In-mast stowing and reefing


Many larger yachts stow and reef their mainsails by rolling them into the mast. Although thoroughly effective in removing all traces of the sail and making reefing simple and easy, these often demand that the boat be head-to- wind for the sail to be rolled, which may not be convenient if manoeuvring adventurously. Another drawback is that the sail cannot use conventional fore-and-aft battens to maintain a leech roach. Lack of roach de-powers it and, to the informed eye, does not look right, although some creative sailmakers have addressed the question by experimenting with vertical battens. It is not unknown for an in-mast mainsail to fold its leech over as it is drawn into the mast in heavy weather. The double thickness of canvas then catches in the groove through which the sail is furled, jamming with the sail half-rolled. A further disadvantage is that the full weight of the sail and all its gear is permanently aloft, even when stowed to some extent adversely affecting stability. In cases where this may be important because of the nature of the vessel’s work, it is vital that enquiries are made with the designer before fitting such a system or at least before proceeding to sea in potentially testing conditions. Despite all the negative factors, the sheer saving of manpower has found these


systems an appropriate place among very large yachts and in smaller craft whose crews do not wish to go on deck to handle sails.


In-boom stowing and reefing


In-boom stowing and reefing rolls the mainsail into the boom itself. It presents a number of technical difficulties, often surrounding the kicker which must be fixed, but if it works well it has several advantages over in-mast systems. • The moving parts are essentially the same as in-mast systems except that they are in the boom, so they can be reached more readily if anything should fail.


• If the system melts down completely, you can always ease away on the halyard and dump the sail on deck.


• There is nothing to stop the sail from being cut with a full roach for power and appearance.


• Weight is kept low, so there are no stability issues.


Asymmetric downwind sails Head Leech Luff


Clew Foot Tack Clew outhaul Reefing line


The problem of lack of apparent wind when sailing to leeward has long been addressed by large, light-weight sails. In the 1990s, these developed away from the balloon spinnaker with its complicated poles and potentially dramatic handling characteristics and moved towards the so-called ‘asymmetric’ downwind sails. These can be very large - sometimes called a ‘gennaker’ - but smaller versions known as cruising chutes are more common. These sails can be set from a short carbon fibre bowsprit, but most cruising yachts tack them down as far forward as possible on the foredeck itself. Although an asymmetric can be set flying, various systems exist to control them, the most popular is the ‘snuffer’.


26 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


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