Sail management - brailing lines
While sailing alone I often have a need to temporary douse the sail but without dropping it. I found Tim Cooks post solving this problem exactly. Brailing lines!
On loose-footed lug sail (Misanier) like my Ilur it is a very simple system. Single line going from sail´s throat, through 3rd reefing cringle and back to throat, on the other side of the sail.
The line goes then down, after passing through a small block hanging on sail´s throat.
I wanted to make this a part of the sail, so that I don´t need to rig it every time I step the mast. At the bottom it is attached to tack-corner by a clip.
I tried it on my driveway, in the evening. It works very well.
My only concern is if the line will not cause problems when I rise the sail. It is a good few meters of rather loose line. It has a potential of doing a mess when in hurry.
I will probably not test it during the coming weekend as Storm Lilian is heading our way.