Hi Bob, Thanks for the kind words.
Getting the reef cringle down to the boom isn't required for reefing. What IS required is that the reef tack cringle be held securely to the mast so it can't pull away from the mast (thereby ripping the luff of the sail). The reef line has to pull the reef tack forward and down, but not necessarily down to the boom. When I rebuilt the mast, I installed the fairleads for the reefing lines above the sailslot and the stack of sail slugs. Rather than trying to get the cringle down to the gooseneck, I moved the fairleads for the reef lines up the mast, up above the sail slot and stack of slugs. It the simplest possible design, I think, and it has worked flawlessly for us so far. The only time you have to get the cringle down to the gooseneck is when you use a reef horn rather than a reef line. That's just because the horn is attached to the gooseneck, right? I've got a set of mast gates made by Garhauer for the C27, but I never installed 'em. I think my approach is far less complicated and less likely to cause complications. Bijou's gooseneck is fixed, because I can't think of any compelling advantage to having a sliding gooseneck, imo. (I can think of a couple of reasons why I prefer fixed goosneck to a sliding one.) I replaced the OEM boom and gooseneck with a much sbeefier Selden setup within a month of buying the boat. Fair winds, Judy B ________________________________ From: Bob <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 12:34:13 PM Subject: [IC27A] Re: Judy - C27 CE Hi Judy, Great explanation, and great set-up. It never occurred to me to stack the lines as you did. After experimenting for several seasons I gave up on single line reefing and went to double as you did. Just too much friction with a single line I guess. Do you allow your gooseneck to slide up to meet the reef cringle? I installed sail track gates, and bolted my gooseneck in position. It seemed to create fewer complications that way. And Thank You again for sharing your knowledge with us. Your website and posts are an inspiration, and a great reference. Bob Stockley Sundance #2436 --- In ic...@yahoogroups. com, "Judith Blumhorst, DC" <drju...@... > wrote: > > Here ya go, Joe -- a picture and an explanation of how I ran the lines aft > to the cockpit on my boat. Take a look at the picture before you read this, > please. Otherwise it won't make any sense to you.  > > There are six lines running aft on each side of the companionway (12 total) , > 3 on the "top level" and 3 on the bottom level. It's a lot of extra work > to get 6 lines down each side, because there's really only room for 4, and > you don't need to do that unless you're compulsive/obsessiv e about > rigging like I am. > > The really important lines are the main and jib halyards, 4 reefing lines, > vang, and cunningham (and maybe outhaul). Spinny lines can be left at the > mast > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ > > Here's the important design stuff: > > I use a "double line" slab reefing system with one line for the reef tack at > the mast and another line for the reef clew at the end of the boom. I > believe it's the easiest, versitile and reliable system. >  > The main and jib halyards and 4 the reefing lines (6 lines in all) need to be > logically arranged to make reefing quick and efficient. >  > Three lines on each side lead through rope clutches to a cabintop winch. >  > On port, the three top lines also run through Spinlock clutches to a Harken > #16 winch, and the three top lines are the jib halyard, the 1st reef clew > line, and the 2nds reef clew line. >  > On starboard, the top three lines run through Spinlock rope clutches to a > Harken #16 single speed self-tailing winch. They are the main halyard, 1st > reef tack line, and 2nd reef tack line. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ > Here's the way we reef: > 1. Reef early and make sure you have plenty of sea room in which to heave to > or sail while reefing > 1. If there's a lot of boat traffic, try to be sailing on starboard tack on > a reach while you reef, so you have right of way. > 2. If you're going to sail out from the lee of an island or mountian or into > a wind line, plan to reef before you cross the line > 2. Heave-to or ease the mainsheet and sail on jib alone. > 1. If you've got crew, have them sail on starboard tack under jib alone, a > little above or below a beam reach depending on the waves, so the boat is > steady.  > 2. We reef on any point of sail except a run, according to our searoom and > the waves   > 3. Get the lines clutches and winches ready > 1. Flake out your main halyard and your front (tack) and back (clew) reef > lines so they aren't tangled up and you know where they are. > 2. Close all the rope clutches securely > 3.  Loosely put the put the main halyard on the starboard winch and put the > winch handle in. > 4.  Ease the outhaul! (Otherwise you may rip out sail slides when you ease > the main halyard) > 5. Ease the vang so it's not pulling the boom down. > 6. Pull up on the topping lift to raise the end of the boom (or use your > rigid vang to hold up the boom) > 4.  On the starboard side: (this takes about 20-30 seconds) > 1. Open the rope clutch and lower the main halyard so the reef cringle is at > the top of the mast slot. > 1. We have a mark on the halyard so I know how much to lower it for the first > reef and the second reef > 2. If you lower the halyard too far, you can tighten it after you tighten > the front reef line. > 2. Close the main halyard clutch. > 3. Pull the front reef line tight so the reef cringle is held securely > against the mast above the sail stop. (You don't need mast gates. It doesn't > need to go down all the way if the reef line pulls down and forward in the > right place!)  The front reef line must be tight so that you don't the > sail slugs out of the sail when you outhaul the reef clew > 4. Tighten the main halyard with the winch if necessary.Remove the winch > handle and go over to the port side > 5. On port side (this takes less than 20 seconds) > 1. Make sure the rope clutch for the reef clew line is closed. > 2. Tighten the reef line so the foot of the mainsail is fairly tight and the > reef clew is held down to the boom > 3. If it's really windy, you may need to use the winch to outhaul the reef > clew. > 6. You're done. Sail on. >  > We don't bother to tie the reef point lines. The s"lab" of mainsail > hanging down isn't big enough to bother us. If we need to use the deep > reef, we usually put in the first reef as well as the second, just to keep > the mainsail slab from getting in our way.   It adds less than 20 seconds > to the routine to pull the reef lines for the first reef hand tight before > tightening the line for the second reef. >  > For a really good article on reefing read >  > http://www.sailmake r.com/articles/ reefing.htm >  > by Kame Richards, owner of Pineapple Sails. Kame is an amazing teacher and > sailmaker. His knowlege is encyclopedic. It's a privilege to hear him > lecture on currents, weather, sail trim, sail handling, driving > downwind, etc.  I have learned so much from him that it's hard to > describe how much I am indebted to him. >  > If you want to see more pictures and to read about all the rest of the > hardware and gear I put on top of the cabin, read > http://www.blumhors t.com/catalina27 /cabintop- lines-aft. htm > Please don't get confused by the typos, there are some mistakes on the > page. >  > And, please, I'm not suggesting that anybody needs to do it the complicated > way I did! I admit, I get a little carried away sometimes... .    It's > a little embarassing. >  > Hope this answers your questions,  > Judy B > 1977 C27 Tall Rig #3459, "Bijou" > San Francisco Bay, CA > http://www.blumhors t.com/catalina27 /catalinahomepag e.htm > >  > > ____________ _________ _________ __ > From: Joe McCaru <j...@...> > To: ic...@yahoogroups. com > Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 8:59:45 PM > Subject: RE: [IC27A] Judy - C27 CE > > > > > > Judy, the next time you are down at your boat, could you take some photos of > your halyard and reefing line layout on the cabin top. I have been > considering adding cockpit lines to make it safer than climbing on the cabin > to reef (at the worst possible time). >  >  > Joe McCary > Aeolus II, West River, MD > www.aeoluswestriver .net > joe at photoresponse dot com >  >
