DSK wrote:

Walt wrote:

I'd guss that just installing
some reef points to make take the bottom 18" out of the equation would
be close enough for most people.

Until you break the boom or the gooseneck or the rudder or something,
while out sailing in wind & wave conditions that make recovery a problem.

Maybe I'm somewhat lacking in immagination, but I don't see how a
homebrew reefing system could cause the boom to break. If the odd
sailplan generates odd forces, my hunch is that they'd manifest
themselves as a boat that's difficult to control long before being large
enough to break things, although the wrong sail plan could cause enough
lee helm to over-stress the rudder.

Then your insurance company might ask some embarrassing questions about
why you have reef points, and all the other XYZ 15s they insure do not...

More likely they're going to ask why you were out in those conditions
when all the other XYZ 15s had gone in. Anyway I self-insure except for
liability, so I doubt I'd ever be having such a conversation. Actually
this whole thread is strictly armchair speculation for me - I'm not
planning on installing reef points any time in the forseeable future.


I consider "upright" to be sailing better than "not upright" . If it
accomplishes that, it's done the job.

Learning how to depower a rig
can be as important and useful a skill as learning how to get max power.

Absolutely. Once the wind gets above a certain point anybody can get
all the power they can handle out of the rig. The trick is to only
generate as much as you can handle.


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//-Walt
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