Reefing Systems for a Gunter Rigged BR20

[Graham W]

Does anyone have a clever idea about what to do with the tail end of a modified jib outhaul on a BR20?  Jonathan's BRe modification has it leading over the top of the cabin roof into a rope clutch.  The BR20 doesn't have a roof and its spray hood would be in the way of similar positioning.

[Peter Cockerton]

Graham

This is my attempt to get the main halyard and the topping lift into the cockpit so I can drop the main without dropping the spray hood. I have routed the lines round a block secured at the bottom of the tabernacle and then through the small cutout in the spray hood. Yes the lines do rub a little on the spray hood and I will need to put some protectors on the coming but so far in garden sailing it does work. If the spray hood does show rubbing wear i will get it slightly modified to resolve it.

Peter C

[Peter Cockerton]

If it helps Graham this is how the yard routed my jib drum line to support reefing and furling without dropping the spray hood

[Graham W]

Clever!

I've just tried something a bit similar, using low friction eyes on strops, existing bullseye fairleads and jamming cleats (to avoid drilling any more holes).  The results were disappointing.  I don't know whether I've got too much friction in the experimental BRe type system but I found it much easier to get the back of the jib boom off the deck with the existing jib outhaul, without the benefit of mechanical advantage.

Back to the drawing board.

[Graham W]

I'm going to have a go at slab reefing the aft part of my gunter-rigged mainsail, using this and subsequent postings as a guide https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,821.msg5030.html#msg5030.

Having read up on the subject (well, what else is there to do?), it seems that the reefing lines should be on the starboard side of the boom, so that you're on a starboard tack while you're fiddling about;  and the lines should be led forward to cleats near the mast.  The problem with my current system of hooking and unhooking the cringles at the aft end of the boom is that if you forget to pull in the mainsheet, you may find yourself catapulted over the side.

There was a complaint somewhere on the forum that reefing often resulted in dangling string misery.  I don't know how well it would work on a gunter BR20 but I came across a 1990's idea by Roger Barnes reprinted here https://woodenboat.org.au/rogers-reefing-refinement/.

[Graham W]

During lockdown I decided that I would try to install slab reefing on the leech of my gunter-rigged BR20 mainsail.  More than three years later, I have finally got around to doing something about it.  I have been spurred on by a near-MOB incident in the Hebrides when I was trying to secure a violently flapping clew while reefing down in a squall.  Those of you with the Bermudan rig are spared such dramas.

Jonathan Stuart mentioned a helpful article in the DCA magazine.  Written by Roy Downes in issue 219 (Summer 2013), it relates to bringing the lugsail into the 21st century.  As Jonathan said at the time, it is full of good ideas, particularly on reefing, that could equally be applied to other sails.

One of the ideas is to have a single reefing line running down the starboard side of the leech, instead of one line for each leech reefing point which runs down either side of the sail and under the boom and involves a spectacular amount of string.  As discussed here https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,3581.msg19404.html#msg19404.

The top of the single reefing line would be tied permanently to the leech cringle at the second reefing point.  The attachment to the first reef leech cringle would be a temporary "Dutch shackle", or at least that's what Downes calls it. This will be easier to photograph (in due course) than describe but in summary a loop of the reefing line is passed through the cringle from starboard to port.  The top end of a short piece of thick rope is sewn on to the port side of the sail and the bottom end is passed through the loop, stopping it from pulling back out of the cringle.  If you want to do a second reef, pull the thick line out of the loop and the reefing line is then released from the first cringle, directly attaching it to the second.  The reefing line would then in either case pass down through a low friction eye or cheek block on the starboard side of the sprit boom and thence to a cleat of some sort at the forward end of the boom.

Can anyone think of any reason why this wouldn't work?  It might not be as tidy at the aft end of the sail compared to conventional slab reefing but would avoid the risk of sail leech MOB misery and would also mean that the outhaul at the sail clew could remain attached throughout.  If it worked really well, I might also try this Dutch shackle idea on the mainsail luff reefing points, although it would mean abandoning two of the luff parrel bead strops securing the sail to the mast.

The second idea in the Downes DCA article is probably worth considering by more than just owners of gunter-rigged boats.  There are many complaints on the forum about dangling string from the mainsail and boom, especially the bits associated with reefing.  Downes suggests a length of bungee cord wrapped around the boom several times at the forward end, to produce a long spiral.  Spare string can be tucked into this spiral once the reefing and outhaul lines are secured, thus keeping them out of the way.

[Graham W]

This post will probably only be of interest to the dwindling minority of BR20 sailors with the elegant gunter rig.

After a very long gestation, I have finally installed slab reefing on the leech of my gunter mainsail.  This involves an L-shaped single line, a "Dutch shackle" and two Dyneema soft shackles incorporating low friction rings, attached around the sprit boom directly below each of the leech reefing cringles.  Annotated photo 1 below.

The single reefing line attaches to the second reef cringle on the leech, then down to the first reef cringle where it is held in place through the cringle by a "Dutch shackle" (photo 2 below).  This is just a loop of the slab reefing line passed through the cringle from starboard to port and held in place by a short length of thickish rope inserted into the loop on the port side to prevent it from coming out of the cringle.  The little red line is a reminder of where on the slab reefing line the loop should be made.  From there the line passes down to an aft low friction ring soft shackle and then forward through the ring of an identical forward soft shackle (photo 3).  Finally through a Clamcleat to a bullhorn cleat.

This set-up has a number of advantages in addition to speeding up reefing (and unreefing):
* It avoids the messy business of unhooking the outhaul from one cringle on the clew and trying to reattach it to the next cringle up, while the boat rocks and the sail flaps about madly.  This nearly tipped me overboard off Barra this summer.
* The outhaul can be left alone entirely, which also avoids having to deal with the spare aft flappy bit once the foot of the reefed sail has been rolled up
* There is no need to tighten the topping lift prior to reefing - in its relaxed sailing position it still does a pretty good job of supporting the sprit boom at a working height once the yard has been dropped and while adjustments are being made (photo 4)
*  It automatically corrects reefer's droop to which gunter-rigged sprit booms are prone
*  It requires less string than you might expect.

Once the gunter yard and sail have been dropped into the double topping lift, putting in a first reef in the leech is a simple process of pulling in the slab reefing line until it won't go any further.  To progress from the leech first reef to the second, release the loop in the first reef cringle by pulling out the bit of rope making up the Dutch shackle and then let go the aft soft shackle.  The leech second reef cringle is then directly connected by the slab reefing line to the forward soft shackle.  The line can then gather up the leech all the way to the second reef (photo 5). 

The mainsail still has to be dropped on reefing to change the attachment position of the main halyard on the gunter yard.  Up to now, this involved tying it in its new position.  I've now speeded up this process by installing Clamcleat Q-Loks at the two halyard reefing positions.  See photo 6 below.

In theory, a second separate slab reefing line could be intalled on the mainsail luff, also incorporating a Dutch shackle.  However, unlike leech reefing, that part of the unmodified reefing process is relatively simple and can mostly be dealt with while seated safely in the cockpit, as can rolling up of the foot of the reefed sail.  Otherwise there would probably be too much string!

The gunter rig has a number of advantages but reefing is its Achilles Heel, involving more steps than on the BR American/Bermudan rig.  Anything that makes it quicker, simpler and safer is worth doing, within reason.

[garethrow]

Thanks for this Graham

I do miss having the gunter rig that I had for years on our Storm 17 but reluctantly went for the Bermudan rig on our BR20  for ease of reefing - which I have had cause to be grateful for on a number of occassions. Had I seen this type of set up prior to purchsae - it may have changed my mind, particulalry if read in conjunction with Roger Barnes' suggestiong for rigging gunter yards for ease of reefing (Dinghy Cruising Companion II). He has a solution in there which involves the gunter yard effectively being on a track so that one just needs to lower the halyard a little to take in a reef without re attaching the halyard - as per a Bermudan slab reef system. I don't remember the details of this now - but they are in his book.

I a not a particular fan of the carbon masts. After 4 years mine is begining to dteriorate so have started to investigate painting options - made more difficult by the demise of most two pack paint systems and a dearth of experience amongst retailers as to what to paint carbon fiber with. I think I have a solution now but will wait until I have tried it before posting more.

Regards

Gareth Rowlands
GRP BR20 Halen Y Mor ex S17 Gwennol Teifi

[Graham W]

Gareth,

I immediately went to find my old copy of Barnes. He may have updated it with more and better suggestions in his second edition but Barnes's first edition of 'The Dinghy Cruising Companion' also deals with ways of reefing the gunter mainsail luff.  He says that there are three versions:
1. Traditional, which is the simple way that we do it but which requires the gunter yard to be dropped to change the attachment position of the main halyard
2. A main halyard fixed near the yard jaws, plus a peak halyard shackled to a saddle that slides up and down a wire fixed to the face of the yard.  This means that the yard doesn't need to be dropped but it's difficult to keep the peak tight to the mast
3.  Same as 2 but there is a track on the forward face of the yard instead of the wire.  Because of the track, the head of the sail has to be secured into a groove on the aft face of the yard, as this system is incompatible with traditional sail lacing.

Having two halyards and the other complications don't really appeal.  The double topping lift makes it easy to drop the yard without getting in a mess, so I'll be sticking with the traditional but streamlined way of doing things until something better comes along.

If bad weather is expected, it's possible to avoid luff reefing complications by foregoing the gunter yard altogether and using a smaller mainsail - see https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,763.0.html.

I agree with you about carbon masts.  Now that my wooden mast has been fully restored by nearby experts after thirteen years of hard use, I'm glad that I've still got it.  It looks better than carbon, is easier to attach fittings to and (maybe) is less prone to various potential failures.  Carbon still has its place - my plank bowsprit and sprit boom are wood but my gunter yard, jib boom and mizzen mast are all carbon.

[MarkF]

Hi Graham,
as a relative novice at gunter reefing, I am keen on your idea in order to avoid some of the canvas comedy I've subjected passers-by to previously when reefing.  Although we don't have a topping lift due to having a carbon mast, which I'm reluctant to drill holes into.

From your description, it seems the traditional outhaul is only useful with full sail.  Reefs #1 & #2 use your new mechanism.  If I have understood the photos correctly, it seems that you then lose the 2:1 purchase (and load distribution) of the pully in the outhaul.  All the force is applied through the screw holding on the low-friction eye. 

As the problem to solve is the difficulty getting the outhaul to the next cringle, I have drawn an idea based heavily on how I think your boat was rigged and your new method. It's basically an inhaul for the outhaul. I've done this to try limit the number of holes I may drill in the boom!

It only requires a couple of pieces of string, one low-friction eye and a clam cleat (optional horn cleat may be needed too).

The idea is the string goes through the cringles with the magic string shackle, exactly as you described.  Once at the outhaul, it runs through a low friction loop next to the main outhaul snap-shackle and forward to a clam cleat, near the original outhaul cleat. 

When reefing, slacken the outhaul, pull in the new piece of string and then clip the snap shackle to the next cringle.  The original outhaul is still in charge of the clew.
If you are having some drama, there's no need to unclip the original cringle. In fact, the new rope would temporarily serve as an outhaul until everything has calmed down .

This is an armchair design, I've not tested it, so there may be issues!  I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks it would work as expected. Hopefully the picture is clearer than the description.

[Graham W]

Mark,

I wish that I could draw like that!  Your illustrations are like the ones that you see at the back of PBO in Dick Everitt's Sketchbook.

As I understand it, your principal concern is that under my setup, you lose the outhaul block's 2:1 purchase on the clew when reefed. And are instead relying solely on a screw at each reefing soft shackle to counter the forward forces on the reefed clew.  You're not concerned with the distribution of the upward forces because the soft shackles, wrapped fully around the boom, distribute them efficiently.

I'd say that my setup loses some but not all of the 2:1 purchase of the full outhaul on the clew, as the unreefed clew is still under tension from the outhaul, which hasn't been touched at all in the reefing process.  If reefing induces any slack, it's possible to tighten the outhaul a bit further to redistribute that part of the load.  So when you pull on the single slab reefing line, most of the force is exerted downward, not outward.

In addition, a stainless lashing button (see attached photo) is fixed with a long screw to the starboard side of the boom for each of the soft shackles.  This stops any further tendency for the shackles to slide forward when reefed. 

None of this is entirely clear from the photos and hasn't been tested in a storm but I'm confident that the loss of some of the ouhaul's 2:1 purchase is outweighed by the benefit of not having to grapple with hooks on the clew.

By the way, you don't necessarily have to drill anything to install a double topping lift on a gunter carbon mast - you could fix one side of the string to the shroud shackle, for example, and suspend a small block from the shackle on the other side.  I think that like the tiller tamer, I couldn't sail solo without a topping lift.

[MarkF]

Thank you, high praise indeed. Although too generous - I was just after an excuse to use my kids' colouring pens;)

Yes, main concerns were forces on the boom and trying to avoid drilling extra holes.

I'm not convinced the original outhaul will reduce the load much when reefed. Also, without the loop around the boom, the loading is closer to 45 degrees, so increases. I think 2x is likely. Although this maybe perfectly fine, of course.

By using the inhaul to bring the outhaul to the cringle, you avoid having to go near the end of the boom. Although this could also be achieved by pulling the sail!

[MarkF]

Thank you for the suggestion about the topping lift. I'll have a go at rigging it. The crew will no longer require hard hats when I lower the sail!

[Graham W]

Mark,

I can see what you are trying to achieve with your version of the slab reefing system.  I don't have the visual or drawing skills to undertake armchair rigging so in a brief improvement in the weather I went into the garden to experiment with the real thing. 

I had some requirements that I don't think are covered by your scheme but have come up with a hybrid of our respective designs that I hope will satisfy both of us. It addresses your concerns about the outhaul by reversing the direction of horizontal pull of the slab reefing line, as in your design.  I'm still trying to avoid clew hooking and unhooking, which nearly tipped me over the side earlier this year.  For the same reason I also don't want to have to deal with the flappy bit of the clew once I've reefed.  The fewer string adjustments needed when reefing, the better.  Annotated photo 1 is the resulting hybridisation.  Photos 2 and 3 show the first and second reefs in position.

In summary, the single slab reefing line still reefs the leech, permanently attached to the second reefing cringle on the leech and attached to the first reefing cringle by a swiftly detachable Dutch/Magic shackle.  Reefing is still achieved by pulling the slab reefing line forwards through a Clamcleat on the sprit boom.  However, the line now runs aft to a low friction ring attached by a new soft shackle to the outhaul block (photos 4 and 5, starboard and port close-ups), so that there is now more 2:1 purchase tension applied aftwards through the outhaul.  The fixed lacing buttons are still required to prevent the boom soft shackles sliding about, but towards the aft this time instead of forward.  The only other change is that when putting in the second reef from the first, it's necessary to attach the loose forward soft shackle to the boom.  Previously the aft soft shackle had to be undone at this stage.  With the boom mainsheet attachment being in the way, there was always going to need to be some sort of adjustment to the soft shackles to allow jumping from first to second reef.

I don't feel the need to unhook and re-hook the outhaul on the cringles when changing reefs, as the clew attachments and soft shackle low friction rings are strong enough to do the job on their own.  So as before, there is no need to release the main outhaul (or indeed the topping lift) and no need to deal with the potentially embarrassing clew tail, as in the final attached photo (thanks for exposing me to ridicule Susie!).

First reef takes me less than two minutes solo and first to second reef about the same.  This is a lot quicker than it used to take but of course still more than with the Bermudan/American rig.  Unreefing is also faster.  Second reef to no reef is even faster if you don't bother to reinstate the positions of the forward soft shackle and Dutch/Magic shackle and haven't previously rolled up the foot of the sail for first reef.

I'm still expecting someone to come along and point out a fundamental flaw in this hybrid but at the moment I can't see one.  I'm pleased with the way a bit of forum debate can result in real improvements to the boat's rigging, particularly in such an important safety area as reefing.  It's just a shame that there are so few gunter rig hard-liners out there who could benefit from this modification.

[MarkF]

Hi Graham,

thanks for the detailed explanation.  Yet again I am in awe at the intricate dyneema splicing you achieve!
The solution you have come up with looks good, so at least the load and control is managed by the one outhaul line.

I think that, by leading the reefing line forwards through the eye, you are still doubling the force applied to the outhaul block over just clipping on the clew. But it is the more secure place to distribute the loading.
I don't see how you can have any sort of pulley mechanism forward to the boom without increasing the loading on the outhaul.  The suggestion I made has the same problem, but it's only meant to be temporary, until the new cringle loop can be attached.
Of course, I don't know if this will be a problem in reality. The attachment points on the boom may be strong enough.

By the way, it did occur to me that the reason we are trying to solve the difficulties of clipping the outhaul to the cringle is just because the boom is moving around in rolling seas (I assume that's what nearly knocked you over?).
One solution is to stop the boom moving.
By getting a length of rope with loops in both ends and a hook in the middle (and perhaps a length of shock cord as a snubber), you could chuck the loops over the stern mooring cleats, clip the middle to the mainsheet shackle on the boom and, hey-presto, the boom will stay amidships while stuff is clipped and unclipped. Possibly even stable enough to use as a support whilst standing.