Reefing

[captbob57]

Hello,
After looking at hundreds of pictures of Picnic Cats, I have never seen one with a reefed sail. I would like to know when properly reefed, where does the block on the gaff wind up in relation to the block on the mast? Thanks!

[bruce]

Bob,

Here's some photos of my boat, taken when I was working on a gaff bridle system. The stock set up is with a fixed bail on the gaff, the old mounting holes can be seen. The first photo is with the sail reefed. For scale, the track on gaff (see below) is 24 1/2", which is also the distance from the top of the mast to the bolt fastening the standing rigging tangs we've discussed previously.

I wanted the peak halyard to pull the gaff towards the mast when unreefed and reefed, and not up or down. That can jam the gaff gooseneck, and adversely effect sail trim. Traditionally this was done with a bridle line on the gaff that a block ran on so the halyard would adjust automatically. Our gaff is peaked so high it's difficult to use a bridle line, so I went with a Ronstan traveler track with a ball bearing car. The track was 1 meter long, shown in the third photo, but I trimmed it to the length that would be in play once I'd worked out the details, to minimize weight and extra travel of the block. The second photo is with the sail unreefed.

[captbob57]

Bruce,
Nice idea you came up with. Did you use screws instead of rivets to attach the track? I know you mentioned you prefer screws over rivets. What would your reason be? I was thinking another way would be to attach an eye strap up the gaff and just move the block up the gaff when needed. Have you seen boats sailing without doing anything? Thanks.

[bruce]

Bob,

I used a 3/4" x 3/16" aluminum backing bar slid inside the gaff, tapped to receive #10-24 machine screws. In the photo, the backing bar is taped to a 1X scrap for insertion and lining up the holes. Rivets are fine, although they can be a pain to drill out. I just prefer to tap threads when possible.

I know of at least a couple of owners who installed a second bail, and used a snap shackle to shift between them. They had tried to rig a bridle line, but had difficulties with clearance between the gaff and the mast. I'd have to check to see if they kept the original bail position for the unreefed sail, or chose two new locations, and what those positions were. Based on my experience, with a free rolling car, I would attach the unreefed bail at about 32 1/2" from the forward end of the gaff and the reefed bail at 54" from the forward end. Your boat may vary some, of course.

A second bail means the gaff has to be lowered to the cockpit, a slight inconvenience when reefing underway. I would definitely use a bail fastened to the sides of the gaff, so the fasteners are under sheer. An eyestrap on top of the gaff may pull out. Com-Pac uses Dwyer DH 312.

Most owners don't worry about it, and are quite happy. I enjoy doing this type of thing. I rate my mods on the effectiveness of the design and usefulness. The track works great, but I don't think it's a game changer. Some improvement, at least theoretically, but hard to quantify. Since you're setting up your boat, this can wait! I just brought it up because you'd asked about the position of the blocks when reefed.

Down the road, it would be possible to make a wooden/plastic jig, shaped to conform to the gaff profile, hinged so that it opens and slides over the gaff from the top, then clamped so it provides a temporary and adjustable attachment point for testing.

[Andre]

Bruce,

You continue to amaze me!  I'm more the bang it with a hammer until it works type.

Andre

[bruce]

LOL. I've got some of those too.

I've made my share of mistakes that I can't rationalize away. Besides, I'm choosing the photos!

[captbob57]

Bruce,
Once again thanks for your ideas and input. You are on top of the game! A while ago Gary Hutchins sent me some photos of a Sun Cat reefed. He did not have any photos of the PC reefed. In the photos you can see the gaff block is about 1 1/2 to 2 feet below the block on the mast. I'll just have to see what works good. Just want to be sure when you know what hits the fan out there!

[bruce]

I did finally find a photo of PC under reef, Simple Pleasures back when when Frank Iannutti owned it. It's hard to make out, but the block on the gaff looks to be just below the standing rigging tangs.

Looking at a closer view of where the original gaff block bail was mounted on my boat, it looks like it was just about level with the tangs. Close enough anyway. The distance from the tang bolt to the center of the peak halyard block on the mast is 6" for me.

It always fun to help someone sort out their new boat!

[captbob57]

Bruce,
Good job finding the shot of the reefed PC. Yes, it appears that the block on the gaff is about even with the mast tangs when reefed. Good to see the system should work without having to do any modifications to the gaff. Once again, good job!