How to sail - Reefing a Sail 

Hi warjacare. Thanks for the comment. We show people how to rig ashore as this is where we think you should do this as well. I agree the lines should be rigged but not used until needed so when the wind picks up it is just a case of lowering the main and pulling the reefing line to put the reef in. Happy sailing

Double reefed ?

Many thanks. Happy you enjoy it. Be sure to check out the others in the channel

Hi Green Bear. Not sure if we sent you an answer on this. The reefing procedure that I am familiar with regardless of the size of the boat follows pretty much the same procedure. Larger boats often hae the reefing lines permanently attached to make things easier. I am nit familiar with the boat you mention so cant really comment on specific boats. Hope this helps! Many thanks Tim

There was a roller furling reefing system that is not used any more as far as I can see. The boom was mounted on a gear system. At the gooseneck you attached the winch key and cranked. The boom rotated wrapping the sail around it. The mainsheet was attached to the end of the boom on center in a tang that stayed put while the boom rotated. This system pre-empted the boom vang as you had to disconnect it to furl the sail and could not reconnect the boom vang once you had reefed by furling the sail. The advantage to the roller furling was the the main was infinitely adjustable. The idea was later carried on into the in in-boom mast-furling systems. In these the actual sail boom was inside the outer boom This system allows all kinds of attachments to boom. you can have roller furling without removing the boom vang or messing with the two or three point mainsheet. Also the mainsail is protected by being inside the outer boom. This new system is popular in large sailboats. However, In mast furling is now becoming popular. The main is stored inside the mast. It's the old system but they took the in-boom system and now use it inside the mast. In-Mast-Mainsail-furling.

However the disadvantage of in-boom furling as I learnt is that it can become "stuck" whereas slab reefing does not.

Thanks for the comment. When we made these we decided to call things what they are rather than confuse viewers with made up words. It’s better to learn the terms as well as the technique Thanks for watching though. These are aimed at beginners really and now have 35,000 followers and 4 million views so I guess they are well received

jonathan wexler it’s best to reef before you go out if there is any doubt. It is easier to take a reef out than put it in. With practice it is possible to do this afloat but try to read the conditions first so you go out with the right sail size to start with. It’s certainly a good idea to put the lines in place as well. This is what big boats do.

Scott Cates Hi Scott. The process indicated is common to many types of dinghy. In the video we show two different boats from two different manufacturers that both have the same system. Sure there are other systems but this slab reef system is common not only on small boats but larger yachts as well where the same process applies. The video also goes in to explain how a third reefing process applies so we think we have all bases covered Hope the video helps you understand the principles

is that a Selden boom? Looks like one.