So how many people have installed reefing points on the mainsail to depower the rig and give you speed rather than abundant heeling force. Most monos can do it quickly and easily on and off the wind, why are reefing points not standard on cat main sails?
To depower a sail you can make it smaller (reef), or flatten it. Modern high performance beachcats focus on flattening it - by application of high main sheet and cunningham tension. In addition, the top of the mast will tend to bend off to leeward which 'spills' pressure when the apparent wind is forward. The combined main sheet and cunnigham tension place a reasonably large load on the head of the sail. This is why most beachcat main sails latch to the top of the mast - as that is a robust anchor to resist those forces rather than it all being on the halyard.
Older designs with lower sheet / cunningham tension (such as the Hobie 16) did have the ability to reef the main. In those cases, the main halyard is loaded and typically has a wire section with a slug that is trapped in a V on the front of the mast. A couple of slugs are placed on the wire section for the full and reefed sail positions.
When I have seen those older designs reefed the mains do not look very flat to me - which means they still develop a lot of power reaching or going upwind. In a 'survival' mode sailing downwind the reduction in sail area would probably be useful. It seems to me that the window where a reefed main would provide advantage is narrow. Above a certain point you'd better turtle the boat or take down the sails (difficult in big wind/wave state).
Hobie Tiger mains have been supplied with small reef point grommits - but not reinforced at those locations. I think they were included to comply with a class rule rather than for real world use. Smythe put reef points on one 18HT sail I've seen - but I never saw it sailed with the reef in.
Chris.
