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E26 Reefing

BDEidson

Member II
I've got a handshake on a 1988 E26. The boat is good shape, the surveyor gave me a thumbs up. There are few things that I need to do, but nothing drastic. I'm sure I'll be hitting you all up for information over the coming months (and years!).

One question - I'll be ordering new sails and I would like to have double reefs. The old sails were trashed (lost in a fire), so I can't look at them....and the present owner can't remember how the boat was set up for reefing.

There are two deck organizers on each side of the mast. Looking at the literature I downloaded from this site, I believe those were intended for the main, spinnaker, and jib halyards to be led aft. I see the boom near the tack has the reefing hooks and there are some toggles of some kind on the bottom of the boom.

So that leads me to believe that..

  • reefing was supposed to be done at the mast in the conventional way, rather than led aft. Is that right?

  • And what are those toggle levers underneath the boom near the tack? The PO hasn't used the boat in past two years and can't remember.
  • has anyone set up double reef lines and led them back to the cockpit? And if so, did you use the strap & rings on the luff of the sail? Or run in through a grommet (wc??) at the luff?
Anyone with pictures of their reefing system - much appreciated!

Thanks,

Bill
 

Don Smith

Member II
Bill,

I have a 1985 E26 and it sounds like yours is similiar to mine in that it came from the factory set up to be reefed from the mast. I've changed mine so that it can be easily reefed from the cockpit. I single-hand a lot and in rough weather it can be challenging to go to the mast to reef.

If you'll post some pictures of your boom and deck hardware, I should be able to give you some advice.

Captain Don
Gitana
 

Saoirse

Junior Member
In answer to your questions:
"what are those toggle levers underneath the boom near the tack?"
~ 3 cam levers on the underside of the boom at gooseneck are rope jammers to hold the two leech reefing lines (and outhaul) when under load.

"has anyone set up double reef lines and led them back to the cockpit?"
~ Yes. Through triple deck organisers to triple clutches. Two leech reefing lines, two headsail halyards, and main halyard (one 'spare' clutch at present)

"did you use the strap & rings on the luff of the sail?"
~ I use reefing eyes in sail and reefing hooks on gooseneck

Saoirse
E26 '87
K'port, ME
 

Saoirse

Junior Member
These photographs may make it clearer:

Saoirse
E26 '87
K'port, ME
 

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BDEidson

Member II
Thanks guys - this is very helpful. The only picture I have of the deck shows some hardware, but nothing terribly clear. There are double deck organizers on each side. One includes the mainsheet I assume, main and main halyard. I assume the other two are spinnaker and genny halyards. However, the boat roller furling - so I don't know if there's now a genny halyard led aft or not.

Couple of questions....

* So are you bypassing those toggle clutches on the boom altogether now? Each reefing line is a "single line system" pulling in the luff and leech?

* How are you using the reefing hooks on the gooseneck if the lines are led back? Are you going back on deck to slip those in after reefing back at the cockpit?

Thanks!

Bill
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
If you lead the reefing lines aft you can completely remove the cam levers at the boom.
 

BDEidson

Member II
Thanks, everyone - this is helpful.

For my current boat (a Cal 22) I have a single line reefing system that hauls down the luff and leach--just like the link you sent me, Todd.

Looking at the pictures and notes, let me see if I've got this straight how all of you have been reefing the E26:


  • The boom has two internally-led reefing lines (as well as the outhaul). I can bypass or remove those cams and put on longer reefing lines, down to a block at base of mast, through a deck organizer back to a clutch.
  • Do these reefing lines only haul in the leech? Are you doing another set of lines to haul down the luff? I'm not clear how you're attaching the luff eye to the gooseneck hooks without going up on deck.
Thanks,


Bill
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Don't Fear the Reefer

Our kenyon boom has the same pair of cast aluminum cams. Tried 'em at the dockside, and they do not grip or hold well. I would not rely on them, and never have.

Our reefing lines come from the little sheaves on the underside of the gooseneck fitting, down to the turning blocks and the mast base, and then back thru some flat-sheave organizers to clutch stoppers in front of housetop winches on each side of the hatch.

I would not advise going with "single line reefing" on your boat. Big main, and loads are high, to say nothing of the massive friction loads in a single line reef setup.

Does your gooseneck have a reef hook on each side to engage a floppy ring sewn thru each reef grommet? I would expect that it does.

Shoot some digi pix and post 'em up for us to see.
Thanks,
LB
 

BDEidson

Member II
Loren -


Thanks, I'm realizing that single line reefing won't work for this sail. The Harken site said "mainsails up to 150 square feet" and this sail has 165.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the gooseneck area and the boat is five hours away right now. But it does have the hooks on each side at the gooseneck. So are you reefing the leech and then going on deck to set the luff eye (or those strap rings) onto the hooks?

Or do you have four mainsail reefing lines for the two reefs (two for luff, two for leech) all led back?

Bill
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I have two clew reef lines led back to the cabin top. I do have to go forward to hook the floppy ring on the reef horn/hook, and mostly tension the halyard. Next I take up on the clew reef line. Then the final re-tension is done on the halyard.
Lastly, if we are going to be reefed for a while, we use the center ties to -loosely-tidy up bundle of spare cloth along the bottom.

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=6199&highlight=reefing

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=8235&highlight=reefing

A quick site search on reefing found these two threads and there are others...

Regards,
Loren
 

Don Smith

Member II
Sounds like you've got Kenyon spars, which is what's on my boat.

As someone noted in this thread, the cam levers at the mast end of the boom are ineffective. I removed them.

For my two-line reefing system, I attached two turning blocks at the base of the mast, the same diameter as the turning blocks for the halyards.

I ran the forward reef line up through the turning block, through the forward reef cringle and then down the opposite side of the mainsail where I tied the bitter end to the hook on the boom.

I ran the aft reef line up through the other turning block and then through the sheave at the mast end of the boom. The line goes through the inside of the boom and exits the aft end of boom and around the sheave. (This is more difficult than it sounds. I ended up removing the boom from the mast and using a piece of wire to pull the reef line through the boom). The end of the reef line then goes through the reef cringle in the leech of the sail and is tied off to the boom on the opposite side of the sail. My boom already had an attachment point on the boom. If yours does not, you'll need to attach a cleat to the boom. Fore/aft placement of this cleat is very important; it needs to be aft of the reef cringle so that the reef line pulls down and aft when the sail is reefed. This keeps the foot of the reefed sail tight.

I installed a three-sheave deck organizer for the two reef lines and the halyard.

I installed a three-lever rope clutch in front of the the deck-mounted main halyard winch, with the halyard going through the middle hole in the clutch.

This reefing system works well, although it took a lot of practice in light air and several adjustments to perfect it. After being caught in 30kts wind and 12 foot seas, I decided that since I don't have the courage (stupidity?) to go to the mast in such conditions, I needed to be able to tuck in the second reef from the cockpit too, so I installed the same system for the second reef.
It's the same as the first reef line except it's on the port side of the boat and you need only deck hardware for two lines because the halyard is already set up on the starboard side.

Hope this helps,

Captain Don
Gitana - E26
 
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mherrcat

Contributing Partner
If all your lines are lead back to the cockpit a cam cleat attached to the mast for the main halyard makes it much easier to raise the sail or attach the reefing cringles when singlehanded. (It's easier to raise the sail at the mast anyway than to try to do it from the cockpit.) If your main halyard turning block is a few inches from the mast base the halyard will pop out of the cam cleat when you take up the slack back in the cockpit and apply the final tension.

If I remember to I will get a picture at the boat this weekend...
 

BDEidson

Member II
Thanks, Don - excellent description. I'm seeing it now. By chance, do you remember where you bought sheaves or what size? If not, no problem. I'm measure the boom once I take ownership.
 

BDEidson

Member II
Mark - that's a great idea. Yet I've often found even on my Cal that the halyard led back to cockpit is very handy - until you need a reason to go on deck. Suddenly it's a pain to have it back there.

That's a nice, simple solution.

Bill
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
If your gooseneck fitting is like mine, there may already be two nylon sheaves for the internal reefing lines. I just removed the cam levers. I believe there was a bushing inside the cam lever that I left in place to support the outside plate at that point.
 

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BDEidson

Member II
That's great, thanks for sending the photo. That's clear now.

It makes me feel really good about buying an Ericson, this level of support.


All the best,

Bill
 

DavidWms

Member II
E26 performance? difference from 25+

I posted a question on another thread (E25 v. E27) about differences between 26 and 25+, but thought I'd ask here also since two E26 owners are already here. Other than differentl location for traveler, I see little difference between them but it seems that 25+ is viewed as faster? Is that right? Thanks.

My post on other thread:

The E30+ mentioned above is little rougher than expected from the pics sent by a local surveyor, although it is structurally sound. Need to go inpsect it personally to assess repairs needed. But have now come across a 1984 E26 with diesel. I'm a little unclear on the specs for this model. Is is just a larger version of 1979 E25+ pictured above? Wikipedia Ericson page lists 26 for 1984 onward as model III but not PHRF. Sailboatdata.com does not show a 26 after 26-2 in 1972. http://sailboatdata.com/view_builder.asp?Builder_ID=75
The E26 brochure in the archives here looks to be similar vintage to the 1984. If you could clarify any performance or other differnences in 25+ and later 26, I'd really appreciate it.
 

BDEidson

Member II
differences between 25+ and E26

David -

I looked at both boats, but never closely studied the differences. Those that I notice are the E26 has....

* a little more cabin headroom over the v berth in the bow.
* Traveler on the cockpit instead of bridgework
* Uniformly sold with a 10HP diesel instead of the variety of engines in E25+
* later models like the one I'm buying don't have the big cove stripe
* small hatch in the main cabin

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I noticed. Otherwise, I think the hull is the same.

Bill
 

DavidWms

Member II
Traveler location

Thanks, Bill. That's helpful. I saw a couple of regional PHRF ratings shwoing the E26 as 230's while the 25+ is under 210.

Does the location of traveler on E26 make it difficult to singlehand?
 
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