Reef points in "racing sail"?

[John Stevens]

I have a nice set of Jotz racing sails used about 5 times. I usually sail and race alone, non one design. A set of reef points would really help me when I'm alone and the wind is blowing.

Will I "devalue" the sails, if I ever decide to sell the boat, if I put reef points in? Will reef points make the sail less efficient?

TIA,

John

[GreenLake]

John,

I got a set of Jotz sails I ordered with reef points. I discussed my needs with Hank Jotz at the time and he suggested a single set of reef points (on either end), with none of the little ties - he thought those wouldn't be needed for the DS.

For hard-core racing, used sails of any description are probably not of interest anyway, so at best you could sell such sails to non-racers. In that case, a set of well-placed reef points would make the sail more valuable in my view.

While any competent sailmaker should be able to add reef points for you, you could, of course, ask Hank Jotz to put them in, in which case the sails would remain 100% Jotz sails. Of course, if you have good local sailmakers, then you might save shipping costs, which for a small job like that might be nearly as much as the job is worth.

I would bet that you'd be very happy with the extended range of winds in which you can use your boat, and that you won't be able to detect any change in un-reefed performance.

[John Stevens]

Thanks for the reply.

If you have access to the sails, could you give me some measurements for you reef points? I'm in FL and I'd like to have them done here.

Thanks,

John

[gary l. britton]

Hi:

I have a DS I with old sails and two reef points. Does anyone have any ideas if two reefing points are needed or and advantage/disadvantages to using the second set of reefing points? It may just be me, but I seem to have a lot of weather helm at times when I use the second reef points, with or without using jib.

Thanks

Gary
1966, DS I
"Dancing Girls II", #3235

[GreenLake]

@John:

You have a PM.

[shawn]

Sails don't affect the value of the boat that much after they are used so putting in reef points will have a minimal effect, especially since the boat is not a hard core racer. On the other hand the boat will have so much more value to you in that you will be able to sail comfortably.

-Shawn

[DS 1858]

I had a single set of reef points put my DS main. I too wanted to make my boat more sailable in a wider range of conditions. After discussions with some sailmakers, we put the reef point just above the lower batten, some might think this to be too much. I'm glad I did it there. Any lower, and the sail would still be too much in the typical puffy 15-20 southwesterlies we often get in the summer. With the reef and jib, the boat handles great in heavy air, solo or with the family. It still has the power to drive upwind and without flogging the sail.

[talbot]

For what it's worth, having reef points increases the value of the sail for me. Our local sailmaker places the points to reduce sail 25%. That takes in the first batten. My new sails from Intensity came with reef points that seem to be a little lower (i.e., they don't reduce sail quite as much).

[gary l. britton]

DS1858:

Thanks for your info. Once the weather gets better for sailing and the spring winds start howling I'll try the 2nd reef for the mainsail and see how it handles.

Gary
1966, DS I
"Dancing Girls II", #3235

[DS 1858]

Found a pic that shows the reef we put in our North main. Does not show the whole sail but one can see where it is relative to the lower batten. I uploaded it to the daysailer.org photo album.

[GreenLake]

Like John, I have a set of Jotz sails, and Hank Jotz put the reef point below the lowest batten.

[John Stevens]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll put some reef points in!

John