jiffy reefing, compac "suncat"

[john walker]

hi!  my suncat has jiffy reefing at the rear, cringle hook in the front.  kind of dangerous to crawl up there and hook the grommet on.   so, i fastened a cheek block on the boom right under the grommet,  added a cleat on the boom back by the one for the rear reefing.  ran a line from new cleat up thru new block, up the sail thru the grommet, back down and tied it off on the boom fitting.   works like a charm, you can reef both ends of the sail from cockpit. kind of important when you single hand a lot, as i do.  Johnny walker

[NormD]

I recently purchased a 2005 Suncat and will be making the same jiffy reefing mod you describe here.
Just wondering what your thoughts on lazy jacks are. I've always used them on previous sloops and since the Suncat has no topping lift, lazy jacks would probably simplify the reefing process.

[john walker]

I added them on my boat.   They tangle when you drop mast and try to raise it again, so I bought small bronze snap hooks where they attach to boom.  before I drop mast I unhook from boom, gather the lines up and tie to mast with light line.  This works well. To lay out the lines, blow up the drawing of your boat on xerox, determine scale by using boat lgth of 17'-6",  draw the lines on there until they look right.  you can then determine line lgths. , and position of eye loops on boom.  the work wonderful, drop sail, neaten-up in harbor.   Johnny Walker