Hi Bob, On my 1977 boat, (I'm guessing) it's about 8" from the top of the boom to the top of the sail slot cutaway. Here's a picture I took years ago when I was fitting the new boom on the OEM mast . You can see a pin that functions as a sail stop (of sorts) installed at top of the cutout.
I want to retract some of the description of where I installed the fairleads on the mast for the reefing lines. Now that I think about it some more, I don't think I installed them above the cutaway. It's been 6 years since I did all that work. Next time I''m working on the boat, I'll take a picture and take some measurements of the stack of sail slugs and the reefing lines. I was out at the marina for a short time yesterday, but I didn't think to look Fair winds, Judy B ________________________________ From: Bob <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 7:52:39 PM Subject: [IC27A] Re: Reefing Lines led aft (was: Judy - C27 CE) Hi Judy, I have between (I'm estimating from memory) 18 and 24 inches between the gooseneck and the sail slot. Does that sound about right or is there a difference between the tall rig and standard besides the total length. I fixed the gooseneck right at the lower black band, although I have never checked all the measurements. I don't race, but the PO did, so I've just assumed they were correct. Bob Stockley Sundance #2436 --- In ic...@yahoogroups. com, "Judith Blumhorst, DC" <drju...@... > wrote: > > 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 <kniggit713@ ...> > To: ic...@yahoogroups. com > 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" <DrJudyB@ > 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 <joe@> > > 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 > >  > > > >
