My "horn", which is no more than a reefing hook, is piggy-backed on the screw that bolts the boom to the gooseneck on the starboard side. I have a reefing line from the aft end of the boom through the leach cringle down to a turning block and cleat on the starboard side of the boom. My reefing procedure is to heave to with the jib backed on the starboard side, which calms thing down a lot even in a good blow. I want to work from the starboard side since both the main halyard cleat and the reefing cleat and block are on the starboard side of the mast and boom respectively. Hove to, and standing in the companionway with one foot on the step and the other on the aft end of the v berth, things are pretty stable while easing the halyard, hooking the luff cringle, and recleating the halyard and it's easy to work with two hands. Then I can move aft and cleat down the reefing line on the leach. Now it's ready to go, after the reefing ties are made fast. That said, in dusty conditions the overriding rule is always one hand for the boat and one for yourself! Rick M-17 #633 Lynne L On Dec 10, 2009, at 5:39 PM, Tom Jenkins wrote:
Bill,
I'm not sure what a gooseneck horn is, but I presently have a large stainless reefing hook on the starboard end of the clevis pin through the tack cringle. I rigged a short tag of line through each reef cringle, with a monkey's fist on one end to hold it in the cringle, and a loop on he other end to throw over the hook. This works fine, and is easier than working cringles over the hook, but it is slower to shake out a reef than I would like. I am planning on putting a small cheek block with becket on either side of the boom just behind the gooseneck fitting, with jam cleats a foot or so aft. The two reefing lines will run from the opposite becket, through the reef cringle, down to the block, and back to the jam cleat. The aft reefing lines will be similar, but the lines will be anchored on eyestraps opposite. Lucky me, I will get to try the system out at Havasu in February, but I still don't think the halyard setup on the mast is optimal. It would be nice to run the main halyard through a spring-loaded turning block at the mast base, and back to a winch on the cabin top, but it is harder to rig at the ramp, and the cabin-top geometry runs a line over the hatch, if I recall correctly. Let's face it: fiddling with rigging is half the fun on days when the boat sits on a trailer.
Tom
M17 hull 626 (must have been in the mold when yours went out the door).
On Dec 10, 2009, at 2:22 PM, Bill Wickett wrote:
Rick,
Where have you mounted the gooseneck horn. Our boat does not have any reefing lines rigged and that is #2 on the list for spring.
Thanks,
Bill Wickett M17 #622
On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 4:42 PM, Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com> wrote:
Tom,
Why do you have to cleat it with one hand? After hooking the luff cringle over the gooseneck horn, (or cleating off the jiffy reefing line, if you happen to have one), there should be two hands available to tension and cleat the halyard.
Rick M-17 #633 Lynne L
On 12/10/09, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote:
I wonder if anyone out there has replaced the main halyard cleat with a large jam cleat (or even a cam cleat) to facilitate the reefing process. I find it cumbersome to reach out from the cockpit with one hand and cleat the halyard off while trying to keep it taut. Am I missing something that might make a regular cleat the only choice?
Thanks, Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla
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