- [Narrator] Welcome to the Inspire and Learn series.
We are The Multihull Group,
a multi award-winning dealership in Australia
specializing in catamarans.
Join us as our expert team teach you all about anchoring,
docking, rigging, sail trim, maintenance
and so much more.
So you can build confidence
in your catamaran handling ability.
In this episode Joe Fox teaches you
how to put a reef in your mainsail.
Enjoy!
- Hello and welcome back
to another Inspire and Learn episode
with The Multihull group.
Today we're on the Lagoon 42
and we're going to be looking at reefing
and why you use your reefing lines,
how the single line reefing on a Lagoon 42 is run
and the processes involved with lowering the sail
to reduce your sail area when the wind strength builds.
We're gonna head to a mooring today
to demonstrate the reefing on the main sail,
this will make it a little bit easier
just for pointing out the individual parts
of the reefing system.
Now it's understandable that you may be
in a little bit more wind when you are reefing
but we'll talk you through what to do
and how to operate the systems to effectively reef
in a range of wind conditions.
(upbeat music)
So the reason we reef on a catamaran like this
is to reduce the stresses and strains on the rig.
Obviously as the wind builds
the pressure in the shrouds and the forestay
and the whole structure of the boat is increased,
so we decrease the sail area
using something called single line slab reefing
on this lagoon 42
and that reduces the windage of the boat on the rig
and also reduces the tension in the shrouds
the lines or your running gear, just allowing you
to more safely navigate in high wind strengths.
Now each boat is different
and it's important that you look in the manual of your boat
for the wind ratings per reef.
So on this boat, I go to the manual
and I look for the first reef,
X amount of wind is my cutoff
and so-and-so all the way up to reef three.
So we've just hoisted the main sail
and for the purposes of this demonstration,
we've rolled up the boom bag.
So this is normally a bag,
catches the sail when it comes down.
So just to show you through the reefing lines
we've stored it away so that you can see
the foot of the sail and all the reefing lines,
which are these ones.
So single line slab reefing,
there are three points attaching a main sail to a boat.
You have the head at the very top and the tack at the front
and then along the back of the foot of the sail the clew,
the other line we're going to use for this exercise
is also the main halyard knot,
it's one of the most important lines on the boat,
it lifts the main sail all the way up
to the top of the mast.
On a Lagoon it's normally black,
it varies from boat to boat
but this is the other half if you like,
of the single line reefing system
which we'll talk through now.
So in terms of positioning the boat in relation to the wind
before you conduct your reefing operation,
you need to make sure that you take as much pressure
or as much wind out of the sails as possible.
Now whether this is going head to wind
or whether this is going close to the wind,
still sailing maybe on the jib
and easing the boom right out,
this will reduce the pressure in the main
'cause the main will not fall down
if it's got tension and wind in it or if your close hauled.
So position the boat in a way where the main is loose,
not flat, not flogging too hard
because that can damage the sail,
just loose with not too much wind in it.
So before actually conducting the first reef,
we need to make sure that the lines are all free to run.
So I'm taking out the halyard,
making sure there are no knots or no kinks in it,
because as I use it out,
I want it just to go nice and smoothly,
I don't wanna be trying to untie bow lines
and half hitches as it's going through the winch
'cause that's not conducive
to a successful reefing operation.
This is the main sheet,
I've eased off the main sheet
and the boom is nice and loose,
so if we do get a gust of wind from the side
the main just moves with it,
so it can be a good idea also with your main halyard
as you use your boat and as you work out your reefing points
to mark your main halyard.
So we're going to drop the main halyard
which will in turn lower the main sail,
we need to get that to a very specific height
which we'll go up there and have a look at
once I've dropped it
but in order to know when to stop letting out the halyard,
once you've set your reef lines up a few times
it can be good just to mark your main halyard here
so you know for reefs one, two and three,
where to drop too so that you don't drop too far
or to stop your dropping not enough.
So we start lowering the main halyard
undo the clutch and take the line
out to the winch and we lower away
and this brings the sail down.
Now I'm either gonna be looking at the sail
which will tell me when to stop
or I'll be looking for my mark on here.
Now the mark can be tape which often comes off,
so I wouldn't advise using that
but a good solution is whipping twine.
So you run it through the line a couple of times
and this is a really good way of marking the line
which still allows it to run through the blocks and winches.
Okay, so I can see now that I'm in the right position,
pop it back on the winch
and so what I've done here is I've lowered the main down
to what I think is the right level
to pull in on the bottom line with the single line reef
and pull it tight to the bottom, having reduced the sail.
So the next thing I do is to pull it on the reefing lines.
Now this might be quite easy at first
because there should be lots of slack,
because the main has come down a little bit on its own
but as it gets tighter,
I will need to put it into a winch
and just pull it down nice and tight,
to pull the tack and on the clew down close to the boom.
(winch turning)
Now let's go and have a look upstairs
and see how we've done it.
So here at the back of the sail,
we can see that the reefing line has gone really tight
and this black eye which was previously
two meters further up the sail
is now down and it's just off the boom.
Now I'd say this is good in this position.
If you come too far down,
you'll get the eye touching on the boom,
which may damage the boom or the eye itself
but in this position, it's being pulled down to the boom
and also backwards acting in a way as you're your outhaul.
Now moving forward to the front of the main sail,
we'll have a look at the single line reef here as well.
So here at the front edge of the sail,
we've got the black eye, which was previously
about two meters further up
just like it was at the back edge of the boom,
we've got the reefing line, which comes out of the boom
up to the eye and then down to the spectacle in the rig.
Now in this configuration,
it's pulling the sail down with this one
and it's also pulling the sail forward with this one.
Now it's really important
in this position to minimize chafing.
So this setup here is how I'd set it
if I was sailing the boat.
If this eye comes too low,
the angle on this line in relation to this spectacle here
will be too sharp,
It'll be too sharp going over that corner
and that might chafe, it might wear down the line,
maybe even breaking it,
which is what we definitely want to avoid.
So in this setup, there's minimal chafe,
the eye here is nice and high off the boom,
not any contact with the boom
so there's no damage happening here at all.
Now that we've done our first reef,
we're gonna have a quite a bit more sail coming down
when we do the next two
so I'm just gonna put up the boom bag to catch it all
and keep it looking tidy
but what's happening underneath is exactly the same.
So we've had reef one in, we've been sailing along lovely
but the wind is starting to build
so we need to put the second reef in.
Now this operation is essentially identical
to the first one,
so it's a case of easing off the main,
lowering it down and pulling in on the second reef.
Reefs are very clearly marked, one, two and three
and they're also very different colors
so it's quite easy to tell which one's which.
So to do this operation, we taking the main out of the winch
and I'm easing it down.
Again, what I'll be looking for is the eye on the rig
or if I've already done it before
and I've marked the halyard
the mark will be in the right place,
I'll stop when the mark is just by the clutch
and I'll know I've lowered enough.
Once I've lowered on the main halyard,
I'll then choose reef two which is this green one
and I'll pull in.
So I'll pull in all the slack first.
So then reef two goes in the winch
and I wind on nice and tight.
(winch turning)
Reef two is quite tight and I can see
that the foot of the main is looking quite good
and the leading edge of the sail
is also quite nice and tight,
so let's head up and have a look at how it's worked out.
So here at the front edge of the main sail,
we got the green line here going through the eye,
similar angle to last time through the spectacle
and then down the reefing line goes into the boom
all the way to the back.
So if I just pulled down the boom bag
you'll be able to see here,
there's our reef two line, there's our black eye
on the sail and vertical pulls the sail down,
this one goes back to the back of the boom
which pulls it nice and tight along the foot.
Now that's also perfect.
Nice big gap here at the bottom,
gap's not too big.
Okay, now you might've guessed it,
there's one more to do and that's reef three.
Now I think that we're all getting the hang of it
by this stage
and reef three is exactly the same as reef one and two.
The sail's gonna get even smaller
having taken in now three slabs.
So same as last time, the halyard comes down.
Now during the reef,
as you're dropping the halyard,
the weight of the boom will go onto the topping lift
which is the line that holds the boom up
at the back of the sail.
Now this isn't a problem it's designed to do that,
so the topping lift stops the boom landing on the deck
when the weight is off the halyard.
When you do pull the halyard back on
or when the reefing line goes tight
the weight of the boom will then be hanging off the sail
on the main halyard.
Having loaded the main halyard,
I'll then pull in on reef three.
Again, same as last time,
there'll be a fair bit of slack to pull through,
that's normal, can be quicker to do it by hand
than on the winch.
When it goes stiff we load it on the winch, winch handle in
and we grind away again just like reef two,
until we can feel it getting tight.
Once it's tight we'll go up and have a look
and see that it's all set correctly.
(winch turning)
So at the front of the mast again,
that eye which was probably six or seven meters
up the sail now, it's all the way down here,
so we've lost that much sail off the bottom
through the spectacle, nice angles,
not chafing just like we talked about last time,
all looking very good.
You can see the old reefing line here
which is no longer under tension, that's reef two,
which is now redundant because reef three
has come in above it.
Let's have a look at the back or the stern, I should say.
Again there we go,
reef three looking really nice,
we can see old reef two, now no longer in use
reef three has taken over.
Again pulling down to the boom and pulling back,
tightening that foot really nicely.
Now what we've got here, we've got a main sail
with the luff length which is the forward edge,
the luff is probably half the length it was at full sail
so this is massively reduced.
Not only has it brought the sail down,
the sail gets narrower as it gets to the top
so we've actually probably reduced by kind of up to 70%.
So yeah strong winds sailing,
this is the sail to use.
So thanks for joining us today
on the Inspire and Learn series
looking at the reefing lines on a Lagoon.
We hope it's answered some of your questions,
it is a topic that we talk about a lot,
I think it can be quite a daunting prospect
to a lot of people but it's the kind of thing
that once you do it, practice makes perfect
and it can become quite a familiar exercise
in a range of wind conditions.
So please do give us a like, subscribe on YouTube
it's great to hear your feedback for the videos,
we've had some great responses so far.
If you do have any questions or requests,
do write a comment below
and we'll, myself or Marnie will endeavor to get back to you
as quick as possible.
Thank you very much.
Join us in the next episode
for more inspirational and educational catamaran content
See you then!