Reefing with a sliding gooseneck

[Jim Fulton]

Originally Posted by Brion Toss

• Someone else mentioned tightening the main halyard as an adjunct to the downhaul. I can earnestly unrecommend this practice, as it has the unfortunate consequence of tightening the leach as well as the luff, and this is the last thing you want.

I would like more of an explanation of the distribution of forces here. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I use the flexibility offered by the sliding gooseneck to raise and lower the center of effort by raising and lowering the whole sail. When the sail is raised to the top of the mast and the gooseneck is at the top of its track, I use the downhaul to tension the luff. When the gooseneck is at the bottom of its track, I use the halyard to tension the luff. (I didn't mention thatI have boom-end sheeting, which may or may not be important.)

In the one instance, the head is fixed and the gooseneck is moved; in the other, the gooseneck is fixed and the head moves. I don't see why the effect on the sail would be different. What am I missing?

Jim Fulton