Reefing the Main

Kim Schoedel · Dec 14, 2006

When I reef the main, I have to loosen the stopper in the sail track on the mast and reposition it below the wide point (where you slip the slugs out) so I can lower the main enough so the reefing clew can be hooked on the reefing hook on the boom.

Of course, this makes "shakeing out the reef" a similar pain in the butt in reverse.

What am I missing here? As far as I know, this is the original mast. There is only one reefing clew on this North Sail main. Am I the only sailor that has to go through this emotional drain to reef?

The other choice would be to just reef far enough to not have to move the stopper and just have less of a reef. Not a good choice as I wouldn't be reducing enough sail area. And I think the sail should be reefed down to the boom.

Please help!

Frank Langer · Dec 14, 2006

Kim, if you do a search on this site, you'll find a post entitled Reefing and Sail Slugs, from about November, 2006 which talked about this sort of problem. I don't know how to include the reference url here--maybe someone else can do it for you.
Good luck with this--you're right that you need to address this for an effective reefing system.
Frank.

Tom Metzger · Dec 14, 2006

Jackline

Take a look at the referenced thread by Richard Murphy "E25 Main Sail". His question is about what you need, a jackline so you can loosen the slides and drop the sail to reef.

It will tale a small modification to your sail.

Ernest · Dec 14, 2006

Tom- For the luff side of the sail, have the sailmaker sew a piece of strong webbing thru the cringle with a ring on both sides of the sail. The extra length of the webbing will allow you to reach the reefing hook without dropping the sail slugs past the stopper. Having a ring on both sides allows you to choose either side to hook onto and the oppossing ring prevents the webbing coming out of the cringle hole. With a little measuring, you can make it just the right length to make it easy to hook up but tight enough so it won't fall off before you can tension the halyard. If you can tension the halyard at the mast it is even easier. Ernie Schlesinger (ex-E35-3)

Seth · Dec 15, 2006

Or both

Having the floppy rings sewn through the tack grommet may be enough, but the ideal set up is a combination of a luff jackline and floppy rings. Once you have got the jackline adjusted right, you do not really need to mess with it-it is designed to take care of it self (once you get the halyard tension set).

Kim Schoedel · Dec 15, 2006

Thanks to all

Thank you for your input on this issue. I will proceed and see what can be done. Just seems kinda like a stupid setup the way it is now. In a good blow, it would not be fun to be doing the dance on the deck whilst fooling around with this. Fortunately I have been pragmatic about this and reefed before heading out. But one of these days, I will be out in light winds and then the wind God will kick things up a notch.

treilley · Dec 15, 2006

Sounds to me that the sailmaker messed up by placing the reef ring in line with a slug. The ring should be between the slugs so you have enough room to get on the hook. You need that to happen to obtain the proper sail shape when reefing the leech. I do not think extending the ring with the sewn in rings will allow you to properly trim the reefed sail.

Kim Schoedel · Dec 15, 2006

Tim,

The reef ring is placed between slugs. The problem is, that I have to loosen the slug stop and slip it down below the wide part in the track in order to pull the sail down far enough to hook it on the hook. Otherwise the sail slugs below the reef ring rest on the stop thus keeping the reef ring above them. Make sense? I am not real good at explaining things.

treilley · Dec 16, 2006

I sort of understand what you are saying Kim but I do not have this problem with my main and I think we probably have the same mast/boom combo. The fold that is created when pulling my main down is long enough to overcome the distance the slugs create on the top of the stop.

corkhead · Dec 16, 2006

I think I understand at least partially and I have the same issue:
when reefed the slugs pile up above the stopper (which comes off the mast)
and the sail is a bit too high above the boom. I end up taking the lowest slug out of the track and that allows me to lower the sail a few more inches. The sail can then be neatly reefed at the tack (luff cringle) and clew(leech cringle) I have not figured out an elegant fix to removing the lowest slug in order to lower the sail enough. Fotunately on the SF Bay the main is reefed quite often! So I just leave it reefed.

missalot · Dec 16, 2006

I friend of mine had a similar problem. He took two thin pieces of thin aluminum sheet and fashioned "coverplates" over the wide portion of the slot for removing the slugs, these reduced the slot to the same size as the rest of the mast. These were held on with screws. He did not take the main off the boat but once a year, so removing four screws was not a problem. This allowed the slugs to slide all the way down to the goose neck - so not only reefing was easier, but the slugs stacked up lower making the top of the main sail cover easier to reach.

Jason · Dec 16, 2006

I did the exact same thing. One side I pop-riveted in, the other side was screws. Works great. Only need to take off the one side at the end of the season. Was just a little nervous about drilling holes in the mast, but they are small.

missalot said:
I friend of mine had a similar problem. He took two thin pieces of thin aluminum sheet and fashioned "coverplates" over the wide portion of the slot for removing the slugs, these reduced the slot to the same size as the rest of the mast. These were held on with screws. He did not take the main off the boat but once a year, so removing four screws was not a problem. This allowed the slugs to slide all the way down to the goose neck - so not only reefing was easier, but the slugs stacked up lower making the top of the main sail cover easier to reach.

Loren Beach · Dec 16, 2006

Slug Gate ideas

This is a decent thread on this topic, amonst others on this site (as suggested by others, try a search).
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3427&referrerid=28

Note that some replies even have diagrams included.

And from a fine C&C web site: http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityourself/sailgate/sailgate.htm

Cheers,
Loren

Seth · Dec 19, 2006

Here is why

The reason you may see this problem on 2 identical boats with the same mast/boom combo is due to the placement of the slugs: did the sailmaker start at the top or the bottom? Did he use 16, 18, 22" spacing between slugs(this will of course have a big impact on how many slugs are piled up on top of the stop).

There are 2 real solutions. The first is the jackline (already discussed ad nauseum), and the other is modifying the sail track as desribed above to allow the slides to rest below the cutout (in effect close the cutout), so the whole mess is lower, and closer to the reef hooks.

The jackline always works, the other system usually does, but it is possible that even doing this will leave a "slug pile" too high to easily get the reef ring down to the reek hooks-even with floppy rings sewn through the reef rings. On boats of this size, you can usually make the system work-but that is a caveat.

Hope this helps!

S

Kim Schoedel · Dec 19, 2006

Thanks

Ok, thanks for all the input. Next time I am at the boat, I will take a closer look at things and try to figure out what to do. The PO has told me that he had never reefed the main, just reduced the Genoa sail area if need be. I, on the other hand feel that we loose performance this way. Would rather reef the main first, then reduce head sail.

Quiet Magic · Jan 7, 2007

aluminium plates

I used the thin aluminium plate idea on my ericson 27. It's great because it prevents the mainsail slugs from falling our of the mast, however the plate created a new problem. when the slugs are below the wide point in the mast track and I'm trying to raise the main the slugs get caught in ledge created by the plates. which equals unhappy sailors. I am wondering if anyone else has run into this and if so how did you fix it? Many thanks.

Mark F · Jan 8, 2007

Steve,
I had the same problem after adding the luff slot plates. What worked for me was to get a dremel bit like this and smooth the lip on the bolt rope slot so the slugs slide by. Never had a problem since.

G Kiba · Jan 8, 2007

Aluminum Plate Solution

Steve,

I have the same "two-thin-plate" solution to the sail slot problem.

When raising the sail, the slugs hang-up on the lower portion of the slot where it meets the plates.

If that's what you're running into- I solved the binding by slightly bending the lower corners of the plates (where they form the slot) downwards toward the slugs.

Now, the slugs encouter the slight rise before passing through the slot and do not bind. I discovered this some-what by accident but it works well. I did the same to the upper corners to aid in lowering the sail.

If it doesn't work for you (maybe because we have diffenert sail slugs), you can always bend the corners back.

Good luck to you in any case.

Grant Kiba
'73 E27, Hull #406
Antioch, CA

Quiet Magic · Jan 17, 2007

genius

Grant,
Thats a brilliant Idea. Now I'm wondering how exactly you went about shaping the metal? mainly what tools did you use?

G Kiba · Jan 18, 2007

Bending Corners

Steve,
Sounds brutal... but I bent the corners with piers. You don't need much of a bend and if you want a better method, try using an adjustable wrench clamped to the thickness of the plate to act as a sheetmetal brake (bending tool). I did the bottom corners first- beginning with a small amount of bend and a test run by passing a few of the slugs up and down the area after each change.

It's cheep and seems to work well.
Grant Kiba

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