I'm kind of surprised at the religious tone this debate has taken on.
If I were sailing as you do, with kids who are guests along for the
ride, or shorthanded, I would rig the boat as you have. My current
needs and purposes are different.

What I find weird is the idea that one arrangement is responsible and
sensible and the other negligent and foolish. If that were true,
sailing itself would be negligent and foolish.

--

Roger Long



wrote in message
ups.com...


Jere Lull wrote:

On the boats I've sailed with aft-lead halyards, I invariably
discovered
it was faster and less effort to haul the sail most of the way up
right
at the mast. On some boats, it seemed to take 5 minutes to get the
sail
up because of the drag.

It's always a compromise. I prefer the sail set I get with straight
slab
reefing though it requires a couple of minutes at the mast. A
single
line reef led back also puts considerably different strains on the
gooseneck than it was designed for.
SNIP

This is a bit of a religious debate but let me wade in anyway.

My boat (Paceship 26) is set up for short handed sailing with all
lines
led to the cockpit. Works well for me when I'm out with my kids.
Other
setups will work better for other folks

The drag issue you mention is easily mitigated by using the right
hardware when the system is set up.

As for the reefing line putting strains on the gooseneck that it was
not designed for, I respectfully submit that a boomvang will put
more
strain on a gooseneck, with roughly similar vectors than a reefing
line
ever will.

Cheers

Matt