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Image credit: RORC 

Reducing mainsail area effectively is an essential aspect of depowering the boat as the wind strength increases. For offshore racing or cruising it is particularly important to be able to do so quickly and safely and this becomes even more critical when sailing shorthanded. Without weight on the rail, the need to reef comes earlier and the ability to deal with a situation is reduced. A mainsail reefing system should be reliable, quick to operate and produce an adequate sail shape once reefed. In this blog we discuss 4 options for taking a slab in the main. 

©Bamar

Are you considering upgrading your sail plan to include a staysail? It is an increasingly popular choice, offering considerable performance benefits, which is explored in more detail in our previous blog here. In this blog we focus on the various setup options and some things to watch out for when considering an inner forestay retrofit.

The Alphalock brand is a relative newcomer on the sailing hardware scene but its CEO, Eric Hall – founder of Hall Spars and inventor of their renowned Hall Autolocks - is anything but “the new kid on the block”! Eric has taken all his years’ experience and channeled them into producing an ultra-simple, lightweight and adaptable halyard locking mechanism.

Photo Credits: Jason Ball

Halyard locks are almost universally accepted in racing circles and are becoming increasingly popular with long distance cruisers, as they recognise the significant benefits.

Founded in 2004, Karver set themselves the goal of developing and manufacturing hardware for the latest generation of high-tech yachts... and they are succeeding with just that.

(Image: Karver KFH1)

By: Nick Black / Andy Rice                                                               

Most modern boats today have a form of top-down furling. If you don’t already use this method of sail handling, it’s worth considering a retrofit. Compared with hoisting and dropping spinnakers and gennakers in the conventional way, and all the potential for mistakes that go with that, top-down furling is a much more user-friendly and less risky way of handling big downwind sails.