Grand Soleil 40
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Warning and advices
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Taking in a reef is very important as far as safe sailing is concerned. This calls for an
important coordination among the crew members and before starting it is advisable to
determine each crew member’s role.
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Before sailing, it is advisable for the crew to practice taking in a reefs.
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This is even more important especially if some members are not familiar with this kind
of handling.
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Taking in a reef should be done in bad weather conditions. It has to be done swiftly
especially out in the Mediterranean, where weather conditions can change suddenly above
all to avoid damages which may occur for a prolonged mainsail’s flap.
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When you start sailing, it’s advisable to have at least one reef line already run into its
cringle.
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If you are sailing by night, it’s recommended to keep at least one reef ready before sunset.
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To avoid for some crew members to climb dangerously on the boom far aft end, before
hoisting the main sail run small messenger lines into reef clews as follows:
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A messenger between the mainsail’s clew and the cringle’s clew of the first reef.
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A messenger between the cringle’s clew of the first reef and the second one.
When you want to take in a reef, just tie up the end of the reefing line to a messenger: by pulling it
the reefing line will automatically run through next cringle.
This will spare to the crew members very hazardous acrobatic feats.