Reefs
18.
3
Grand Soleil 43'
«
Lettin out a reef …
Caution: the third reef (Opt) has no stopper on the deck house and
therefore it will be sent back to the available winch, unless you
decide to take out one unused and run the third reef line into that
stopper before the manoeuvre.
Warning notices and advice
• Taking in a reef is very important as far as safety while navigating
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.
• Before sailing, it is advisable that the crew practice taking in reefs
on a regular basis.
• And this must be highlighted particularly if some crew members
are not familiar with sail handling.
• Taking in a reef should be done in bad weather or just before. It has
to be done swiftly especially out in the Mediterranean, where
weather conditions can change suddenly.
• When you start sailing, it is advisable to have at least one reef
handy and already run into the clew of the reef.
• If you are sailing at night, it is highly recommended to have at least
one reef ready before sunset.
• In order to avoid that some crew members climb dangerously on
the far aft end of the boom, before hoisting the main sail run small
messenger lines into reef clews as follows:
- a messenger between main sail clew and clew hole of the first
reef.
- a messenger between the clew of the first reef and that of the
second one.
- a messenger between the clew of the second reef and that of the
third one.
When you want to take in a reef, just tie up the end of the reef line to
a messenger: by pulling the latter the reef line will automatically run
through the hole. This will spare crew members very hazardous
acrobatic feats.
Messengers
*
*
*
*
Messengers to
facilitate the setting
of the reef lines
through the clews.
