Main reefing

Looking through all the posts on reefing the main it appears there is no way to do it. The main has eyelets for this purpose, but no catch lower down on the mast - unlike the 2 slugs on the H16.

If one made a wire link (pigtail) similar to aussie conversion on H16, from the ring down to the main approx the same height as the reefed section, would that work?

Anybody have any experience/ideas.

Thanks

Dave

Instead of trying to manufacture a new halyard, just furl the jib. Were you thinking of reefing the main and furling the jib.....If it's blowing hard enough to need that, you'd best be putting the boat on the trailer. Or, make sure there is a Hobie dealer nearby, cuz you're going to be needing new parts. I don't recall my 18 having reefing points...if yours does is it an after market sail?

The wire pigtail idea is something that has been discussed here. I think it would probalby work, but there would be some issues that would at least make it somewhat inconvienent. First, you would have to fully lower the sail in order to install or remove the pigtail. So it would be difficult to put in or take out the reef while on the water. Also, since the ring would no longer be directly connected to the sail, I think it would have a tendency to rotate out of alignment and make it difficult to hook and unhook. So you might have to flip the boat on its side to take the sail up or down. The last issue is that if you have a comptip, you'll most likely need to install a second aluminum luff track in the area where the head of the sail ends up. Otherwise, it will most likely pull out when you sheet in the main.

sm

Biggest concern is the plastic CompTip track. If the mast is aluminum it is less of an issue, but on the plastic track... the full hoist and hooked in to the halyard lock keeps the sail head in the track. On the 21 Sport Cruiser we added a section of metal track at the reef point to handle that.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank you for your replies, unfortunately I did not realise that the 18 had a comptip mast as I had never seen one on an 18.

The mast is aluminium and the sail appears to be a Hobie sail, did not think it was an aftermarket one, will check more thoroughly on the coming weekend. Did notice the sailmakers badge, but didn't actually pay attention to it.

I sail on an inland dam where once out we do not have much warning to increasing wind levels until it arrives, I set out in 15 to 20 knots and was hammered with winds up to 42 knots. No atheists on the dam at that time.

Had only used the main, jib was not on due to furler issues. My weight is only 185 pounds and sailing solo, hence the reasoning behind reefing. Found that I could sail the H16 quicker with main reefed in high winds, so tried to apply the same logic to the 18, and to prevent excess wear etc. Had depowered the main before leaving shore.

Update - the sail is not a genuine Hobie. Having the 'H' on does not guarantee it being genuine. Have since acquired the genuine main.

Thank you for your replies.

Okay, now that you have that resolved will you come out and race with us?

My attempt at racing last weekend, ended in shambles when I aborted the race/s due to favourable wind conditions 15+ knots, instead of tacking just kept on going etc. Maybe with other 18's instead of 20, H14 and H16 would make a difference.

Had the misfortune of allowing a Prindle 18 to beat me, in light and heavy wind - methinks it's the skipper not the boat. In my defence the mainsheet ratchet was not holding. (Always a boat or part failure not human)

To answer your question, it would be a pleasure to, but I reside in South Africa. Would love to see the mods done to an 18 by 'ncmbm' etc. Seeing the videos of the sizes of some fleets it would be amazing.

At present our winds are ranging from 7 to 15 knots average and then gusts up to 40+ knots. Temp range from 17 to 33 deg. (62 to 91) The weather should be like this for the next week or two.


Thanks guys