Thread: How to: Reefing a Lug sail.

Mik, just wondering, can you setup the lug so that the downhaul also serves the purpose of holding the boom to the mast, much like in the canoe sailing rig? Or will it pull the boom too tight against the square mast?

Hi Nick,
I think - reefing of lugsail is similar to reefing of gaff and bermudian sails - reefpoints are parallel to boom. You need to let a halyard, take a reef and adjust halyard and dawnhaul again. Your rig is similar like this: Goat Island Skiff (GIS) - systems for lug sails and rigs - Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans

Howdy, with yachts you can leave the sail up while you walk around and reef. With small boats it makes much more sense just to drop the whole thing into the boat, reef, slack off the downhaul, rehoist the sail and retighten the downhaul

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by nickpullen

Mik, just wondering, can you setup the lug so that the downhaul also serves the purpose of holding the boom to the mast, much like in the canoe sailing rig? Or will it pull the boom too tight against the square mast?

Hi Nick,

I thought about this too, but the problem is that the tension of the downhaul will prevent the easy adjustment. So that is why the slackish square lashing is best - keep the functions of holding it down and holding it in separate.

The halyard system is great, but don't try to adjust the halyard a half inch while the sailing load is on it.

You can with the downhaul though.

Best wishes
Michael

Hi Everyone,

How about just making a seperate rope to pull both sets of reef points together ( rope would need to divide in 2 to pass through both sets of eyes, and pull them together at the same time ) with an extra cleat attached to the mast to tie it off to ( for both reefed and unreefed positions ).

To make this work you would need to loosen the downhaul first, then lower the yard with the halyard to the expected height when reefing is completed, reposition the reefing line to reef the sail, and then retension the downhaul to complete the setting, you could later unreef the sail with the same method as needed.

The method needed if you do not use a seperate reefing line is similar, but you need to tie each set of the reef points together manually, at best the reefing line would only save a little time ( over this method, and add that much more expense and complication to the rigging ), and may not need to be used often anyway.

Howdy,

It is probably best if the reefing terminates on the boom.

The reason is if it goes to the deck it will change adjustment every time the downhaul is adjusted, the sail is dropped temporarily or if the halyard slips for some reason.

If it terminates on the boom you just have to do it once and all the normal operations of the sail are unaffected.

I did have a play with more complex reefing systems and wasn't very satisfied because of the frictional losses. I think it is worthwhile to have a cheek block on the side of the boom at the ends so a single line to take in the reef at the end of the boom can be done with one tug and cleated and then the other end done the same way as it means you don't have to go right up in the bow of the boat.

Give it a shot though David, it is not terribly expensive to try and you might work something new out.

Best wishes
Michael

OK, Im starting to understand a bit more now... So when I go from full size to reefed, you have to lash the outer reef points back onto the ends of the spar. I imagine that I will have to carry extra line to do this as the bits from the full size boom lashing will be to short as the reef points higher up are closer together. or just make sure the existing corner lashings are long enough for the smallest size reef.

Now for the lashing of the inner reef points, i have seen 3 methods; 1- loose footer, 2- ties are actually sewed into the sail, 3- lace it up like the bottom edge is..

I quite like the tidiness of option 2, as i is less bits of rope to have laying around.

What usually happens on the ends? What knots are best?

Thanks heaps fellas, its great having so many people giving input!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks Michael for your very simple alternative system, which I will give serious consideration to, when I get to the mast and rigging stage of construction.

Being able to reef the sail without leaving the cockpit can be a great advantage in rough weather.

Nickpullen, the simplest way to describe how to use the reef points is, the two eyelets at the front edge of the sail, and the two eyelets at the rear edge of the sail, just get tied into position over one another ( the yard will need to be lowered until these points can be tied together easily ), this creates a pocket of sail ( large area of the middle of the sail ) that is no longer able to catch any wind, and thus reduces the working area of the sail to handle stronger wind conditions.

When using ropes that you can just pull on to get these pairs of eyelets to come together, you would need to tie one end of the rope to each, of just one of each set of eyelets ( the top set or the bottom set ), and have the rope simply pass through the other eyelet of each reefing point pair, by pulling on the rope you will then pull the matching eyelet pairs together, and the rope just needs to be secured to finish the job ! ( you must lower the yard to allow the sail to be retensioned at the new sail size before attempting to move the reefing points together ! ).

Originally Posted by nickpullen

...What knots are best?...

The reef knot, also known as the square knot.

Well.. I thought the Lug rig was going to be easy... Man, those big patches around the throat are a mission to sew on a domestic machine... Just manoeuvring the sail to get it to fit... Never mind the reinforcing patches in the middle of the sail for the reefing eyelets.

But, with the help of my lovely wife, we managed to get it all sewn. I've rigged the boat in the backyard and the Lug rig is so much nicer to setup; I just like the idea of being able to "hoist the main sail" or being able to drop it if I get into trouble... I wanted to test it on the river, but no wind today.... Maybe tomorrow, forecast is for 6km/h

Cheers!

I have a spirit sail that I'll send to any OZ PDR builder in Aus free..... PM me.

Looking forward to a report Nick.

MIK

G'day Nick
If you want to get a bit fancy, this offering from the Dinghy Cruising Association UK
might fit the bill. DCA - A Reefing Refinement

Haven't tried it myself. My little boat is so twitchy there's really no substitute for
dropping the the lot, tying in the reef & re-hoisting. A u-beaut boom-cleated fast
reefing system isn't much use to me, but you might be able to make it work for you.
With practice....

cheers
AJ

Howdy,

hehe ... I like the "with practice".

In a small unballasted boat I would drop it into the cockpit every time.

MIK