I see UK Sails has bought back reefable headsails for those of us who shy away from furlers. More strings to pull.
www.uksailmakers.com/news/2021/5/12/reefable-headsails-perfect-for-shorthanded-sailing?mc_cid=4d09cf58d9&mc_eid=91b84fe6ed

I had a number 2 that reefed down to a 3.
it was quite useful and set very well but it was always easier to drop it tie in the reef and re-hoist.
As it was mostly used upwind dropping it also meant that the boat slowed down to a speed where foredeck work was a lot easier as well.
Definately a better option upwind than a half rolled genoa on a furler.

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Bananabender said..
I see UK Sails has bought back reefable headsails ...

Novel....not a new idea, just reintroduced. I wonder why sailmakers use different cloths for stronger winds, if all you have to do is reduce (by reefing or rolling) the size of the sail? I have yet to see a #1 that is happy to be half rolled and used in winds you wouldn't dare fly the full area in.

Most furlers would be No 2 sails really and with modern sailcloths the weight of the cloth in headsails would cover the whole range.

Just retaking an old idea as back in IOR says there were headsail number restrictions so this got around it
however not great for extended use and do not like big waves
also the loads are all askew

In rapidly changing weather conditions, Kevin reefs and then quickly unreefs his foresail.
Seems to do the job.
gary

Good for #2 to #3.
No good for #1 to #2 ... if you've only got one #1. The heavy clew patch at the reefing point wrecks the sail shape when you pole it out in light winds

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Zailor said..
Good for #2 to #3.
No good for #1 to #2 ... if you've only got one #1. The heavy clew patch at the reefing point wrecks the sail shape when you pole it out in light winds

If the wind is light there would be no need to reef ?

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Craig66 said..

Zailor said..
Good for #2 to #3.
No good for #1 to #2 ... if you've only got one #1. The heavy clew patch at the reefing point wrecks the sail shape when you pole it out in light winds

If the wind is light there would be no need to reef ?

N1 poled out in light air has a heavy reefing clew patch on the leech

Good for #2 to #3.
No good for #1 to #2 ... if you've only got one #1. The heavy clew patch at the reefing point wrecks the sail shape when you pole it out in

If you only have a #1 and you don't like the reefing option, what do you do when the wind picks up?

gary

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garymalmgren said..
Good for #2 to #3.
No good for #1 to #2 ... if you've only got one #1. The heavy clew patch at the reefing point wrecks the sail shape when you pole it out in

If you only have a #1 and you don't like the reefing option, what do you do when the wind picks up?

gary

I didn't say "if you only have a #1"
I said "if you've only got one #1" .... very different ... it in no way suggests you don't have a #2 or #3

Hi Zailor
I apologize for my sloppy reading of your post.

As you say, Very different.

gary

The reef patch on my #1 doesn't do any significant harm to the leach shape. It's not perfect, but it's the sort of thing I'd worry about if I was training 20 hours a week and had spent $600,000 or so on the boat already. For just about anyone else, it's such a tiny issue that it's not really worth worrying about IMHO.

Pain in the butt when you are short handed, but fine with a full crew. I had a reef in the staysail and you kinda feel like inspector gadget doing it solo.
I only did it a few times and hadn't quite worked out a technique. Then I then looked up the saildect data for wind ranges, and found out it was a +40kn configuration, so more of a trysail rig. Rather thankfully I never bothered after that, the staysail was still good near that wind range anyway.
One thing is for sure, I wouldn't want to be doing it singlehanded in really big winds and seas, sounded like a recipe for a major fubar .

I have a #3 that reefs down to a #4 and I absolutely love it. I first reef my main when beating into 18 knots apparent. Then reef the jib at 25 knots apparent. It balances the sails perfectly in those higher winds.
I have just ordered a #1 that will reef down to a #2.

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Chris 249 said..
The reef patch on my #1 doesn't do any significant harm to the leach shape. It's not perfect, but it's the sort of thing I'd worry about if I was training 20 hours a week and had spent $600,000 or so on the boat already. For just about anyone else, it's such a tiny issue that it's not really worth worrying about IMHO.

Either you haven't poled it out in very light winds, or your reef-clew patch is much lighter than mine .... of course it's not relevant if you don't do any "No Extras / No Spinnaker" races because you'd just drop it and pop the kite in those conditions

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Zailor said..

Chris 249 said..
The reef patch on my #1 doesn't do any significant harm to the leach shape. It's not perfect, but it's the sort of thing I'd worry about if I was training 20 hours a week and had spent $600,000 or so on the boat already. For just about anyone else, it's such a tiny issue that it's not really worth worrying about IMHO.

Either you haven't poled it out in very light winds, or your reef-clew patch is much lighter than mine .... of course it's not relevant if you don't do any "No Extras / No Spinnaker" races because you'd just drop it and pop the kite in those conditions

I've certainly poled out in light winds, or maybe my clew patch is lighter.

Just as likely, though, is the fact that if people are just doing non spinnaker races then no one is going to be sailing anywhere near the performance limit of the boat and rig, and therefore whatever performance could be lost by something as tiny as a clew patch issue is utterly irrelevant in many ways.

As noted, before such things become a real issue you have to be sailing at the sort of level of expertise you only get when you are training several days a week and already have significant championship success. The speed you lose would be far less than in stuffing up one roll tack, three seconds of inattention to mainsheet twist at the wrong time, or by not doing enough physical training at the gym or on the bike.