Moody 376 Inmast furling main.

Z

Zoltan Szucs

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Dear owners! Currently I am considering a Moody 376 with big offshore dreams, and maybe some arctic rounds in mind.
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Moody 376, 49.950 € | iNautia.com

Daysailer from the year 1990 - 11,53m length - in France(France)
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My only concern regards the inmast furling main. Climbing the mast in a gale for a jammed cloth does not attract me at all. May I ask for some opinion? How much is it problematic in real weather? Is it painful to change it for a slab-reefing system? Thank you.
 
Zoltan, assuming this is a factory fitted in mast system rather than something added later, it shouldn't be a problem and many new yachts of offshore sailing are now fitted with in mast reefing as standard.

Some tips. The main needs to be in good condition. If its baggy and worn out then that can lead to problems. Also the angle of the boom to the mast when furling is also important. We try to keep ours at 90 degrees. Depending which way the sail is furled in the mast, you should furl it so the sail wraps onto the tube in the mast and not by having to be pulled around the edge of the mast slot. You can reef going downwind, but much easier to do going upwind with the main slightly luffing particularly if the wind is strong.

We have had one jam with the old sail. Working it in and out over a couple of minutes freed it up and solved it. We tend to reef it by hand rather than put the lines on a winch.

Overall after 15 years we like in mast reefing. It can all be done from the cockpit and you have the option to easily adjust the main to match the conditions. Of course when not sailing, the main is nicely rolled up inside the mast protecting it from the weather and sun. The only problem is when the sail gets old, it still looks in good condition which tends to hide the stretched panels. Our old main not only had a nasty hook on the leach, but each panel curved top to bottom like a junk rig sail. We bought a new main at a good price because it doesn't need batons and pockets cutting down the amount of work making it.

There is a downside and that is less roach. However, on a masthead rig the power comes from the Genoa, therefore the smaller in mast main only give a little away in mainly light conditions. Then a cruising chute come into its own.

If we were to ever change the boat, in mast reefing would be a big plus point I would be looking for.

Pete
 
Hi Zoltan,

Like you, we had doubts about in-mast furling when we bought Wild Thyme, but it didn't take long to work out that changing to slab reefing would not be a sensible option. To make a good job of it would require a new mast and boom.

She came with sails which we knew were in urgent need of replacement so did that in the first few months. You have options for no battens, which requires a negative roach (concave leech) short battens which do not overlap vertically and which can support a straight leech and full height battens which will support a conventional positive roach (concave leech). This last design is typified by the Maxi Roach brand and benefits from the availability of laminar sailcloth which can be thinner than woven cloth for the same strength. We chose the small batten option.

That was 12 years ago and we have sailed in some rough weather since then, but not crossed any oceans. We have experienced moe than 1 jam, arising out of operator error rather than problems with the system but have always solved them as Pete describes - go backwards and forwards until the jam clears. The worst course of action when a jam starts is to just pull harder - that will just make a tighter jam to clear. Every jam we have had has been due to a fold in the sail trying to roll onto the mandrel. All the talk about boom angle is really about balancing leeh and foottension as the sail is furled and the correct angle will be dependent on the cut of the sail. On our M425, it is cut as designed so the boom is above the 90 degree position. It's worth marking the topping lift with tapeat the clutch to show the correct position for setting / furling or reefing. In practice you don't need to change this when sailing, unless the topping lift car rattling inside the boom drives you crazy.

Like Pete, over the years we have come to prefer this arrangement over the more conventional slab reefing arrangement - it permits easy reefing fromthe cockpit. and much easier stowing up even as compared to a stackpack - a very valuable asset for short or single handed sailing.

If it's a Kemp or Selden system, setting, reefing and furling should all be done on starboard tack to fulfill the need Pete describesfor the sail to flow freely onto the mandrel.

Hope this helps.

Peter.
 
Hi Zoltan,

That's what the MOA is all about. If you buy one, be sure to join. The annual subscription is cheap in terms of yacht ownership and the information and help available is great.

Hope your search goes well.

Peter.
 
Zoltan, In-mast is marvellous and I have some friends who went round the world with the system - they did admit to one jam but the sail must have been getting a little tired by then.

However just for the sake of balancing opinions, I have twice had to drop a mainsail really fast which you cannot do with in-mast reefing. First was on a friend's boat when a water sprout appeared very close to us - the owner had been contemplating in-mast but instead went for in-boom. Second in my own boat when I suddenly lost steering. Also in-mast does put more weight aloft; ideally this should be balanced with more weight (and depth?) in the keel but I have never heard owners comment about this. A Moody is beamy and does have a good keel.

With both in-mast and in-boom you do need to ensure that it rolls evenly and marking the topping lift as mentioned by Peter is both simple and thoroughly recommended.
 
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