Reefing downwind
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Hello everyone,
My wife and I have signed up for the Rallye des Îles du Soleil this fall. The departure is November 1st from the Canaries.
The organizers recommend reefing downwind. Having recently experienced a 28.5 knot downwind adonant with everything on top, I can confirm that in this situation you’d rather avoid having to make a U-turn to find yourself upwind. In my case, the wind dropped as it had arrived, which solved my problem.
Are any of you familiar with this type of maneuver and/or have any feedback to share?
I found very little literature on the subject. However, everyone agrees that it’s more difficult with pushing BDFs, a fully battened sail and carts. So on my Pogo 36, I’ve got a full house. I’m already having a bit of trouble getting the mainsail downwind, so I’m wondering…
Thanks for your feedback, Lionel
Hello Lionel,
Normally, it’s not too bad if you tuck in the mainsail and bring it down with the top reef …
Hello Christophe,
Do you mean that to reef 1, for example, you tuck in reef 2 a little?
Do you tuck in the vang? Isn’t there a risk of ripping out the carts?
Lionel
Hello Lionel,
I did it once on a POGO 10.50 in the presence of an ocean racer on a Class 40 now in Imoca, from 25 nd, I don’t remember if we had taken up downhaul.
Bring the mainsail down and tuck it in as before gybing, keeping speed, and use reef 2 to bring the mainsail down and take in reef 1.
Normally, all goes well… Maybe test it beforehand with 15/20 knots?
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