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heeling & reefing

escapade

Inactive Member
John;
Let's continue to beat this dead horse!! I had an E30+ (fractional rig) that I raced & cruised on Lake Huron for 8 years before getting an E34-2. The question of when to reef come's down to a question of what you are doing. If you are day sailing w/crew and/or guests who are a little timid by all means reef as soon as they start to get antsy!! You REALLY won't gain anything by scaring the bejesus out of them and will lose future crew/friends!
As to wind speed, it's more a question of point of sail and sea conditions. If you're not comfortable, reef. Remember, this is suppossed to be fun, not work.
Now if you are racing that's a different issue altogether. The Ericson boats tend to be a little tender (they heel easily the first 15 degrees or so) but stiffen up nicely after 20 degrees. My 30+ would heel to 15 deg. in less than 10 kn. of wind but would hold @ 20 to 25 deg. in 20+kn with a full main & 155% genoa. I would use the sail controls to flatten the main & depower with traveler in puff's and move the jib lead car back to twist the top of the genoa off to reduce heeling moment. I only had the boat round up uncontrolably once. That was cruising w/my wife, neither of us paying much attention, and getting hit with a puff with a 170% drifter up!! WAY too much sail for 25 kn. of wind on ANY boat! Hopefully this will answer some questions or create more. Good luck.
 
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