The discussion of hauling in an anchor reminded me of something I have
been thinking of for a couple of years, continuous furling of a normal
mainsail without replacing the main or the boom. This means that
small modifications could be made to a main so it could be raised any
amount and pulled from fully raised to any extent. Current reefing
systems are mostly incremental using one to three reefing levels (reef
points). There are in-mast furlers which I do not like because they
can fail with the main up and because they do not allow for battens
and there are in-boom furlers that require a special boom. What I
want to develop is a simple add-on to a boom allowing any main to be
continuously reefed.
Pulling down on the luff (the part of the sail against the mast) is
not too complex but the leech side (the outer edge of the sail) also
needs to be pulled down and the point from which it is pulled varies
as the sail is pulled down to the boom. One can imagine an attachment
to the luff puller to allow this. Both of these would require some
sort of reinforcing on the luff and leech to allow it to be gripped by
the puller.
However, reefing systems need to also grip the sail along its bottom
edge. This is done on most boats by the reef points where the sail
gets tied around the boom. I have not yet figured out a way to do
this or even if it is necessary.

Frogwatch

On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:48:07 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara
wrote:

The discussion of hauling in an anchor reminded me of something I have
been thinking of for a couple of years, continuous furling of a normal
mainsail without replacing the main or the boom. This means that
small modifications could be made to a main so it could be raised any
amount and pulled from fully raised to any extent. Current reefing
systems are mostly incremental using one to three reefing levels (reef
points). There are in-mast furlers which I do not like because they
can fail with the main up and because they do not allow for battens
and there are in-boom furlers that require a special boom. What I
want to develop is a simple add-on to a boom allowing any main to be
continuously reefed.
Pulling down on the luff (the part of the sail against the mast) is
not too complex but the leech side (the outer edge of the sail) also
needs to be pulled down and the point from which it is pulled varies
as the sail is pulled down to the boom. One can imagine an attachment
to the luff puller to allow this. Both of these would require some
sort of reinforcing on the luff and leech to allow it to be gripped by
the puller.
However, reefing systems need to also grip the sail along its bottom
edge. This is done on most boats by the reef points where the sail
gets tied around the boom. I have not yet figured out a way to do
this or even if it is necessary.

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, roller reefing was all the rage. The
boom was typically fitted out with a geared crank mechanism which
would actually roll up the mainsail around the boom. This seemed
like a great idea on paper but in actual practice had some serious
limitations: Sail shape was terrible in the rolled configuration
because of insufficient/non-existent outhaul tension; fixed boom vangs
were impossible; and the mainsheet had to be led to the aft end of the
boom by necessity. The geared crank mechanism was also awkward to
use, subject to failure, and required someone to go forward to the
mast to operate it.

All of this led to the widespread adoption of slab reefing or "jiffy
reefing" by the late 70s. This had the advantage of maintaining
outhaul/foot tension, and if rigged properly, could be done mostly
from the cockpit.

Not directly related to reefing, but becoming a very popular mainsail
management technique, is the so called "stack pack" system which
utilizes something called lazy jacks to guide the sail back on to the
top of the boom when it is dropped.

On Jun 23, 10:24*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:48:07 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara



wrote:
The discussion of hauling in an anchor reminded me of something I have
been thinking of for a couple of years, continuous furling of a normal
mainsail without replacing the main or the boom. *This means that
small modifications could be made to a main so it could be raised any
amount and *pulled from fully raised to any extent. *Current reefing
systems are mostly incremental using one to three reefing levels (reef
points). *There are in-mast furlers which I do not like because they
can fail with the main up and because they do not allow for battens
and there are in-boom furlers that require a special boom. *What I
want to develop is a simple add-on to a boom allowing any main to be
continuously reefed.
Pulling down on the luff (the part of the sail against the mast) is
not too complex but the leech side (the outer edge of the sail) also
needs to be pulled down and the point from which it is pulled varies
as the sail is pulled down to the boom. *One can imagine an attachment
to the luff puller to allow this. *Both of these would require some
sort of reinforcing on the luff and leech to allow it to be gripped by
the puller.
However, reefing systems need to also grip the sail along its bottom
edge. *This is done on most boats by the reef points where the sail
gets tied around the boom. *I have not yet figured out a way to do
this or even if it is necessary.

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, roller reefing was all the rage. *The
boom was typically fitted out with a geared crank mechanism which
would actually roll up the mainsail around the boom. * This seemed
like a great idea on paper but in actual practice had some serious
limitations: *Sail shape was terrible in the rolled configuration
because of insufficient/non-existent outhaul tension; fixed boom vangs
were impossible; and the mainsheet had to be led to the aft end of the
boom by necessity. * The geared crank mechanism was also awkward to
use, subject to failure, and required someone to go forward to the
mast to operate it.
I
All of this led to the widespread adoption of slab reefing or "jiffy
reefing" by the late 70s. *This had the advantage of maintaining
outhaul/foot tension, and if rigged properly, could be done mostly
from the cockpit.

Not directly related to reefing, but becoming a very popular mainsail
management technique, is the so called "stack pack" system which
utilizes something called lazy jacks to guide the sail back on to the
top of the boom when it is dropped.

I do have a set of lazy jacks which I have not yet installed mostly
because in my older and wiser age, I am now afraid of going up the
mast. I do agree that slab reefing is so simple as to be hard to
match. Mine is done with two control lines from the cockpit.

On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:52:54 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara
wrote:

Not directly related to reefing, but becoming a very popular mainsail
management technique, is the so called "stack pack" system which
utilizes something called lazy jacks to guide the sail back on to the
top of the boom when it is dropped.

I do have a set of lazy jacks which I have not yet installed mostly
because in my older and wiser age, I am now afraid of going up the
mast. I do agree that slab reefing is so simple as to be hard to
match. Mine is done with two control lines from the cockpit.

You might be able to make temporary lazy jacks without going up the
mast if you have extra halyards available. My old Cal-34 was rigged
out with port and stbd spinnaker halyards. When we were in cruising
mode I'd run a length of 1/4 inch shock cord down each side of the
boom, each piece having a small loop in the middle. When it came
time to drop the main we'd lead the spin halyards aft around the
shrouds and clip them on to the loops in the shock cord. By raising
the halyards half way, the shock cords would stretch out and form
instant lazy jacks. It worked well for us, not as elegant as a stack
pack system, but still a big improvement over a loose mainsail
flapping around.

"Katie Ohara" wrote in message
...
On Jun 23, 10:24 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:48:07 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara



wrote:
The discussion of hauling in an anchor reminded me of something I have
been thinking of for a couple of years, continuous furling of a normal
mainsail without replacing the main or the boom. This means that
small modifications could be made to a main so it could be raised any
amount and pulled from fully raised to any extent. Current reefing
systems are mostly incremental using one to three reefing levels (reef
points). There are in-mast furlers which I do not like because they
can fail with the main up and because they do not allow for battens
and there are in-boom furlers that require a special boom. What I
want to develop is a simple add-on to a boom allowing any main to be
continuously reefed.
Pulling down on the luff (the part of the sail against the mast) is
not too complex but the leech side (the outer edge of the sail) also
needs to be pulled down and the point from which it is pulled varies
as the sail is pulled down to the boom. One can imagine an attachment
to the luff puller to allow this. Both of these would require some
sort of reinforcing on the luff and leech to allow it to be gripped by
the puller.
However, reefing systems need to also grip the sail along its bottom
edge. This is done on most boats by the reef points where the sail
gets tied around the boom. I have not yet figured out a way to do
this or even if it is necessary.

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, roller reefing was all the rage. The
boom was typically fitted out with a geared crank mechanism which
would actually roll up the mainsail around the boom. This seemed
like a great idea on paper but in actual practice had some serious
limitations: Sail shape was terrible in the rolled configuration
because of insufficient/non-existent outhaul tension; fixed boom vangs
were impossible; and the mainsheet had to be led to the aft end of the
boom by necessity. The geared crank mechanism was also awkward to
use, subject to failure, and required someone to go forward to the
mast to operate it.
I
All of this led to the widespread adoption of slab reefing or "jiffy
reefing" by the late 70s. This had the advantage of maintaining
outhaul/foot tension, and if rigged properly, could be done mostly
from the cockpit.

Not directly related to reefing, but becoming a very popular mainsail
management technique, is the so called "stack pack" system which
utilizes something called lazy jacks to guide the sail back on to the
top of the boom when it is dropped.

I do have a set of lazy jacks which I have not yet installed mostly
because in my older and wiser age, I am now afraid of going up the
mast. I do agree that slab reefing is so simple as to be hard to
match. Mine is done with two control lines from the cockpit.

North Sails used to have a system where the sail rolled up into the mast.
Don't know if they still do or if North is still in business.