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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Question for '06 or '07 250 WK Owners

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Mike Chrisman
Deckhand

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USA
8 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/23/2007 : 20:48:50

Do you have a block and a cleat on your mast for the factory reefing system? It's referenced in the manual, but my boat did not come with it.

Short of the story: my neighbor at the marina just got a new 250 WB. His rig is slightly different. His topping lift and outhaul come out of the boom and run to camcleats mid-boom. The reefing line goes out near the gooseneck to a small block and cleat on the mast.

My boom has all three lines exiting the boom near the gooseneck. I'm not sure if this was a running change, a difference between the WB and WK models or if Catalina owes me a block and a cleat. I understand from the forum that there are issues with the stock system as it was designed. Still, I'd like to know how the stock set up should be and if I should be asking for another block and cleat.

Thanks!!

Mike Chrisman
Catalina 250 WK (Sail # 936)
Escape
Brookville Lake IN

Edited by - on

Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Response Posted - 07/23/2007 : 23:14:42

Mike,

I have a WB and don't have the cleat for tieing down the reefing line. And yes it's in my manual also.

Edited by - on

Mike013
1st Mate

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USA
64 Posts

Response Posted - 07/24/2007 : 00:47:33

I have a 2006 wing keel and the hardware on the mast matches my owners manual.

Edited by - on

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 07/24/2007 : 09:11:45

I have an '06 WK and have a block and a cleat.

Edited by - on

Bill Arden
1st Mate

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USA
83 Posts

Response Posted - 07/25/2007 : 14:28:29

Yep, me too. Small block on the port side, cleat on the starboard side of the mast.

On Prana (#898), the reefing line starts near the aft end of the boom, runs through the leech reefing cringle, then back to a sheave at the aft end of the boom (port side, if I remember correctly), then down the boom to a sheave at the gooseneck end. From there it goes down to the turning block on the mast, back up and through the luff reefing cringle, then down on the starboard side to the cleat.

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 07/25/2007 : 15:37:08

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Bill Arden
 Yep, me too. Small block on the port side, cleat on the starboard side of the mast.

On Prana (#898), the reefing line starts near the aft end of the boom, runs through the leech reefing cringle, then back to a sheave at the aft end of the boom (port side, if I remember correctly), then down the boom to a sheave at the gooseneck end. From there it goes down to the turning block on the mast, back up and through the luff reefing cringle, then down on the starboard side to the cleat.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My 97 is pretty much the same way as Bill's except once it leaves the "luff cringle toward the starboard, I bypass the cleat and keep going down to a block at the bottom of the mast and then to a deck turning block and back to the starboard double clutch so reefing can be done from in the cockpit.

Edited by - Tom Potter on 07/25/2007 15:38:09

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 07/25/2007 : 17:36:48

Tom,

Do you find that works well enough, or do you have trouble with excess friction? We often are pulling on line as it comes out of the boom at the mast to bring in the aft reef, and then taking up the slack on the other side of the sail/mast where the cleat is. I am wondering whether you find that you can get both for and aft reefs in easily enough from the cockpit with the setup you describe...

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 07/25/2007 : 20:19:02

Kevin,
It works well enough for me to not want to change anything, its not the greatest system like others have said, but it works for me.

To make things easier I marked the halyards and reef lines with a piece of sail twine. I did this by setting the reef first, then with a sharpie pen I marked the halyard and reef lines about one inch in front of the deck clutch. The sharpie pen mark will fade after a while so I took a sail needle and a small piece of sail twine and threaded a small peice through the halyard and another through reef lines making permanent marks. I used the sharpie to mark the lines because I had to slacken them to get the needle to go through.

Keeping the aft part of the boom supported by the topping lift helps take the friction off the reefing line. I drop the main enough so I know the reefing cringles are well below the boom and then hand pull the reef line until the sail twine mark is one inch in front of the clutch and then raise the main halyard until its sail twine mark is also one inch in front of the clutch. Then loosen the topping lift. This way I get the same set each time, it takes a lot of the guess work out of it.

Edited by - on

Mike Chrisman
Deckhand

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USA
8 Posts

Response Posted - 07/25/2007 : 20:53:08

Thanks to all for your replies and insight!!

Edited by - on

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 07/26/2007 : 11:11:03

Tom,

Did you reroute your topping lift? I have mine set to hold the boom up, but when the main is up, the boom is supported by the main and the topping lift is loose. Do you haul in the topping lift more when you are reefing?

Thanks for the info Tom, this is obviously of interest to me...

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 07/26/2007 : 17:47:47

Kevin,
There was no topping lift on the boat when I bought her, so I did install a simple topping lift. I attached one end to the mast head and ran the other end to the aft end of the boom around the small sheave in the end of the boom and out the top of the sheave slot and made it fast on the aft starboard boom cleat. When I go to set the reef, I untie the topping lift from the cleat and tighten it up enough so that it raises the end of the boom about 6 inches before I lower the main. If I don't raise the boom a little, it makes it harder to get the reefing line tight.

Don't get me wrong, this is not the greatest way and sometimes it gives me problems as well. The key for me is to raise the boom a little and lower the main so the reefing cringles are horizontal with the boom so there's no tension on the reefing line while I'm pulling the reef in.
Hope this makes since.

Edited by - on

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 07/26/2007 : 18:46:15

It does, thanks Tom.

-Kevin

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