Rigging the second reef line

Alex MacCaull

A few things I noticed about my set up while I was working. 1) I used to get annoyed at how easily the sail slugs came out of the mast track, but they’re supposed to be easy to put in and out. Track stops are what you need to decide which slugs you want in, and which you don’t. The right choice makes a big difference when tensioning the sail after setting a reef. Leave too many slugs in, the angle of tension from the halyard will be wrong, and the foot of the sail will tension against one of the slugs instead of at the ring/horn connection like it should. This will cause the slugs to pop out under sail, or break. 2) it’s actually nice to have two track stops, so you can keep unused sail slugs in the mast, but below the working area.