Reefing the main

[gazpodsimsociety]

Reefing the main? – I know for fact that when reefing you first need to lower the main then pull on the reefing lines and then re-hoist the sail – this appears true to reef one, however it would seem only using reef one, the sail only goes up as far as I’d expected for the reef two position?

[cbaldwin256]

I think there is something catching on the halyard that sometimes makes it harder (or impossible) to raise as much as it should be. Will review next week (in between a couple of days of Easter holiday!)

[cbaldwin256]

Hi Gazpode. I just had a look and I am seeing a big difference between the sails areas with reef 1 and reef 2. Are you saying that reef 1 is reducing the sail too much? In which case reef 2 is too?

[Tony]

cala boca

[cbaldwin256]

Just to let you know reefing has been remodelled for Oct release. While it was working before it should now be a bit easier!

[mikinct2]

Hi, great eSail program!
Question- I was able to learn to Reef the job & main sail.

Watched tutorial on reefing & only shown how to setup reefing line 1.

But never learned how to setup reefing line #2.

Or once reefing line #1 is setup does one just need to open jammers to them pull reefing line #2? Should have been better explanation for beginners to sailing etc.

Second question is there’s 10 steps in tutorial to reef main sail with reefing line #1,

A) once mail sail is reefed how do you go back to full sail again?

B) do you have to go through 10 steps each time you wish to reef in eSail it once initially setup one can easily go from full main sail to reef 1 or 2 then back to full main sail? Help!!!!

[Sabasti]

Hopefully I can help with that query.

Reefing is simple really but sailors like to make it sound like it's some convoluted process. Here's my process.

1. Turn into the wind until the wind is 10-20° into the wind (and I mean 10-20° not 340-350, esail is a bit special like that).

2. Completely lower the mainsail. The tutorial says about 50% but that rarely works for me.

3. On the starboard forward winch, ensure that the reef 1 and reef 2 jammers are closed...and reading 0%.

4. Pull the reef 1 line until 100%. If required also pull the reef 2 line until 100%.

5. Hoist the main sail completely (winching if necessary). It will stop as soon as the reefing lines stop it from going any further up. (The crew will tell you).

In a nut shell that's it.

Further explanation:

If you want to go from 2 reef to 1 reef. Simply release the 2 reef clutch and hoist the main sail. From 2 to no reefs, release both Reef 1 and 2 clutches and hoist the main sail. Sometimes esail gets pedantic and so you have to lower the sail first but I've done it plenty of times without that.

To move up the reefs, you'll need to lower the sail, but going down the reef numbers is easy enough and the sail doesn't come down unless the boat or the boom is 10-20° off the wind (or is that the other way around).


Do you need reef 1 to be pulling in as well as reef 2? No, but if the reef 2 line snaps for whatever reason having the reef 1 in place is a good back up. (In game, it won't).

[ZeroReady]

Aside from the simulation aspect, I don't really see the point of reefing though. Right now I am live sailing getting the poi's. I have had a 31 kt wind for a full day in game. Max speed is limited to 8.5 kts no matter what you do. Why would I bother reefing? Not trying to hate on the sim or anything I love it, just curious what's the point when I can hit top speed without reefing.

[cbaldwin256]

Certainly at 31 knots you should be reefed. But another way of bleeding power is by not trimming the sails to the optimum. This is quite legitimate. You can add too much sail twist for instance. This can delay the need to reef. However at 31 knots you probably should be reefed in all cases. What point of sail were you on?

[ZeroReady]

Close hauled. Even if I had reefed though I still can't break 8.5 kts right?

[ZeroReady]

Also I am unable to raise the main when reefing line 1 is at 100%. If I open the jammer and put 2 turns around the winch, the main will raise but the reefing line gets let out to 10%. THis is the first time I've tried reefing outside of the tutorial.

[Sabasti]

Originally posted by ZeroReady:

Aside from the simulation aspect, I don't really see the point of reefing though. Right now I am live sailing getting the poi's. I have had a 31 kt wind for a full day in game. Max speed is limited to 8.5 kts no matter what you do. Why would I bother reefing? Not trying to hate on the sim or anything I love it, just curious what's the point when I can hit top speed without reefing.

Sailors (not including myself yet) tend to put the first reef in around 16kts and the second reef in 25kts. The reason is heeling (the wind pressure on the sail causing the boat to lean over. . If you don't reef in those kinds of winds it gets really bouncy and uncomfortable, secondly the fin may lift out of the water. Most hulls do not function at their best when they are more than 15° heeled over. Worst case scenario: water comes into the cockpit, down the hatch and you sink. (They do however have a margin of error in them).

Not much of this is simulated mind XD. So have at, full sails in 45kts wind :D (Just don't try it for real). (P.S. If you're not reefed at 35kts, you shouldn't be hitting 8.5 at any rate as the hull won't be performing properly).

When the reef is at 100%, ensure that you are turned into the wind with the wind 10-20° off your bow.

[ZeroReady]

Originally posted by Sabasti:

Not much of this is simulated mind XD. So have at, full sails in 45kts wind :D (Just don't try it for real). (P.S. If you're not reefed at 35kts, you shouldn't be hitting 8.5 at any rate as the hull won't be performing properly).

When the reef is at 100%, ensure that you are turned into the wind with the wind 10-20° off your bow.

Thanks for the advice, I just got checked out on 14 foot Hobie waves last weekend, I have learned that a flat hull is a fast hull. However I don't think the effects of heeling are modeled in the sim yet. Here I am at 8.5 kts with no reefing.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1881235694

[mikekavaney]

Rome wasn't built in a day. This is developing into an excellent sailing simulator, with much more to come.

ps, I sail big cats, so I'm used to not heeling..lol

[cbaldwin256]

You are right, I would expect more heeling than that. I will have another look at this, maybe something has changed a little.

[Tommy Lee]

Ok, I am prepping to buy< this game and wondering if there is any guide about this terminology you are using. Apart that it is sailing terminlology it is also on english which is my secondary language, so I would like to go ahead and learn a bit before I even try to learn how to sail. THis way I don't even have a clue what where you just talking about.

Thank you