single-line reefing/jacklines

[kaynee30]

I went for a sail on my brither-in-law's P26 today to get a look at his all-from-the-cockpit
reefing...using fresh eyes....been a while.
Anyway, he uses the single-line setup...the one that all the books I've read say doesn't work. It works.
He uses micro-blocks on the reef cringles, and he's sewn-in leather chafing strips adjacent to the blocks. We had the opportunity to use the system: while I held the course, he tensed the topping lift, loosed the main haul--also in the cockpit--let out the mainsheet, and tugged on the 1/4" line...not too hard--and viola: his reef was in. He used no winch, and a simple cleat the secure the end of the line.
The books say that friction from a single-line system is a bear, but when the sail is fluttering, any friction is strictly transient. It's like having helpers at the cringles. His addition of blocks in the cringles helps too, but they aren't really necessary.
The "bomb" part of his system, though, are the jacklines he made to contain the main: aside from doing the job when the main is entirely dropped, they also contain the belly of the reef. He doesn't need to tie the reef points!
The jacklines are 1/8" generic nylon, tied at the bases of the spreaders, and led down to about 3/4th the way back on the boom, to tiney eyes screwed into the sides. . There are two more lines running from those main ones at the half-way point from the top, to half-way, and 1/4th the way along the boom. All it cost him was about $15 for the line and eyelets. (how do they get $200. for ready-made jackline kits, anyway?)
I'm going to attempt to replicate his system on #30. I'll let you know how it goes.
Jeff

[The Good Goose]

Jeff
Sounds like a great idea to me. I don't think you need the jacklines for reefing. The reef ties are more of an asthetic thing then anything else. I have had my sail reefed in 20kts and never tied the ties. It really didn't blow around at all. I do think that jacklines are great for dropping the main for coming into a mooring or other times you need to kill your speed. If I didn't race I would install them in a second. Send some pics to the mir when your complete.
I bought a harken single line reef setup for my boat. I didn't have the space needed forward on the boom to have it work properly. I just used all the parts to set up my reefing system for both reefs. I didn't see any reason why it wouldn't work if I had had the room . To me the more things you can do from the cockpit the better.

Brock

[kaynee30]

OOPS! Where I said 'jacklines, I meant LAZYJACKS. Sorry.
One of the other advantages of the LAZYJACKS is that the loose reefing lines that run along the boom are cradled nicely on the base ties of the LAZYJACKS when reefed or furled, which eliminates the need for additional fairleads on the boom.
Again, sorry for the confusion. Jacklines are a whole 'nuther.

[Tim]

Tim's Golden Rule of Reefing

Whichever way you set up your mainsail reefing system, be sure to have all necessary controls located in the same general area. If you need to move between two widely different parts of the boat to set a reef in, it's going to be just that much more dangerous, inconvenient, and time-consuming.

Therefore, if you have a single-line system led to the cockpit, the halyard needs to be cockpit-led also. A single line setup only makes sense if the ultimate goal is to accomplish everything from the cockpit. Note that in this instance, the topping lift also needs to be run aft; there's no sense in having all the other controls aft if you still have to go forward for one small adjustment. If you have a rigid vang, this of course eliminates this problem. (Hint: get the rigid vang. Everybody.) With this system, in theory you would not need to ever go forward.

If you have a traditional slab reef system where you need to hook the tack cringle to a gooseneck-mounted hook, then I think all reefing lines should be led to the forward end of the boom, and the halyard should remain on the mast. Again, this ensures that all the needed controls are only a step away. You go forward once, set the reef, and return.

I've not used a single-line reef setup myself, but I don't see why it couldn't work, especially since you have a nice working prototype from which to work. If you copy that setup precisely, it should work--unless certain issues specific to your boat come to light in the process. Worth a try, though, if cockpit control is what you want. You need to duplicate the setup for each reef point, of course.