Using your reef grommets.

Posted By: Harry Gordon, wwp 14 #234, Mtn. View, CA
Date: 2/8/10 11:18p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Att; John about reefing. (pic) (Manny Rubin)

Manny, here are some things you can try in the driveway with your present sail. The easiest solution is to use the aft reef grommet only. Your existing leech grommet appears to be high enough to get an effective reef. Ideally you should have jiffy reefing hardware mounted on the boom, with a reef line going through the grommet on the leech. To reef, lower the sail, pull the jiffy line hard and cleat it, which will pull the aft reef grommet to the boom. Haul the yard back up as far as it will go and sail away. It will look like this: I didn't have bunt lines on the Sunfish sail in the photo above, and the flap of sail hanging down tends to inflate in the wind, probably reducing the reef effectiveness slightly. A second grommet could be installed half way up the leech if you think you may need a deeper reef. Bunt lines could also be added to allow tying up the reefed area more neatly. I have bunt lines but probably didn't use them when this photo was taken, showing a double reef in my Super Porpoise sail: If you reef at the dock or on the trailer and want twice the reef area, you could probably ease the outhaul on the yard the same distance as the height of the forward reef grommet. You will probably have to ease the boom outhaul a few inches also. You could then tie in reefs at both the luff and leech, looking like a reef on a sloop mainsail. This has the additional advantage of keeping the boom-to-yard angle unchanged. It would probably be awkward to set the reef when out in the wind and waves. I haven't tried a parallel-to-the-boom reef on the lateen rig, but I think it would look something like this PhotoShopped conception, except there would be some rolled up sail at the boom: