1/11/2024 0 Comments Clew hook![]() ![]() Some skippers mark the halyard to indicate how much it should be eased.įrom here on the procedure depends upon the reefing system you have Ease the mainsheet to depower the sail which should now be flapping.Ease the kicker to allow the boom to lift.Tighten the topping lift to support the weight of the boom – unnecessary on boats with rod kickers (vangs).The helm’s attention should be focused entirely on maintaining the course. First sail close-hauled or on a very close reach.Done properly, it only takes thirty seconds or so to put in a reef. The wise skipper will make life easy as possible for the crew. Reefing can be a struggle, but that’s not inevitable. None of which is important, of course, so long as the principles are understood. Usually, the words ‘line’, ‘pennant’ or ‘pendant’ are interchangeable and describe the various ropes used in lowering and securing the sail. Actually the terminology surrounding this whole subject is vague, with different definitions describing different methods in different parts of the world. In olden days the first reef was known as the ‘slab’ and this term has rattled down over the years to describe the various methods of slab reefing. ![]() For now let’s stick with more conventional methods. We’ll deal with the in-mast variety in another article. Unfortunately, with mechanised reefing come fallibility and a host of other problems, so many offshore sailors have turned their backs on such fancy gadgetry and returned to more traditional forms of reefing. The drawing above shows a typical installation. Perhaps the method gathering the most favour these days is known as in-mast reefing and describes a system where the mainsail is drawn into a hollow mast by a rotating spar. It was slow, particularly when ‘shaking out’ the reef. Then there were rotating booms, around which a sail could be wound to achieve the same effect – roller reefing, in fact. First there were simple reef points – short rope pennants that could be used to gather up parts of a sail to reduce its area. To some extent, mainsail reefing has turned full circle. The purpose of this article is to help you choose which is the best for you This is cheap, simple and works better in all windstrengths - and you only have to fiddle once - when you therad the thing up! The narrow plastic 'sleve' is no wider than the velcro straps, but stays flat and stops the tie-down from 'binding'.There are many varieties of mainsail reefing. Need to use 2 wraps of hi strength/loe stretch line a bit finer than that supplied with the Harken Clew Hook - but the plastic 'collar' works better than teflon tubing simply because it does not let the tie-down 'bind' when pulled horizontally.Ĭost is virtually nil, and it works better than trying to rig 'inhaul' shockcord, which clutters things up, and could stop the clew tie-down rotating on the boom, resulting in an unplanned 'unhook'.Īs far as I can determine this should already be class legal - teflon tubing, roller beads and washers and velcro straps are. Provided this is 15-20 mm at the bottom (6 O'clock position) it can taper slightly towaeds the top. The problem of the clew tie down 'binding' on the boom as it angles from perpendicular can reduced with McLube or simmilar dry lubricant - but a simple solution (and cheap one) is to simply cut a plastic collar from a synthetic chamois holder (or other tube like container like a drink bottle) and thread the tie-down thru slits punched in it with a screwdriver at about 2, 6 and 10 O'clock (12 O'clock is the center top gap for the clew). I know the hot-shots tie the clew closer to the boom than is possible when using the Harken clew hook system but for club racing at least I have found this device very useful and troble free.
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