Hand of terzaroli, when is the right time to give it?

In what wind strength to take a reefing hand to the mainsail is a topic that more than one crew will have addressed. There is the “cautious” sailor model, who knows that in half an hour or 1 hour a wind reinforcement will arrive and starts preparing in advance. And there is the sportsman who will never give it until the situation gets really tough. The right solution as always lies in the middle, let’s go and see what parameters and indications the boat gives us to let us know that we need to take a reefing hand.

Hand of terzaroli – the premise

There is no single wind strength for any boat beyond which a reefing hand should be taken. There are boats that already at 15 knots of wind, upwind, suffer, and others that do so at 25. Much depends on the type of design, hull, rig, and even equipment. The more old sails and halyards we have, the more the boat will heel and be difficult to control in a stiff breeze. This is because old sails and halyards will fail to give the mainsail and jib a lean enough profile for strong winds. However, there is no one-size-fits-all parameter; the boat must be listened to.

Hand of reefers – when the boat asks for it

If the wind has increased, it is likely that we will have already done all the necessary operations to thin the sails. We will have caulked the halyards until the horizontal folds disappear, brought the mainsail carriage slightly under wind and the jib carriage toward the stern, caulked the backstay and any cunningham. When we have done all these operations we will listen to the boat: if we are nevertheless forced to leave a lot of mainsail and clash the rudder a lot to avoid the overhangs of the boat, it is likely that it is time to reduce the sails. It can be at 15 knots as well as 30, it is the boat that will tell us when to do it.

Hand of terzaroli – how long it takes to give it

If we have a well-equipped boat with a reefing circuit that is easily controlled from the cockpit, and the mainsail is equipped with good trolleys on balls, reefing will be quick and easy. A broken-in crew can take it in as little as 5 minutes, solo will need a little more but it is still a quick operation as long as you don’t have to improvise. If we sail on a cruise it will be good to always have the reefing circuit ready and armed, woe if we have to pass the borosas with the boat heeled over, it would be a dangerous operation and not easy and quick to do.

leggi anche

Harken tells how exploring the world by sail is within everyone’s reach

Mauro Giuffrè