RE: catalina27-talk: Headsail

[Phil Agur]

If it’s the same thing we call it a fisherman’s reef, with the headsail in and traveler down you this terrible looking backwind on the main going to weather. This backwind looks like a bubble all along the luff but it reduces the square footage aloft quite effectively.   The downside is you have to be very diligent since if the bubble comes out you’re all powered up again. This is especially useful to racers going to weather in spinnaker shredding winds since there’s no headsail change over needed at the windward mark.   I could see it being effective for a cruiser dealing with a short term shore effect like crossing the slot on SF Bay but it’s not something you’d want to maintain on a four hour watch.   Phil Agur                    s/v Wing Tip Commodore,             Call Sign WCW3485 IC27/270A                   MMSI 366901790 www.catalina27.org      Vessel Doc# 1039809 -----Original Message----- From: catalina27-talk@memberclicks.com [mailto:catalina27-talk@memberclicks.com] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 12:58 PM To: catalina27-talk@memberclicks.com Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Headsail   In a message dated 8/22/06 1:25:42 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: When racing in heavy winds (common here) I always use a reefed main and headsail combination.  Making aggressive use of the traveler to dump wind when overpowered, a common condition.   I'm not a racer but when I was learning to sail many years ago I was told that I could use the traveler to "reef" the main.  The guys who told me about this called it "chicken reefing."  I use it in building winds often before putting a reef in the sail.  I haven't met anyone else who has heard the term chicken reefing, though? Dave Tierney