Came across an article from Cruising World that might be of interest No that it’s nearing o full month into Summer.
Most of the cobwebs of the off season have cleared, the boat splashed a time or two and we all are thinking it’s time to take stock of where we are and where we want to go….. with our skills and knowledges
Good article. I think for those of us that are mostly "cruising" inland lakes and rivers the advice about reefing earlier rather than later is the most useful. My sense is that a reefed main on my 26X loses me about a knot of speed at most. A small price to pay for a comfortable crew who are able to maintain confidence in my expertise as the skipper. Didn't see any reference in the article for "old geezer stanchions," though!
OverEasy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 22, 2025 11:15 am
Hi All!
Came across an article from Cruising World that might be of interest No that it’s nearing o full month into Summer.
Most of the cobwebs of the off season have cleared, the boat splashed a time or two and we all are thinking it’s time to take stock of where we are and where we want to go….. with our skills and knowledges
Herschel wrote: ↑Thu Aug 07, 2025 7:56 pm
Good article. I think for those of us that are mostly "cruising" inland lakes and rivers the advice about reefing earlier rather than later is the most useful. My sense is that a reefed main on my 26X loses me about a knot of speed at most. A small price to pay for a comfortable crew who are able to maintain confidence in my expertise as the skipper. Didn't see any reference in the article for "old geezer stanchions," though!
Good article, thanks for posting.
Reefing: To be honest, I took out all my reefing lines. I never reef. If the wind is that bad, generally the waves and whole experience is not fun for my crew. My reef point is the iron genny. I get off the open water when conditions are that strong. Not everyone has this option and a good sailor should know how to reef and when.
I definitely see the use of the "Old Geezer Stanchions". I have the "small" Dodger from BWY and use it as a handle all the time. A great improvement on that dodger would be some kind of proper handle. I've seen others with handles.
My rule is "Reef early. Reef often." closely followed by "The time to reef is as soon as you think about it".
I used to wait to reef until there was no other choice, heeling 30 degrees or more, moving slowly to windward sometimes with more leeway than headway. I thought that more sail always meant more speed partly because the racing boats I was used to never reefed in fact the sails did not even have reef points. The end was often a capsize or a pitch pole (sometimes quite dramatic).
A likes to stay under 15 degrees or so of heel if you want it to go "fast". It will happily plow along with the rail in the water but you won't be making much headway. In my experience Simple Interest will go significantly faster to windward if I reef and keep the heel no more than 15 degrees (or so).
Bill
2001 26X Simple Interest
Honda BF40D
"If I were in a hurry I would not have bought a sailboat." Me
likes to stay under 15 degrees or so of heel if you want it to go "fast". It will happily plow along with the rail in the water but you won't be making much headway. In my experience Simple Interest will go significantly faster to windward if I reef and keep the heel no more than 15 degrees (or so).
