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.
…” the main halyard is loaded”…
Not on the H16s from the early 80s. Like you said, the slugs in the halyard clipped into the fitting atop the front of the mast just like the current design. So, the only part of the halyard that had any load was from the shackle to this fitting. Not sure about older (70s) models.
The main reasons that I’ve heard for Hobie discontinuing the reef setup was the introduction of the Comptip (and requirement for the metal part of the halyard to not come down to where people could come in contact), and the market feedback that no one really used it. Matt Miller might have more info if he’s reading this.
In addition to providing a solid anchor point with the hook at the top of the mast, it also reduces compression on the mast by 50% over having a halyard carry the sail loads back down to the foot of the mast (again).
I’m trying to wrap my head around this concept, but it’s not working for me. The load with the main attached to the top of the mast is the same as if it’s brought back down to the bottom. If you take away the purchase, you don’t take away half of the load, all of it transfers to the bolt rope, which extends the length of the mast.
In other words, you reduce the load on the bolt rope by fastening the hayard at the bottom of the mast, but the load on the mast is the same either way. What am I missing here?
Mike
