NOTE: I originally posted this October 2015 on Sage Marine’s BLOG. In a short time the BLOG will be closed – stupidly. I am reposting this information so it is not lost.
Reefing is an important skill for all sailors. Putting in a reef should take less than 30 seconds … not really hard to tuck in a reef in less than 20 seconds and close to 10 on a Sage 17, Sage 15 or SageCat.
On the Sage boats the reefing system that comes standard is well outlined in pictures #1 and #3 in the Cruising World article linked here –
http://www.cruisingworld.com/seamanship-101-reefing-main
The only difference between the Sage sloops and is the tack reef line is lead to the cockpit on the SageCat.
Picture #4, far right graphic specifically, shows how you tie up the loose foot sail after being reefed (on the S17 and SageCat I don’t usually ‘clean up’ the sail as the amount hanging below the boom is small). As shown you don’t tie the foot of the sail around the boom, you tie the sail to itself.
The standard topping lift is controlled differently on the Sage 17. There is no need for a topping lift if the optional Boomkicker is ordered.
Back in April ’15 I discussed reefing. For ‘how it is done on a Sage 17’ details here is a link to that post –
https://m17-375.com/2018/11/16/reefing/
– Dave
