Self tacking Staysail

Staysails are the smaller jib on a cutter. They are mounted to the inner forestay, which is the stay inboard of the headstay and attaches only partway up the mast. When tacking a cutter, you have the jib and staysail to sheet on each tack. This can become quite a chore when short tacking through narrow waterways.

To reduce the number of sheets that need to be adjusted, I have made the staysail self tacking. This lets me short tack up a narrow waterway, while only having to adjust the sheets of the jib (if I'm flying it). If it is a very narrow waterway, I will lower the jib and fly just the main and staysail, allowing me to short tack without having to adjust a single sheet. This lets me direct all of my focus to avoiding obstacles and other boat traffic while working to windward.

The reduced sail area does lower my speed, which is a good idea when sailing in crowded and cramped waters. If we were to collide with an obstacle, our slower speed will give us more time to react while lessening the damage of the collision. 

Self tacking staysails are nothing new, but most require very complicated systems and hardware to work properly. There are a few requirements that must be met for a headsail to self tack:

The sail can not overlap the mast
The sheets must be free and clear of any deck hardware
The sail needs a clew block to allow for trimming twist from the sail (optional but very helpful)

If the sail overlaps the mast, any self tacking hardware would hit the mast on each tack. It simply would not work.

The sheets need to be free and clear of any deck hardware to avoid them getting hung up on said hardware. Also, laying on hardware can cause stress points that will lead to chafe on the line.

Source: http://ipy.com/wp-content/themes/ipy/yacht-gallery/estero/estero-overview.jpg

Some common self tacking systems include the Hoyt Boom which is used on Island Packets to make their staysail self tacking.

Source: http://www.harken.com/uploadedImages/Tech_Corner/Systems/jib2.gif?n=4850

Booms are wonderful for sail control, which is why your mainsail has a boom under it. The problem with booms on the foredeck is they hurt when they smash into your shins! If your headsail is flogging around, so will the boom under it! The alternative is to negate the boom and instead mount a traveler on the foredeck ahead of the mast. 

All these extra parts, in the form of booms or traveler tracks cost a fair amount to have made and installed on your yacht. There must be an easier way?

There is! Simply installing a block on the clew will convert your staysail into a self tacking staysail. The block runs on a bridle which allows the sail to slip from side to side as you change your tacks. If you get hit by the block while the sail is flogging, it doesn't hurt that bad (as long as you use a light weight block). 

While this self tacking system is inexpensive, it is also less than perfect. The sail will have less than ideal sail shape while sailing to windward and significant twist when sailing off the wind. This is because the sail is sheeted onto a bridle. To help counteract the twist, I attach the block higher up on the clew block. This is effectively the same as moving the sheet blocks forward to apply more tension to the leech. 

The first version of this system involved my old staysail which had a clew cringle and a very heavy block. The bridle was sheeted to the toe rail, fixed at one point with the other end running back to the cockpit. The principle concept was there, but it needed a lot of tweaking to get to its current state.

The theory was: "As the sheet is eased, the bridle will loosen and the clew can rise and fall off the wind towards the leeward side. As the sheet is brought in, the bridle will tighten and the clew will stay more midship. As you tack, the block would slide along the bridle to fall onto the other tack. Sheet control was simply bridle tension, the sail would always fall towards the leeward side." This worked, but the lead angles were so wide that I was never able to point very high with it; I simply was unable to sheet it in all the way.  It was also a tripping hazard when walking forward on the deck. This led to the second version of the system.

The second version involved the new staysail which had a clew bock installed on it. The clew block allows for adjusting the lead angle on the sail instead of moving the lead blocks fore and aft. I also moved the bridle leads inboard to the staysail track. This version worked better to windward and I was able to remove some of the twist by attaching the block further up on the clew board. As you can see, the sail still cups at the clew and doesn't have the best of sail shape. For short tacking, this isn't such a big deal, but when on a long tack, this is lost efficiency.

This led to the third and current version of the self tacking staysail. The self tacking block is left attached to a higher hole on the clew block. On a lower hole, a standard sheet is attached to the staysail, allowing excellent sail trim and shape to be achieved on long tacks. The self tacker is also a very lightweight Carbo Harken block, further reducing the agony from getting hit by the block when the sail is flogging.

Development of the self tacker has finished, because I am pleased with where it has come to. While short tacking into or out of a harbor, I can set the self tacking sheet on the winch and work my way to windward. Once out of the harbor and into larger water ways, I can set the non-self tacking sheet on the winch and work my way towards my destination with perfect sail shape. 

While the self tacker is not perfect, it only cost me a few blocks (three to be exact) to rig and is easy to convert back to a regular sheeting system if I were to require it. This was very important to me since I heave to during storm conditions and a self tacker will not allow the sail to be backed. The simple act of switching the sheet on the winch is all that is required to convert from self tacking to regular sheeting.

I use this on my staysail, but if you have a sloop rig, you can use this on your non-overlapping headsail to convert your regular jib into a self tacking jib for short handed tacks.

Headsail Reefing

Roller furling headsails have the distinct advantage of limitless reefing. If you feel that your headsail is a bit over-canvased, simply pull in on the furling line to reduce the amount of sail area exposed. 

The goal of reefing is to produce a smaller sail that is nearly flat, that way any excess wind is spilled off and does not overpower the smaller sail. Roller furling does make the sail smaller, but baggy instead of flat. Foam luffs can help reduce the amount of bagginess, but it will still occur to some extent. While a smaller baggy sail may be more powered than an unfurled flat sail, the truth remains that the sail can simply be furled up even more, making the exposed sail that much smaller. While roller furling can't produce the best sail shape when partially furled, it does have the distinct advantage of being able to always make the sail smaller.

Hank on sails are known for their reliability and excellent sail shape. There are much fewer moving parts involved in setting a hank on sail as compared to all the mechanisms needed for a roller furling sail. The problem is sail makers don't have a method in place to reef your headsails.

When I talked with my sail maker about this, his suggestion was to purchase a smaller jib. This means that I would have to perform a headsail change during reefing conditions. This might be the standard operating procedure on board racing sailboats where there are plenty of crew to help execute a speedy headsail change and a limitless budget to buy all of these sails, but I don't have either of these faculties on my boat. I needed a way to reef my hank on sails that could be quickly carried out alone and not break the bank!

Yes, I had a juniper bush growing in my bow. It died because I forgot to water it for a few weeks (and maybe the salt spray).

The old staysail that came with the boat had a reef point in it, and this gave me the idea to have reef points added to my current headsails. I talked it over with my sailmaker and they decided to give it a try. They told me that most people with hank on sails are racers and the rings add too much weight to the sail, which is why they don't typically put reefs in headsails. I told them I would be fine with a bit of extra weight in the sail and they went to work installing the reef points in the sails!

The standard way to reef a hank on headsail is to:

Lower the sail into the deck
Attach the reef tack point to the deck
Attach the sheets to the reef clew point
Raise the reefed sail and adjust the sheet leads as needed

The problem with this in my opinion is when I lower the headsail, the boat becomes unbalanced. This will make the boat head into the wind as it has lost all lee helm from the headsail. The other issue is I would have to crawl all the way out onto the forepeak to switch the tack point during rough seas. I know I should reef before it gets bad, but at some point, I'm going to be caught off guard and need to do it in sloppy weather.

I have installed a downhaul system for the headsails so that I can lower them all the way from the mast in a controlled manner, never setting foot further forward in heavy weather. Why not rig something else up that will keep me at the mast where my halyards are when I need to put in a reef? I did just that.

Photo courtesy of Anastasia Forrestal

I attached a 7mm piece of polyester covered dyneema to the deck tack point, up through the reef tack loop, back through the deck tack point, and then aft towards the mast. This lets me stand in front of the mast, lower the halyard while pulling in on the tack line (through a 2:1 pulley system). Once the tack is drawn down, I can cleat it off on a spring cleat and attach the reefed sheet lines to the reefed clew.

Once the tack and clew are attached, I can easily crank on the halyard to tension the luff again, producing a very flat reefed headsail. 

With the sail up and loaded, the foot will blow in the wind like a skirt. Simply rolling it up will get it out of the way and make it compact for the reefing lines to hold in place.

I also like to tie the clews together to help keep them from flopping around. A flying clew plate can cause a serious amount of pain!

The reef lines are simple to make. I took 1/4 inch 3 strand nylon and passed it through the reef holes, tying double fisherman knots on either side to keep them in place. The ends of the lines are crown knotted and backspliced to keep it from unraveling. Since these lines will be rubbing on the sails, it is imperative that the ends be fuzzy and not melted into hard points!

On a side note, I am using a snap shackle during the dockside test fitting of this sail. Never use a snap shackle in stormy conditions! If that shackle were to open up by accident, the sail is going to turn into a flag, balance will be lost, and it will be really hard to attach another sheet in its place. Always use a sheet that is tied securely with a bowline or a larkshead knot for any reefed sails.

Reef Clew Line Setup

When setting up your reef lines, you have many choices. 

Single Line Reefing
Double Line Reefing
Slab Reefing

I want to discuss the clew lines which are run in a similar fashion through the sails in all of these different systems. The standard way of running the clew lines involves running the clew line from a fixed point on the boom, up through the sail's clew cringle, and down the other side of the sail. This will pull the sail down to the boom when reefing, but it will also bunch up under the cringle and get pulled into the cringle by the reef line. This can pull a chunk of sail through the cringle with the line and make a nice hole in the leech. To fix this problem, the clew line can be run a different way and avoid the whole problem all together.

Standard reef line setup

Alternate reef line setup

The alternate way to run the clew reef line is to pass it up between the boom and sail (putting the line on the same side as the cheek block), through the cringle, over the leech and back down the same side to the cheek block. This will cause the sail to be pushed to the side of the boom as the reef is being drawn in. Since the sail is out of the way, it will not bunch up and get pulled through the cringle. While this sounds wonderful, it will cause more wear on the leech of the sail, leading to chafe issues which are easily remedied with chafe patches.

The sail will be dumped to the side of the boom, avoiding any risk of it getting caught in the cringle and torn. It is helpful to have lazy jacks to collect the sail as it gets tossed to the side.

Alternatives to Reefing

When weather catches you offguard and you don't have time to reef just yet, these are ways to put it off for a moment. They involve using the sails to either spill air or to work against each other to reduce their efficiency.

A Fisherman's Reef is when you ease the mainsheet and sheet in the jib. This will create a bubble in the main that will take away the mains power. This is a very temporary fix that can help to depower the main during a blow. The air that comes off of the jib will blast into the eased main and create a bubble in the luff. This reduces the amount of sail area actually working and sort of accomplishes the goals of reefing temporarily.

Back winding the main is very similar to a Fisherman's Reef, but it doesn't involve easing the main. The over sheeted jib will create a similar bubble to the Fisherman's Reef which will reduce the effective sail area of the main, and depower the sails to a lesser extent than the Fisherman's Reef.

Tightening the topping lift will raise the boom and force a twist into the sail. This will allow you to sheet the sail in close hauled while still maintaining a twist. The twist will spill almost all of the air in the top of the sail which will greatly reduce heeling. The top of the sail can turn into a flag and begin flogging which is damaging to the sailcloth. If the sail begins to flog, a reef should be put in immediately.

Lastly, you can ease the sails and change course onto a run. This will lower the apparent wind speed and make conditions feel somewhat calmer while you put in your reefs. 

You may have noticed that all of these alternatives to reefing simply buy some time when you need to reef, but they all end in putting the reef in. This is because there is no replacement for reefing when it is necessary.

Trim, comfort, and control will be restored once the sails are reefed for the appropriate weather conditions.

When to Reef

When should you reef your sails? This is a common question with no definitive answer. Some common guidelines used for determining when to reef are:

A set windspeed
The first sighting of a whitecap
The approach of storm clouds on the horizon
First sight of rain
Crew comfort
Preparing to Heave-to
Gut feeling

Many sailors put in reefs at arbitrarily set wind speeds. A common guideline is to put the first reef in at 15 knots, and the second reef at 20 knots of wind speed. From this guideline, you can then determine when you want to reef. If you feel fine at 15 knots, keep the sails up a little longer. When you finally decide you wanted to reef, look at the wind speed; next time reef a few knots sooner than the current windspeed.

On Wisdom, we put the first reef in at 20 knots, and the second reef at 27 knots. We also drop the Jib at 20 knots, and fly the staysail all the way through to really high wind speeds.

On Windpuff, we have no instruments, so we reef at the first sign of whitecap or approaching storm cloud. Reefing based on whitecaps is a good indicator, as they tend to form in response to building wind conditions. I like to reef at the first sight of a storm cloud because I prefer to go forward to the mast in calm weather and await the winds with reduced sails instead of being caught off guard.

Rain on the horizon usually accompanies an approaching squall with high winds. The dark curtain approaching your boat is an excellent signal to put the reefs in. The only thing worse than putting in reefs during high winds is being pelted with stinging water droplets!

On a completely different note that does not involve weather or storms is crew comfort. If you have a frightful person on board, you may have to put in a reef to keep them calm. I have taken friends sailing and they panic when we heel over, leading me to put in 2 reefs in winds of 12 knots. We hardly moved, but the boat did not heel. With time, they became more confident that the boat will not flip over and allowed me to shake out the reefs one at a time. Eventually we were sailing along under full sail at hull speed and everyone had a good time! If I had told them to tough it out and hold onto the heeling hull, they would have been traumatized and probably never gone sailing again. While crew comfort is not related to weather conditions or sail trim, it is a valuable indicator for when to reef.

One last reason to reef the sails is when you are preparing to heave to for the night. The weather may be calm and the seas tranquil, but they might change during the night. By reefing the sails all the way down before heaving to, you can sleep comfortably and confidently through the night!

The least scientific method (which is also my go to method) is sail trim. When the wind builds, we ease the sheets to control the amount of heeling. When the leech begins to flutter because the sail has been eased too far and we are still heeled over, we typically put in a reef. This allows us to trim the sail perfectly once again and maintain the keel in a more efficient orientation. If the wind eases up and we loose speed, we wait 15-30 minutes before we shake the reef out (in case it was simply a lull in the wind, we wait to make sure the wind doesn't pick up again and catch us over-canvassed).

When do you typically put in your reefs?