Some boat owners, particularly those with a small crew, tend to avoid reefing altogether: if winds of more than 4 Beaufort are forecast, they either motor on or don’t set sail at all. Charter companies have also been observing this trend for years: the diesel engine is started when the wind reaches force 4, and again when it drops below 3. Convenience is simply on the rise in many places.
Apart from the fact that this unnecessarily restricts your planning for the trip and means you miss out on the exhilarating feeling of sailing a yacht that’s perfectly rigged for stronger winds – effectively and at real speed – there’s also the safety aspect to consider. A thunderstorm or rain shower can catch anyone out, and despite modern technology, the weather forecast is often wrong, for example because downdrafts, cape effects or jet effects are added to the gradient wind.
It is a huge safety benefit if the skipper and crew know exactly what procedures to follow when reefing is necessary. Which sails to reef first and by how much. How to balance the boat perfectly. This reduces the time crew members have to spend on the rolling foredeck or up the mast in rough seas. It is therefore a necessary step in the development of a good skipper and their crew.
On the water, however, you often see something quite different: yachts gliding along with their sails flapping wildly and far too much leeway, mainsails and headsails rolled up in a crumpled heap, leashes flapping about wildly, and sunbeams streaming through.
The different types of reefing:
When is the right time to reef?
One of the first questions many crews ask is when it’s time to reef. As the old saying goes: by the time you’re thinking about it, it’s usually already too late. That’s certainly a bit of an exaggeration, but it does highlight the reluctance some people feel towards reefing.
Tacking on a close-hauled course
The fact is, when sailing close-hauled or even on a broad reach, a yacht sends clear signals to the helmsman if it is carrying too much sail. Rudder pressure and trim increase. If the boat luffs uncontrollably, the reefing point has usually already been passed. With the extremely wide sterns of modern cruising yachts, a central rudder then loses its leverage, the flow breaks off, and a ‘sun shot’ is the inevitable consequence. This is one of several reasons why twin rudder blades are becoming increasingly popular. Although smaller, the angled blades stand perfectly vertical when the boat heels over more, are set at a shallower angle, and draw in less air.
Trimming the roller-furling mainsail
Many modern boats are no longer very effective at heel angles beyond 20 degrees anyway, due to the shape of their hulls. They lose height, drift more easily and place a considerable strain on the materials. What’s more, sailing with an unnecessarily steep angle of heel is uncomfortable, and it’s also a safety issue, particularly for older crews or those with young children.
Trimming a mainsail using mast sliders
However, it is not necessary to reef immediately as the wind picks up and the conditions change. You can delay reefing for a while: as a first step, flatten the sail profiles. Increasing the backstay tension flattens the mainsail and, at the same time, reduces the slack in the genoa. Pulling the leech stinger flattens the lower part of the mainsail. The mainsail traveller can be moved slightly to leeward. By making full use of the trimming options, you can sometimes successfully delay reefing until the next destination.
Easy: Reefing the genoa downwind
Many people make the simplest manoeuvre unnecessarily difficult. It is important to choose the right course before you start furling. If the yacht is facing into the wind whilst reefing – as is still taught in many manuals – the sail will flap wildly and may endanger the person on the foredeck. Furthermore, the flapping of the sail puts so much pressure on the fittings that furling is barely possible. In fact, the furling line is often snagged when furling the genoa, at which point the only solution is the much more laborious process of lowering the sail.
Therefore, when reefing or furling, the genoa should be luffing to a close-hauled course, if conditions in the sailing area allow. This means the genoa is no longer covered by the mainsail and has hardly any pressure on it. In addition, the forestay loses tension, which relieves the load on the fittings and makes them easier to turn.
As a general rule, if you can no longer pull something by hand, you shouldn’t try to do so using a winch either. If the force required by hand becomes too great, this indicates faulty fittings or other problems. The entire genoa control system should then be checked. However, you won’t notice this with an electric winch, and using its power runs the risk of tearing something.
Fore-sails with stay-sail tracks should also be changed or stowed downwind whenever possible.
Tips on trimming the sails:
Tacking into a tailwind
It is more difficult to judge when to reef when sailing downwind. Most yachts can handle more sail area on these courses than when sailing close-hauled. A rule of thumb is to reef at the wind speeds at which you would also reef when sailing close-hauled. Another indicator is speed: if it stops increasing despite the wind picking up, the yacht has reached its hull speed and will not go any faster. So having too much sail area is of no benefit.
However, when sailing downwind, it is usually possible to carry too much sail area. Most yachts can cope with this. Nevertheless, you should be certain that the wind won’t pick up any further. Because the general rule here is: it’s better to reef too early than too late. This is important because the reefing manoeuvre itself can otherwise become dangerous. Conventional mainsails, in particular, usually cannot be reefed downwind; to do so, you must luff up. Only then, however, can you really feel how strong the wind actually is, and it may be significantly stronger than expected. The mainsail will then flap wildly and handling it becomes more strenuous. It is therefore advisable to seek the shelter of features such as a steep coastline for this manoeuvre, if the sailing area allows.
To tie as a precaution
If it is clear even before setting sail that reefing will be unavoidable, it is particularly advisable for small crews to consider whether they might not take the time to reef the sails whilst still in harbour, before setting off. It is much easier to unreef out at sea than to be tossed about by the first gusts after setting the sail, before the crew has even had a chance to get used to the wind and swell.
In what order should we meet?
If none of that helps, the question arises as to whether to reef the mainsail or the headsail first, or both at once, as many sailors were probably taught to do. This depends on the wind, the type of boat and the sails being used. To decide what to reef first, the sailor needs to know the boat a little: is it a yacht where most of the power comes from the mainsail or from the headsail? With modern rigs featuring smaller furling headsails – around 100 per cent – and taller, slimmer mainsails, it is often the latter that is reduced first. If the headsail does not have thickening foam strips on the luff, it is often better if even the second reef is made using only the mainsail.
Pay attention to the sail profiles
This is particularly true if the boat has a mainsail with slide blocks. In that case, the sail’s shape is maintained, and reefing does not cause any significant loss of profile. This is precisely the problem when furling the genoa: the furling line on the forestay causes poor airflow, and the sail’s profile is no longer correct. Furthermore, the fabric is subjected to greater stress, as the tension is applied directly to it rather than solely to the designated reinforcements at the clew and luff.
When sailing close-hauled downwind, the sequence ‘main first, then the headsail’ makes more sense anyway, as a reduced headsail behind the main often performs worse than the other way round.
The situation is different for many older boats. Some older yachts have huge, heavily overlapping headsails. These are, so to speak, ‘Genoa boats’; there were designs with up to 140 or 150 per cent of the sail area of a Genoa. On such boats – the old Albin Ballad is a good example – the first step is to reduce the area of the headsail. Ideally, of course, by hoisting a smaller sail that is also carried on board. But many owners do not have one, as they do not want to go to the trouble of changing sails on the foredeck. Consequently, on such boats, the genoa is gradually furled. Yachts with headsails exceeding the 125 per cent limit often fall into this category.
Occasionally, you also see crews who take the mainsail down completely and sail with only the headsail, at least when they don’t have to tack. This is certainly possible, but it puts a one-sided load on the rig, which may cause the masthead to bend forward. To counteract this, the backstay must be tightened – if this is possible. If the spreaders are strongly swept, this works in a similar way, provided there is sufficient rig tension in the basic trim.
Articles on rig trim:
Owners and charter crews alike should follow these guidelines. How a boat sails when reefed often has to be tested in practice, particularly when the wind is so strong that both the mainsail and the headsail need to be reduced beyond the first reef.
Preparing properly for reefing
Whether the manoeuvre actually goes smoothly is, above all, a question of preparation. What exactly does the skipper have in mind, and what is the correct sequence of events? What course will he set, how rough are the conditions, and what safety measures are required on the foredeck? Tasks must be assigned to individual crew members, and they must know what is important for their part of the manoeuvre. It would also be conceivable, for example, for the helmsman to warn the crew on the foredeck of particularly high waves and attempt to steer clear of them, if feasible. Potential risks or problems should also be highlighted, such as when the crew uses electric winches, which, if operated incorrectly, are easily capable of tearing the sail.
Once you’re properly prepared, the first day of strong winds can come – and it might even be fun.
More interesting articles on boat handling:
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
