>> I used to race on a J-29 which had a reef point about a foot above the clew >> which we called a "flattening reef". Nothing was done to the tack of the >> sail, but it would really help with being over powered in short course >> racing; they have apparently gone out of vogue or are now called something >> different; anyone know why or what happened to them? Thanks <<
Calypso's mainsail has a flattening reef cringle aprox. 1' up from the clew. I had it added to keep the boom from pressing down on the dodger when the mainsheet is full on. Typically this is an issue when I am cruising or day sailing as we often remove the dodger for a race. IIRC back in the later 70's and early 80's a flattening reef would be used to tighten up the foot in: Very light conditions to reduce the amount of mainsail cloth that would "snap" back and forth in a sea. Be used to reduce the mainsail "speed bubble" at wind speeds just below where the first reef was called for. It could be the flattening reef went out of style as masts/rigs became more tunable and the sail cloth stiffened up (Kevlar/Mylar and better). Some of the more tunable rigs with running back stays and check stays would allow a crew to flatten the mainsail enough to avoid a reef in marginal conditions. Martin Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Baker Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 3:08 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Stus-List Re- heaving to - now flalttening reef Couple of reasons really, one is that when I go to reef the damn gooseneck drops down and invariably gets stuck so I have to go forward to whack it again. Not ideal given the conditions that I have to reef. I also have a rigid vang which complicates things somewhat as it starts to act as a pivot point forcing the end of the boom up once the spring is compressed when pulling the gooseneck down. I had a chat with my sailmaker about it all, he recommended fixing the gooseneck and re-purposing the downhaul as a cunningham, which would also free up a line coming aft. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Aronson" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, February 7, 2014 7:49:38 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List Re- heaving to - now flalttening reef _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com [email protected]
