Mid Line Splice?

[Bluenose]

I stumbled onto something called the "Rogers Reefing Refinement" and would like to try a variation on my boat. But there is a spice joining the second reef line into the first reef line that I haven't seen before.



Can anyone tell me the name of this spice and lead me towards some instructions.

Cheers & Thanks,
Bill

[benz]

Hi Bill,

if the reef line is three-strand, it's dead simple: just start tucking the strands of the second line anywhere along the first line that you wish. I do this with bucket lanyards quite often. Seems unlikely with double braid, and with HM it might take a tuck rather than a bury splice. Tuck splice instructions can be downloaded from both the Samson and the New England ropes websites.

[Ian McColgin]

benz has the splice right - just pretend it's a very large eye splice and you can't even see the whole bight.

But to the idea - seems to me like a solution in search of a problem. The reefing clew and tack lines I keep rigged all come readily to hand and it's really no hassel to grab all three for the first reef, then two and then the last if reefing all the way.

I have a bit of a fetish against jam, cam, cram and slam cleats as they can be very hard to release if loaded, except of course when they release themselves because the loose tail of the reefing pendent has snagged on something while you tack and . . .

Now if you have only two reefs and if you work out the geometry for a single line slab reefing with the traveling blocks staggered so they don't tangle up inside the boom . . .

[mrgnstrn]

I don't understand how this is an improvement on anything.

You still need two cleats; if you already have that, why not just lead one clew reef to one, one clew reef to the other and avoid the crazy splice and all that.

This complicated system is just begging to get fouled up or the instructions lost or forgotten, of course at the worst possible time (when you really really really need to reef).

One line for each is much less likely to get messed up in your head. and if anyone else ever helps you reef, the instructions will be much easier "pull the red line" instead of "release the port and pull in the starboard, or was it the other way around?"

-M