Joe, Interesting that catamaran sailors "park" whereas we "heave to". Must be a monohull thing. I have only done the maneuver a couple of times on the 17, but I seem to recall that it was straightforward to sheet the main hard on a port tack, then bring it up through the wind to backwind the jib, and tie the tiller back to port. The question is whether the main will be slack enough to drop in a reef or two. I sure wish I had the boat in the water to check it out. Seeing as how my boat forereaches rather emphatically while anchored in stiff winds, I still think it might be possible to heave to with the jib rolled up. Gotta try that too. There have been times on my larger boat when I did not want to round up to reduce sail (stiff tradewinds, big following seas, etc.), so I managed to reef by cranking the boom part way in, raising the topping lift a bit, and doing the job. I was glad to have the reefing lines led to mid-cockpit on the boom, as Doug suggests. It is tricky, though, to have the boom inboard on a run, unless someone is on the tiller. Must try this trick on the Monty. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On Dec 12, 2009, at 1:07 PM, Joe Murphy wrote:
I've been reading this thread about reefing while hove to and I'm a tad confused. I had always thought the best way to reef is at a point that the mainsail has little or no wind in it such as nose into the wind. Plus the only time I was successful in heaving to (or is that hoving to..??) I had the main trimmed down the center line and tight with the jib backwinded. It takes me quite a while to heave to and by the time I get it balanced I could have reefed in a fraction of the time. When I reef I've just kind of headed into the wind and take the pressure off the main and reef it down as quickly as possible and then come back off the wind. I'm always looking for tips to improve reefing and heaving to so this sounds like something I could benefit from with a little more understanding. But like I said, I'm a tad confused. Thanks much, Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Kelch" <doug_kelch@yahoo.com> To: "Montgomery" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 3:50 PM Subject: M_Boats: Reefing arrangements
Rick had mentioned that he reefs while hove to.
I do the same and find it very efficient. To do this though the boom is outboard of the cockpit and I but a turning block just aft of the reefing clew in order to lead the reefing line foward along the boom so that I am not leaning outboard of the boat while reefing.
So my reefing clew arrangement is a line from a pad eye on the port side through the reefing clew, to turning block on starboard and then forward to a small horn cleat about 3 feet aft of the mast.
When the boat is hove to the boat is far more stable than trying to head into the wind and everything works smoother so that I am comfortable with just a reefing hook at the gooseneck.
Thanks
Doug Kelch "Seas the Day" M15 #310 G
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