Reefing the main

The downhaul is at the tack. At the clew you cannot use the usual shackle as you have a rolled up sail in the way. That's where the reefing hook is used.
Why not sail it as a uni? In high winds the jib is what brings the boat about in a tack. Without a jib you would end up coming into irons and backwinding the main. Reversing the boat can be dangerous for the rudder gudgeons in high wind situations and the last thing you need when trying to get in harbor in a blow is losing ground on tacks.
Secondarily you want to reduce the force on the upper part of the mast to decrease the capsizing force. In high winds you have plenty of power down lower, your problem is keeping the boat flat and lowering the center of force on the mast to a lower point decreases the leverage that pushes the boat over to a capsize.

srm, that's why you need the slug, to keep the ring aligned as it would be if the saul was there.
dstgean, ditto above. the slug is what aligns the ring to the hook, it works, I've used it for years.

BLR 0719, sailing upright is the goal. If you like fast and broken and think capsizing is cool, then these posts are not for you.

Reefing is easy but there are limitation that have been covered earlier in this post. Think simple, there is no need to get fancy.

You must reduce sail to a point past the comptip. Lower the sail to this point and mark your reefing points, tack and clew, and several other grommets to secure the unused portion of the sail. Take the marked sail to your local sail loft and have the patches and grommets added to the sail.

Change the halyard line to one with a spectra core. Add a standard horn type cleat to the base of the mast. Mark the halyard to let you know where to cleat it when reefed.

Rig the boat as always. You can reef this system on the water, but as we all know, it is easier to unhook the halyard ring on the beach. The same is true with the clew end of the sail and the lashing of the unused now rolled up sail.

One other point. The new clew is going to be further down the boom so you will have to modify the boom to allow the slider to move to the new clew point. Also note that if the clew is too far towards the mast, there will be leverage placed on the boom (read as potential failure point for the boom). Note this before any modification to the sail is made or any expensive spectra halyard is purchased.

what you describe may work on some boats but I am not confident in the masthead block handling the full force of a downhauled sail. I use a halyard extension to get below the comptip, the slug to position the ring, and stay with the hook. Disadvantage is you have to fully lower the main, add the extension and slug and raise the main again. Not at all convenient.
I found that the sail is at it's most vertical cut at the foot and the outhaul was easily able to adjust to the slightly shorter foot length. At least on the 21SE. The short distance is no issue with boom load, and don't forget the boom is designed to handle the load of the full sail, once reefed the force is reduced considerably by the reduction in sail area. I don't think it's an issue.

Thanks fo the input on how to go about doing this on the 18. I think I'll be adding the spectra strop with the halyard hook alignment being taken care of with a slug. I was wondering of adding slugs to the luff would help the sail to flake over the boom better? As far as the outhaul is concerned, I will have to see how the 18 is set up. If I can use the stock setup, all the better. Either way I'll be getting this set up before the Texas 200. They have a hatful of wind from the south or southwest most days-- see http://www.texas200.com/weather.htm

With the need to get 40 or so miles knocked off each day, I want to have a way to deal with too much or too little wind. I have a cheata motor mount and a 2 hp Merc Mariner for the unlikely event of no wind, and I want a reliable way to deal with too much for comfortable cruising.

Does anyone know how the cheata motor mount can be made to work more smoothly? Mine binds up at the aluminum block that is supposed to vary the height of the bracket. I was thinking of drilling out the pin and replacing it with a bolt, but I will try to lubricate it first.

_________________
Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

Dan,

Have a great time! Looks like a fun race. Thanks for posting the link.

Check Mr. Hatch, from Utah, and his tri...Nice

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

I have a Cheata bracket also, welded, not clamped on my 21SE. I have the Honda 2hp 4 stroke on it, 27 lbs. I found the aluminum pin to be the weakpoint of the system, and yes it does require frequent lube, I use marine grade grease. Be careful about replacing with a bolt unless it's aluminum, you'll get galvanic corrosion, especially if you're in salt water.
Replacing the wimpy pin with a larger dia. aliminum one would be a good move. Be careful when lowering the motor to avoid a dynamic hit on the stop, I noticed the tube on mine has started to compress a bit from banging it down on the stop too much.

mine no longer flip as it is too sticky. I suppose I could grease it like yours--how'd you do it?

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

How did I grease it? Just glopped it in there, nothin' fancy about grease.

Glooped it in where? Mine just has a pin and a block with no real clearance. I could spray a penetrating oil perhaps...but glooped it would just get it everywhere.

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

Definitely do not use penetrating oil!! That stuff is mostly kerosene, an oil solvent. If it's frozen and will not move clean it as best you can then apply a light oil.
Simply work the grease in wherever you can. The block is held with a Allen screw so you should be able to take it apart, clean it, grease the parts then reassemble. But any amount of grease will help. The white litium grease in aerosol cans is OK but does not last very long.
This is a high load, low speed friction, it calls for heavy grease.
Yup, it will get on places you don't want it, like your shorts. Just clean up after you've glopped it in there.