find a good instructor. Someone that knows and enjoys boats like ours will be a plus. I suspect it will revolution your sailing experience.

Happy sailing.