reef points in North Texas

kayakerles

New Member
Hi folks ~

As we are having chilly weather here right now, I thought it might be a good time to have reef points put in the sail of my Catalina 16.5 (14.2's older brother :eek: )

Could anyone recommend a sail/sailing outfit in North Texas that does quality work as relates to adding reef points? Thanks in advance.

One more thing, is one set of reef points sufficient, or do any 14.2 sailors put 2 sets in? (Seems we should be off the water if we need 2!)

Thanks again, Happy Sailing. ~ Les :cool:
 
Les: If you can't find a sailmaker to help you, and if you know someone who can sew with a machine or if you want to take the time to sew by hand, you could get a reefing kit from Sailrite (www.sailrite.com) My wife and I added their kit to our C 14, and it works very well for dinking around.

If you reef before sailing its easy to let the reef out if the wind falls. However if you want to reef after the wind rises it gets tough, as the boom will come down as you take the tension off the main halyard. That takes some strength from the crew, and it might make it not so practical for two sets of reefs. We also added a light downhaul line on our jib which works real well for lowering the head sail as the wind rises and things start to get out of control. Dick
 
Thanks, Dick, RE:adding reef points

Thanks for all the suggestions regarding reefing. Not being much of the do-it-yourselfer I think we'll just let a sail place put a reef in for us. I have heard that the Sailrite kit you mentioned is a good one. However, my wife hasn't messed with her sewing machine too much and sail material is a bit different, so, we'll take this one to the shop. Thanks for the heads up that one set of reef points will be enough. We have a boom kicker that we're going to add so I think that should help with the matter of the boom coming down and complicating things even more. We don't race so we're just trying to make ANSTY as safe and comfortable to sail as possible.

Thanks again for the input. Oh yes, I think I'll also add the extra line for a downhaul as you mentioned for when reefing. I suppose a 1/4" line will be sufficient?

Happy Sailing ~ Les
ANTSY, Catalina 16.5 sailing on Texoma in OkieLand
 
Downhaul

Les: My downhaul is less than 1/4 inch, ca. 1/8. It is attached with a small bowline knot to the shackle on the jib halyard and threaded through the snap ties that run along the forestay, then turns through the shackle at the bottom of the jib, and is tied off at our mast at deck height. Simple and works well for us. Dick
 
Thanks Dick, re: downhaul, I'll follow to the T.

Good, simple advice. Thanks. ~ Les

rkrebill said:
Les: My downhaul is less than 1/4 inch, ca. 1/8. It is attached with a small bowline knot to the shackle on the jib halyard and threaded through the snap ties that run along the forestay, then turns through the shackle at the bottom of the jib, and is tied off at our mast at deck height. Simple and works well for us. Dick
 

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