Reefing H18

Searching through older posts I have seen suggestions to tie off the halyard, or use a wire pigtail or
strap extension to allow hooking the halyard to the reefed sail, or rigging a 2 to 1 halyard. I will be
using an H18 mast (non comp-tip), boom, and sails on a small trimaran and I need at least 1 reef point.
Are there any drawbacks to riveting a second halyard hook lower down the mast? Will it chew up the sail?
Otherwise would the 2 to 1 halyard be the next best option? Thanks,
JT

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Enjoy every sandwich- Zevon

If you're rigging a H18 mast to something like a Tremolino or Farrier, a second lower halyard hook sounds like trouble. If you have the need to reef, you'd have the need to lower the main conveniently and quickly. The lower hook will indeed chafe the sail. Try looking into a line clutch to hold the halyard. With a 3/8 dia. halyard you should be able to mount the clutch to the mast without issue. If you are not critical about mast rotation then deck mounting the clutch is even better.

My other race ride is a J109, 36+' length with a stick 58' high off the water. The only thing holding up that big main is a good clutch on the halyard.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

The problem with using the halyard to hold the sail up rather than the hook is that it means you've got about 30' of stretchy, springy line that you're trying to use to hold the sail in a fixed position. Every time you sheet in or try to tension the downhaul, the halyard will stretch and you won't be able to maintain decent sail shape.

I also agree that adding a second hook to the mast will likely damage the sail. One thought might be to actually have a sail maker cut out the section of sail that would contact the second hook so that when the mast rotates, the hook actually passes cleanly through the sail. Then have them heavily reinforce around the hole so that the sail is still able to carry the load around the hole. I would think something like a 3" wide by 8" long vertical slot. Not sure if it would work or not though, it might also turn into a fluttering mess.

sm

I think the best option is the wire pigtail. This would require lowering the main to install the pigtail. This would be to have a 4'-6' pigtail that would have the aussie ring on top and shackle for top of sail on bottom. I am only saying 4'-6' to get below the comp-tip. You said you have a non comp-tip mast, therefore your length could be any interval you want.

Most if not all of the main halyard stretch is elminated and the other forces are same as mast and rigging was designed to take.

He said he has a non-comptip mast, so he doesn't need to get below the comptip...he doesn't have one. It shouldn't really matter anyway, if someone wanted to reef on a comptip mast, they would just need to replace the plastic luff track with a section of alumunium luff track at the location where the head of the sail ends up in the reefed position, no need to get below the comptip. Also, the comptip is closer to 8 feet, not 4 to 6 feet, so if you reefed below it, you would be taking out a heck of a lot of sail area.

The only real issue I could see with using a pigtail (other than having to fully lower the sail to use it) is that the halyard ring won't have the sail there to hold it in alignment relative to the mast when trying to latch the ring on the hook. I think this could potentially make hooking and un-hooking difficult.

sm

I'll try out the pigtail solution, but using dyneema with a bowline at the top for attaching to the schacle on aussie ring and aothe rschacel at the lower end of the dyneema pig tail to be attached to the top of the main. Will post more info. and pics of the result in a cpiple of weeks.

/Johannes

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HC 18F 1160 (European built with Magnum wings)

The hobie 16 accomplishes this with a second barrel on the halyard wire. It would seem unlikely that a pigtail would work, at minimum you would need to lower the sail and rehoist to change it from reefed to un-reefed. I would lean more toward a steel or dyneema halyard with a clutch or jamb cleat. This would give an unlimited reef option and on a solid mast the sail will not pull out so the ring attachment is not as critical. This needs to be adjustable with the sail up to be worthwhile and the halyard is the only way I can see to do it. No combo of additional hooks, rings or pigtails will work IMO.

Anyone with experience of how to get rid of the extra sailcloth when reefing. In my own set-up there are additional reefing eyelets above the tack and the clew, but none in between for tying up the excess sailcloth. I'm not sure I want to put such in as it would have negative effect (even only a minor) the other 95% of the time when I go sailing. Any suggestions on solutions?

/Johannes

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HC 18F 1160 (European built with Magnum wings)

Adding three or four grommets to the body of the sail for reefing purposes is not likely to have any noticable effect on performance. I can't think of a cleaner way to do it. Just make sure you have the sailmaker install reinforcement patches before putting in the grommets.

There was a company, Mulit-Sail, that built windsurfing sails with a removable zipper panel for reefing (also built sails for the Hobie Wave & Trifoiler). You might be able to have a sailmaker do something similar, but such a modification might very well cost as much as the value of your sail. Really, the grommets are the way to go.

sm