So we opted for our Malo with its teak deck and mahogany interior and more hand built construction than anything coming out of one of the large modern production lines elsewhere. Nevertheless Vega is a modern design with a sloop rig, a single mast supported by wire stays and shrouds, and a partially enclosed cockpit offering good protection from the worst of the weather. 

Despite the complexity of wire stayed rigs, the alternative self-supporting non stayed options that are available have never really caught on, certainly not with the mass boat builders. Eric and Arless sail Corroboree with a non stayed mast but that is the only example I can recall on our circumnavigation. There are various wire stay configurations to choose from. Ours happens to be a fractional rig with swept back spreaders but the differences between the various types are too nuanced for even this blog.

Like pretty much all modern stayed rigs our foresail (genoa) is held in a foil which rotates around the wire forestay so that the sail can be rolled up when not in use or partially rolled up for reefing when sailing. We also have a second detachable inner forestay for setting a smaller jib.  The smaller jib is a better size and shape than the original genoa when the genoa is reefed for sailing close hauled in stronger winds. However, our newer smaller genoa has been designed to retain its flat shape when reefed, making less need for the jib.

Our mainsail is fully battened meaning it has four full width battens across the sail giving the sail a more rigid (and hence powerful) shape than mainsails with shorter battens in the leech (the back edge of the sail), which is what our original mainsail had. The luff (front edge) is attached by webbing straps through a slot in the mast to small wheeled cars that run vertically up and down inside the mast. Older boats may have the luff of the sail fed directly into the mast slot but the car system reduces friction dramatically when raising or lowering the sail.

Our mainsail is also loose footed meaning it is only attached to the boom at the front (tack) and at the back (clew). The clew attachment is actually to an adjustable slider in the boom that allows the foot of the sail to be pulled out tight or slackened off, depending upon whether you want a flat or a fuller shape to the sail. On some and most older boats the whole foot of the sail may be fed into and along a slot running the length of the boom. As a consequence of its configuration our mainsail is reefed by lowering it onto the boom.  This is known as slab reefing for which there are, in our case, three additional pairs of attachment points on the luff and leach of the sail at which the sail can be attached to the boom as it is lowered. You select the attachment points depending upon how much you wish to reef the sail. Traditionally the attachments can be made by simply hooking a metal ring on the sail around a horn on the boom for which you need to go forward. There are small metal eyes or holes sewn into the sail along each reefing level through which you can thread a line to tie around the folds of lowered sail to stop the sail falling below the boom and onto the deck. I have watched naval cadets at Dartmouth lower a mainsail, carefully and immaculately making folds over the boom, tying off the folds and then placing a cover over the folded sail. Sadly cruisers don’t usually have a line of matelots along the boom to do the reefing or stowing and this is where reefing lines and lazyjacks come into play. 

Lazyjacks are lines from either side of the boom up to the mast at the level of the first set of spreaders or thereabouts. The sail is sandwiched between the lines and when dropped completely or partially for reefing is held along the boom and prevented from falling onto the deck and getting blown around. No further tying is required and the arrangement usually incorporates each side of a boom length bag that can be zipped together over the sail to completely enclose it when fully lowered.

Reefing lines go from the boom up to and through holes (cringles) at the reefing points on the leech (rear edge) of the sail and then down to the back of the boom from where the line is led to the front of the boom for adjustment and tying off at the same time as the luff (front edge) of the sail is secured to the horn. On a single line reefing system the reefing line is led on from the front of the boom up to and through a block on the luff of the sail and then back down and to the cockpit. Thus lowering and reefing of the sail can, in theory, all be achieved without ever having to leave the cockpit! In practice single line systems introduce so much friction when raising the sail after it has been reefed (by having to pull back through all the lines from the cockpit) that some form of compromise is usually settled upon. In our case we need to go to the mast for the first and third reefs to attach the luff to the horn on the boom. The reefing line from the back of the sail is also adjusted at the front of the boom for the first reef but for the third reef (ie to make the sail the smallest of the three options) the line is led back to the cockpit. The second and most used reef is a single line back to the cockpit.

To many cruisers the slab reefing system with lazyjacks and with or without single reefing lines seems unnecessarily complicated. Yes, the sail does have to be de-powered for reefing and dead into the wind for raising. How you drop the mainsail completely when going downwind in a blow with a big following sea is something we have never resolved. And yet there is very little to go wrong with the system. A broken halyard or reefing line is very unlikely to leave the sail locked in the raised position - it will just fall down. And when done carefully and methodically reefing can be a simple joy. However, a very popular alternative system is that of in-mast (or in-boom) furling. Like the genoa in principle the sail is wound around a metal rod but within the mast (or boom). No need for lazyjacks, reefing lines or sail cover. You can reef downwind and all from the cockpit. For many cruisers this system is a “no brainer”. It requires a straight mast and so no fractional rig like ours and you can’t have horizontal battens to improve the sail shape unless you have the furling system in the boom. However, the big drawback is, like any mechanical system, it can and does go wrong. The sail can jam in or out or anywhere in between. Some may recall Ben Ainsley’s conveniently jammed in mast furler when just off Richard Branson’s holiday island. I have used one and for simple sail adjustment they are a joy, but at a risk we weren’t prepared to take.