Hansa/Access Classes Reefing Advice

How to achieve Reliable Reefing for Hansa/Access 2_3 303 and Liberty news article

UK sailors have been complaining for some time that the roller-reefing system around the mast is unreliable, especially in the strong winds at the upper end of what is acceptable for Access TT races. Click this link to see the advice received from the designer and IACA on a method of making reefing more reliable.

Richard

Further to this we draw your attention to the method, laid out below, Swarkestone Sailability use for reefing their Access Dinghies.

Reefing at Swarkestone Sailability

At Swarkestone we haven't used the reefing drums for many years - partly because on the main sails they have broken and more importantly because we wanted a system that was totally safe.
Our solution without using the reefing drum is to rotate the mast/sail two or more turns and then tie a line from the downhaul to the boom. Having done this rotate the mast back one quarter to half a turn to tension this attachment to the boom. Whilst this arrangement does not allow any reefing adjustment on the water unless you are fully able bodied it does have the advantage of being 100% safe i.e. removes the possibility of the reef line being uncleated or the drum slipping.