Reefing original main

[venelia]

My husband and I have been trying to reef the main of our new-to-us PDQ32, its the original sail that came from the factory. the eyelets are small and not many types of rope will fit through it. My husband is VERY good with knots (boy scout) and we cannot get it to work. The knot either slips (like the reefing knot did) or the rope breaks (like the parashoot cord did despite its massive strenght.) I would like to know what rope and what knot works with those small eyelets. Any help will be most appreciated. Thanks.

[amytom]

Is your boat not set up with the jiffy reefing line led back to the cockpit? That is by far the easiest and safest way to do it.

[venelia]

Yes, we do have jiffy reefing line, but the middle part of the sail has to be tied down to keep it from blowing all over the place that is where the rope keeps breaking and slipping. This happened even on fairly calm days when we just wanted to practice reefing.

[thinwater]

You know, of course, that the middle eyelets should have VERY LITTLE tension on them. They are ONLY to hold the bunt of the sail and should not carry any of the wind load. If parachute cord is breaking, you are tying them far too tightly. You can damage the sail in this way. With a single reef, they should only barely be needed, in fact.

[venelia]

Thanks, that's probably it.

[thinwater]

Others have succeeded in ripping the eyes clear out by finding stronger lines, so you're OK! It never occurred to me to tie them tightly, since my first 2 boats had loose footed mains. If you think about it, the center of the sail is not designed to have downward tension; only the front edge and the corners. The only reason to attach it to the boom is to make an end plate to trap air.

[fredandkathy]

The previous owner had removed the reefing system so when we had Mack Sails, our local sail loft here in Stuart, install the Mack Pack, we asked them about the original reefing system that came with the boat from PDQ. They recommended that we not re-install the original because there are too many tension points. They installed two lines, one for each reefing point tied off at the end of the boom, that go straight through the sheaves, through the clutches, down to a block at the bottom of the mast and up to a cleat on the mast. There is enough line to bring it to the winch. Only 2 weeks old so have not tried it yet but very simple in design.

[mikeandrebecca]

I am one of those people who tied the center part of the sail too tight and ripped a grommet. It was a cheap lesson (only 50 bucks to fix). Now I do nothing with the middle of the sail.

Fred and Kathy: I would be very interested to see/hear more details on this other setup.

[fredandkathy]

Mike and Rebecca,

There are two reefing lines, one for each reef point. Each is wrapped around the boom after passing through the lower eyelet at the sail foot and the end tied off. It is then passed up through the reef point and directly down to the back sheaves and continues uninterupted through the forward sheaves, clutch, block and to a cleat on the mast. I do not have the lines running back to the helm. Now that the tropical wave has passed through Florida, I'll try and take a picture this weekend to post.

[mikeandrebecca]

Fred and Kathy:

Thank you! Pics would be great.

Mike