Reefers in racing, sometimes not needed even in strong winds

During the winter championships, it will happen to everyone sooner or later to face a regatta with really strong winds and challenging conditions. Situation that immediately poses a theme: the hand(s) of reefers in regattas. There are those who oppose it on principle, and there are those who, recalling common sense recommendations, have made reefers their best friends. The truth, as always, probably lies neither on one side nor the other. But then, when is it right, in racing, to give one or more hands of reefing and when is it not? Let’s go in order. Preamble: we will make an argument for stick racing; quite another story is offshore trials, which have different peculiarities.

The terzarolate sail

When a sail sails reefed it is subjected to forces and loads that place it under significant stress. In fact, it will be only a portion of its surface area that will work and take on the full intensity of the wind and propulsion of the boat. This will ensure that, once we hoist the full mainsail again, we will probably notice, with a close look, a difference between the portion of the sail that sailed reefed and the portion that was at rest.

Race types and mainsail types

To understand and solve this problem we must then talk about the types of mainsail, the types of races, and the boat’s equipment. The first major discriminator is the difference between buoy racing and offshore racing. In the case of an offshore regatta, the use of the reefing hand(s) is a must if the weather conditions dictate, with wind intensity above 25 knots, below this intensity the progressive change of headsails will allow us to sail most of the time in control with a full mainsail.

Be careful, however, this assumes that the mainsail we have is designed for offshore and therefore is capable of sailing for long hours reefed, which means being subjected as we said to pulls and loads markedly different than when, even in high winds, the sail works across its entire surface. Thirded the sail will have a less natural type of work with loads very concentrated in precise areas, the luff and leech reefing attachments, which are not normally so stressed. If the sail is not designed to have extra material/reinforcement in these areas, the result will be to almost irreparably lose its original shape, or worse break the mainsail.

The need to sail terzarolato in an offshore regatta also stems from the fact that we may face edges as long as hundreds of miles, with the crew unable to stay in perfectly trimmed hawsers for days. Therefore, depowering the mainsail also means making up for the lack of weight in the gunwale and making the boat sail better. Also, even a mainsail designed for offshore racing if left to flapping for very long hours would eventually take the hit, better to reef it and not have it flapping left behind. Ultimately then, the hand, or hands, on the high seas must always be ready, but better to give them on a mainsail designed for such use if we don’t want to “throw” our sail once the wind blows past. Normally a good offshore sail will have 2 or 3 coats of reefing.

Terzaroli among the buoys?

The subject changes, and in an important way, if we talk about buoy racing. Here, if we are on a boat equipped to race at a good level, we will have a mainsail in place where there will not be as much excess reinforcement. Normally on mainsails designed for inshore racing there is at most one coat of reefing or sometimes none at all. The hand is intended for borderline situations, but to take it on such a mainsail is to risk marking its shape irreparably, and it is advisable to do so only in a real emergency. Also because sometimes in the excitement little attention is paid to how to take a reefing hand, perhaps cocking the hand with the halyard too tight and subjecting the sail to brutal tugs.

After all, in a trial between the buoys we will rarely face more than 25 knots, and if it happens it will only be for a limited time. We will then have the full weight of the crew actively present in the hawser that will give us a decisive hand in keeping the boat in an acceptable trim; hopefully we will have already changed the headsail to a high-wind one, the rest of the work will fall to a good mainsailer who is quick at the sheet. But there is more. Is not ruining the sail the only reason not to take the reefing hand during a race between the buoys? No.

In the stern the greater surface area will allow us to hold the boat faster, thus with a lower apparent wind and with less load on the rigging and mast. The rule is simple: in the stern the faster you are the more apparent on the sails decreases. If there are 25 knots of real and we sail at 9-10 the apparent on the sails will be more or less 15 knots. It seems clear, however, that for such a sporty full mainsail sailing you also need a crew capable of doing a conduction appropriate to the situation: Which also includes making the best use of rigging and adjustments: halyard, cunningham, vang, backstay, everything will be subjected to important tensions because the goal will be to thin the sails as much as possible. Otherwise, it is better to use reefers.

If the boat has chewing-gum style halyards.

And here we also get to touch on the type of boat and its equipment. The discussion we have just addressed subintends that we are aboard a boat with good quality halyards, strictly dyneema, and rigging. If, on the other hand, we are aboard an aging boat with soft, heavily used halyards, we are unlikely to be able to stay upright with the full mainsail in 20-25 knots of wind. It will be impossible to weed it out properly because the halyards will fail irreparably, we will have a sail and boat out of trim and a crew in tension. In that case perhaps, rather than taking a hand of reefing, one can objectively consider not taking part in the regatta to avoid probable damage to equipment and sails and reserve participation for days when conditions are more suitable for our craft.

The sail plan

A final clarification should be made about the type of sail plan. For 1980s IOR-style plans, the mainsails are often so small that they are really the least of the problems in high winds. In fact, the first thing to do will be to drastically reduce the overlap of the headsail by quickly switching to small jibs that will allow us to carry the mainsail down without excessive rejection on it given by the jib. A small jib in a strong wind then allows us a better upwind angle, although, in case of a wave, we will give up some extra horsepower that could be useful in the ascent to the ridges. It is therefore difficult to find a perfect balance in all conditions; it will also be up to the sensitivity of the crew to figure out what is best for their boat.

Mauro Giuffrè