DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

I used to think that I won’t ever need the third reef on the main unless I am racing or something – if you get into a gale just drop the main and motor or wait it out. After last weekend's sail though I think I want to explore this. We had 35kt sustainable puffs and pretty choppy sea. The main was on the second reef. In these condition sailing was fun (with 3 people), but we had a bit too much sail and had to steer for survival rather than speed. We would’ve gone faster with the third reef. And on the drive back I crossed a floating bridge (Steve B – the Hood Canal bridge) that acted as a very effective break wave, on its leeward side there were no white caps for a mile – imagine sailing on flat water in 35 knots! So I definitely want to do this again.

My first two reefs are set up for single line reefing like most DFs I imagine. The mainsail has the tack and clew blocks attached for the third reef, but there is no track in the mast for a third reefing line, nor is there an extra clutch for it. And I wouldn’t want the third line cluttering the main at all times anyway.

So the question is – how do I set up manual lines for the third reef? What do you hook the tack reef line too? Clew line is even more complex because it needs to be tensioned after the tack was hooked up and the luff was tightened with the main halyard – how do you set up some kind of purchase to tighten it without a bunch of blocks that end up at a winch?

Searched the internet for a solution. Most common seems to involve threading the first reef line through the third reef blocks with a small messenger line. The problem on DFs is that the reef lines pass inside the boom, to re-thread the 1st reef line through the 3rd tack block and back to the 3rd clew block you need to get the line out and back inside the boom.

I have turning blocks with snapshackles on my reefing lines - just undo the snapshackles from 1st or 2nd reef points and hook them into 3rd.

Ipe Piccardt Brouwer wrote:I have turning blocks with snapshackles on my reefing lines - just undo the snapshackles from 1st or 2nd reef points and hook them into 3rd.

This is a smart way to do this. Alas my 1st and 2nd reefing blocks are permanently affixed.

Looks like I am looking at tying the 3rd reef tack hole by hand with a line, tightening the luff with the main halyard, then hoping I can tighten the 3rd reef clew enough with a manual line that would go from the boom, up through the 3rd reef clew block, and back to some attachment point on the boom. My 220lb weight times 2x purchase through the block = 440lb should be enough.

I also got permanently affixed blocks, but use two turning blocks that are possible to open. The reef 1 line can then be inserted into the blocks without removing the line from the affixed blocks for reef 1. Then I hook the snapshacles into reef 3.

I had to use the third reef when bringing the boat from Seattle to LA, and it's pretty easy, just need to drop the mainsail:
- tie the tack to the ring at the boom gooseneck
- tie a line to the boom, feed it through the third reef block at the clew, tie the other end at the boom
- raise the halyard.
It's actually pretty easy to get a good sail shape withe the sail so small