Reef points for a Typhoon

[Dan McCauley]

I am planning to have reef cringles put on my Typhoon mainsail this winter. My question is how far up from the foot of the main should the reef points be installed? If they are too low then the boat would still be overpowered in heavy air. Too high and the balance with the jib would seem to be a problem. Where have other owners who have changed from roller reefing to jiffy reefing placed the reef point on the mainsail?



mccsun@gateway.ney

[Paul D.]

I am planning to have reef cringles put on my Typhoon mainsail this winter. My question is how far up from the foot of the main should the reef points be installed? If they are too low then the boat would still be overpowered in heavy air. Too high and the balance with the jib would seem to be a problem. Where have other owners who have changed from roller reefing to jiffy reefing placed the reef point on the mainsail?

Dan,

Sorry I don't have an exact distance from the foot (I wouldn't trust that measurement anyway) but my brother's Typhoon has two reefs, the first is about 2 feet up from the foot and brings the head of the main down to that of the working jib. It sails great like this. The second reef is another foot-foot-and-a-half higher. We use them both and can be out just cruising when everyone else is blowing over. Infact, I am going to build a new "Sailrite Kit" main for my own Typhoon with the two reef points. I would set the sail with the jib and find that first reef point that way. There are also ways to measure the sail area and decrease it by a certain percentage for a reef. Maybe someone on this page knows how to do this.

Good luck,

Paul D.
Typhoon HORNET



nyeme001@tc.umn.edu

[Anthony P. Jeske]

Each set of reef points should decrease the AREA of the sail by one third. That is, the first reef reduces the sail to 2/3 of the original area; then the second reef reduces the sail area to 1/3 of the original area.

Tony Jeske



ajeske@ixpres.com