Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

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dombrown
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Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by dombrown »

Hi I am in the process of finalising a deal on a freedom 35 CK here in the UK. I have a question regarding the setup of the reefing lines as currently the lines are not rigged at all but all blocks seem to be in place for it. Sadly the current owner is a bit new to it all and cant offer any insight as he has never rigged them. . The boat has the Tanton rig conversion so the sails are no longer wrap around but it has still got the Wishbone boom set up. I am accustomed to conventional booms if you like but I haven't a clue with this wishbone system. I have looked on the forum but thus far I haven't found anything so I wanted to ask if anybody had any, manuals, nstructions or diagrams or some other pointers on how the reefing system/lines should be rigged up. Welcome thoughts and advise on this one folks. Thanks

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arrancomrades
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by arrancomrades »

Hello,

I'm not familiar with the term Tanton Rig, but from Google it looks much like that used on the Nonsuch boats. I have been using a surplus Moody 34 mainsail in place of my wrap-around frontsail as a 'winter' sail with a bespoke sleeve round the mast rather than a track. Unfortunately there aren't any photos of my boat under this sail, but the significant difference when reefing (and indeed hoisting and lowering) is that the height of the wishbone hoist is not varied.

It will be a matter of separating the pile of ropes into frontsail and backsail - hopefully they will use the same colour coding - and the longest ropes will be front halyard, front sheet and second reef clew lines. First reef will be a bit shorter, Frontsail ropes are all longer. Luff reefing lines are simply taken straight down to the mast at deck, then aft. Clew lines you can work out on a calm day. There may also be outhauls lead back to the cockpit but IMHO they are probably not needed. Clew reefs are simply doubled up to the sail and back to the wishbone, luff ones single.

Any rope lead down from the middle bow-end of the backsail wishbone is liable to foul the aft-end of the frontsail wishbone when gybing. Hopefully there is some arrangement by which the reefing lines turn down at the mast - a double sail has a saddle round the mast at this point which also keeps the wishbone in position. There is a complete typewriter-written manual somewhere on the forum for the double sails including the lengths and colours of all the ropes.

You can safely go for a sail without reefing lines on any reasonable day, and some unreasonable ones as well.

Good Luck. I won't be able to take photos until April.
Mike Johnston

dombrown
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by dombrown »

Many thanks indeed for the reply. I have to say not yet having the boat in front of me as it were, it is hard to visualise the current layout of lines. But I can say for sure that the main halyards for both sails are all rigged and fed back to cockpit but as yet no reefing lines are rigged but all the blocks are present and just awaiting the running rigging to be feed through etc. As I think I understand it the reefing lines are a single line arrangement fed to the boom via blocks, passed up through the reefing point cringle and back down to the boom, perhaps made off at that point. Short of clear photos or rigging guide at this point the only way forward seem to be getting hands on and having a look and try to see if I can work it out. ;)

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arrancomrades
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by arrancomrades »

Hello Dom (?)

Ow! Single line reefing is way beyond my experience with Freedoms. With my standard CK35 rig, reefing with two lines is (relatively) straightforward but when un-reefing, there's a lot of friction in the lines, largely as they're between the doubled over sailcloth.

I guess your boat is a one-off conversion. I don't recall anything similar on this forum. For a single line reef, the ropes will be very long, maybe even 40 metres for the frontsail. I would assume that they eventually terminate on the wishbone opposite the clew block.

My clew lines run from the cockpit to the foot of the mast, up through a block hanging off the saddle at wishbone height and inside the doubled sail, aft the whole way to the end of the wishbone (*), forward to a block a meter or so along the wishbone, up through the cringle and back down and tied to the wishbone. If you don't take it right aft (*), the stress on the wishbone block will be excessive unless perhaps it's attached by a strop round the wishbone. There is a lot of stress all round while reefing!

I suggest chasing down some Nonsuch info.

Oops, re previous post and photo, as I'm not planning to rig the 'winter' sail this year, or at least not until late in the season.
Mike Johnston

dombrown
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by dombrown »

Many thanks indeed Mike, I confess I hadn't thought about the lines going all the way aft on the wishbone, but as you've explained it now makes sense otherwise you wouldn't get the tension on the clew to re shape the sail a bit. Unless there is another form of outhaul that is. I am guessing as the sails are no longer wrap around and instead run up a track this will also mean the reefing system may be different as well. I guess it's a case of getting in their and seeing if I can make sense of it when I have hands on the boat. In the meantime I will keep digging. Again thanks for your explanation its helpful as I understand a little more about the rig. Dom

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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by Sailing-61-North »

Hi Dom.
I was - am in the same boat. F33 -- did the single line reefing last summer and am currently changing to 2 line system.

Main is a new single ply laced to the mast (3 reef points). Same with the mizzen except 2 reef. Wishboom are still in place. I did modify the boom controls but still figuring what works best.
S/V Arctic Tern
Freedom 33
1981 - #37
Prince William Sound - Alaska

dombrown
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by dombrown »

Hi. Thanks for feeding back to me on this. I am in a bit of a funny position in that not having the boat in front of me yet, its difficult to visualize the system on the booms. I'm am happy enough with main hauling systems as its simple enough with the blocks and clutch arrangement.of course coming from a conventional boom background it is a bit strange going to a wishbone arrangement, my only experience of thise being windsurfing. A Key differences of course ito my conversational experience is that on the F35 there is no gooseneck as such and the boom are able to go forward of the mast a little,. Again it's another thing to get to grips with and understand. The reefing system is the one that troubles me most and I know a few minutes on a boat already set up or vid of the same or even some diagrams and I'm sure it would all slip into place mentally. It would be so much easier if there was a rigging manual or something. Frustrating fact is that coming from a dinghy back ground I understand some single line systems but this one just isn't coming through yet. Of course there will be no substitute for getting onboard and getting hands on, but that's not going to happen for ag least next month or so.

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Castaway
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by Castaway »

Like Mike, I have wrap around sails, though mine are single ply after the forward metre or so. My thoughts may not apply to your set-up, which sounds like the 'Nonesuch'. I would suggest that you don't try for a single line reefing system. A simple downhaul led aft to a stopper should be sufficient to bring down the tack of the sail, provided that you ease the clew outhaul first, which will ease the friction on the sail track. Clew reefing lines should be rigged as for a 'normal' mainsail, with the line running from the aft end of the wishbone to a block , then through the reef cringe on the leech, and then to the other side of the wishbone. This will also encourage the bunt of the sail to fall into the wishbone, rather than drop all over the place.

As Mike says, you will only need to reef in fairly stiff winds; we used to put in the first reef in the mizzen at around 20 kts apparent wind speed, and I haven't actually used a reef in the past four or five seasons' of inshore sailing; just flatten the sail with the outhaul, and ease the sheets to reduce their 'draw'. More caution needed when crossing large bits of open sea, of course. Gary Hoyt's original specification for the larger Freedom 40 had no reef lines at all! He suggested flattening the sails, then handing them, mizzen first, then bare poles. (!!).
Gerald Freshwater,
s/y 'Castaway', (UK F35 cat ketch, centreboard, 1987)
Lerwick Boating Club
Shetland Isles, Scotland

dombrown
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Re: Freedom 35 CK reefing system. Advise needed

Post by dombrown »

Many thanks for your thoughts. Very much appreciated

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