Flaking the reefing lines in with the sail

[OneKoolCat]

Hello,
This is my first post, so I apologize in advance for any problems I cause.

I have a FP Lavezzi 40, which has 3 reefing lines on the main sail. These are run inside the boom along with the outhaul. They are controlled from the winches on the mast.

My question is, do people with a similar setup pull in and tighten up their reefing lines each time you douse the sail, or do you leave them flaked in with the sail as it goes down. I find that when I am single handing the boat, I will sometimes get a snag in a reefing line that I must clear mid hoist. When I have it flaked in, I don’t have that problem.

I do tighten the reefing lines when reefing so that they are not slapping around. I have Lazy Jacks and a stack pack. I know this isn’t critical, but I am not sure if flaking the lines in with the sail is being efficient, lazy, or some combination of the two. :-)

Thanks

[TheOffice]

I gather my reefing lines and stuff them in the leach after the sail is flaked. They fall out as the sail is hoisted.

[slug]

Originally Posted by OneKoolCat

Hello,
This is my first post, so I apologize in advance for any problems I cause.

I have a FP Lavezzi 40, which has 3 reefing lines on the main sail. These are run inside the boom along with the outhaul. They are controlled from the winches on the mast.

My question is, do people with a similar setup pull in and tighten up their reefing lines each time you douse the sail, or do you leave them flaked in with the sail as it goes down. I find that when I am single handing the boat, I will sometimes get a snag in a reefing line that I must clear mid hoist. When I have it flaked in, I don’t have that problem.

I do tighten the reefing lines when reefing so that they are not slapping around. I have Lazy Jacks and a stack pack. I know this isn’t critical, but I am not sure if flaking the lines in with the sail is being efficient, lazy, or some combination of the two. :-)

Thanks

Best if you are an octopus ..,many arms

If possible I tug on the reef lines as the sail comes down

This keeps a tidy stack

It also avoids a tangled flogging reef line mess when you hoist

[ggray]

I flip the excess line forward within the folds after dropping the sails. Less work "both up and down", less tail to deal with, and little downside IMO.

Only thing to worry about is if when raising the sail a loop can drop down and hook under the end of the boom. More likely with my sail as it has a lot of roach so all reef points are well aft on the boom.

FWIW, unless I'm going offshore, I pull the third reef line off.

[thinwater]

I never tighten them when lowering in my life. Can't think of a reason. They seem to stay in the stack all right.


I leave the third reef line off unless expecting weather.



Sailing is about efficiency, not looks.

[RaymondR]

Pulling them down makes the sail harder to raise and you are then less likely to hoist it for short runs. Call me lazy if you will, I'm flaking them.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, KoolCat.

[philiosophy]

I pull mine in as the sail comes down. Reason is I am reading because the wind is getting up as are sea conditions. Hence I don't want to be hanging on the boom trying to fake reading lines. I have a suggestion you may well find true up the road. As I was preparing to cross from Tonga to New Zealand my first time, a very experienced sailor suggested I take my Stack Pack off for the crossing. The reason said he was it would be near impossible to see my reefs especially the after parts. I really loved that Stack Pack but I respected this man's knowledge greatly so I took it off for the crossing. He was right as rain. In fact I ended up taking the Pack Pack off permanently because while great for inshore cruising the extra wear slapping on the sail and the odd fouling issue made it irrelevant. In my fourth year sailing in The New Zealand, Australia general area now. I don't think how much I used to love that Stack Pack. Very few boats around here have them.
Good to have you aboard sailor...

[hlev00]

Originally Posted by philiosophy

... suggested I take my Stack Pack off for the crossing...

I thought about doing this on our Bahamas cruise, at least for the offshore passages. We weren't out that much but may try it next time. It would also allow to have a 3rd reef put in manually for when it is going to get really snotty.


As to the OP's question. We tuck ours forward between the sail and the stack pack, first the lower, then the upper. We find it makes for a cleaner hoist. If we are reefing to the 1st reef, we do pull in the slack on the 2nd. If we are going straight to the 2nd reef we also pull the slack out of the 1st to keep things neat and make it easier to let out to the 1st reef. If we are going from the 2nd reef to no reef, things have calmed down enough that having to ease both reef lines is no big deal.


Harry
s/v Juno
https://juno423.blogspot.com

[JPA Cate]

We stuff ours inside the sail bag on the boom after the sail is lowered. However, it might be an interesting experiment for you, after the sail is down, to pull through whatever slack you can in each of the lines. Now what do you do with it? Make a little rope bag to stuff them into, and hang it off the fwd end of the boom, so that when the sail is raised, they are free to run.

Like ggray above, ours is a roachy main, and sometimes the 2nd or 3rd reef line gets snagged under the boom, and it IS a nuisance.

Finally, for passages, I definitely would not remove the boom bag, I like how it contains the bunt of the sail, keeping it clear, without having to go tie in the reefs.

Ann

[waterman46]

I have always gathered up the slack in the reefing lines, after dropping the sail, at aft end of boom. I wrap the slack lines around the sail so they act as another sail tie. Before raising just unwrap them. Once in a great while one of them will catch on a winch while raising, but that is rare.

[AKA-None]

I usually pull them in which is a little trouble raising the main but it does help to control the sail area going up. Eg I never automatically go to full sail when raising which helps if the wind is up. Ymmv

[OneKoolCat]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, KoolCat.

Thanks! I am excited to join the community.

[OneKoolCat]

Thanks Everyone I feel better that I am not doing anything egregious.

[OneKoolCat]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

We stuff ours inside the sail bag on the boom after the sail is lowered. However, it might be an interesting experiment for you, after the sail is down, to pull through whatever slack you can in each of the lines. Now what do you do with it? Make a little rope bag to stuff them into, and hang it off the fwd end of the boom, so that when the sail is raised, they are free to run.

Like ggray above, ours is a roachy main, and sometimes the 2nd or 3rd reef line gets snagged under the boom, and it IS a nuisance.

Finally, for passages, I definitely would not remove the boom bag, I like how it contains the bunt of the sail, keeping it clear, without having to go tie in the reefs.

Ann

I do like the idea of a little bag as you and JPA Cate suggest. I might take a piece of Sunbrella and sew a little pocket at the end of the boom. Well, After I sew the zipper back on so I can stop manually tying the stack pack closed.

I have enough slack in the Lazy Jacks that I can deflate the stack pack to get it out of the way (I am liking the term boom bag though :-) ) and pull the lazy jacks down and forward out of the way. I have done this a few times when the wind shifting around, so I don't get a batten snagged. It goes back up pretty easily.