[Public-List] roller furling

[Don Campbell]

Sorry John.
     I do not have reef points  parallel to the foot on any of my 
foresails but commonly, some  think one could "reef" by rolling some 
sail area onto the foil which, in my opinion,  is just not sailing 
because of distorted draft position and a terrible entry with that mass 
of cloth on the foil, so never contemplated here. Best have a good 
cunningham if you are decreasing the luff though, and a way of 
transferring the load at the clew to a clew higher up the sail than the 
bottom clew on the foot. That shift may also necessitate changing track 
position to the inside one as well, so a second set of sheets.
     Again, if you set up for it that way, it is do-able, but not 
without thought and expense somewhere, including a heavier cloth,  so a 
decision to abort performance and speed  in lighter air for getting 
there safely, always the only decision for the conditions to be sailed in.
Don

On 3/11/2011 5:21 PM, John Riley wrote:
> Don Campbell wrote:
>>      you never sail with any reef in the foresail.
> Hmmm.  Does that statement really apply to ANY foresail, or just roller
> sails?
>
> I know several people on cruising boats with reefable hank-on headsails
> and they swear by them.  These sails were designed to be reefed by the
> saillmaker, so reefing them is not an afterthought; they came with reef
> points, not unlike a reefable main.
>
> I don't know that there are many 'absolutes' when it comes to sailing,
> sail boats or sailors...
>

 1299887718.0