[Rhodes22-list] Shortening Sail

[Ric Stott]

Welcome Paul and Nancy. 
You are one of the few with a ‘Continental mainsail’ , I have one also. 
Sailing the rhodes is different that other sloop rigs. . I have the same furler system. I watch it carefully when furling and deploying, but once in awhile, it wil sip off the disc and onto the deck.
I have to go forward and clear it (slip it back onto the furler tube above the disk. It’s not s big deal, but it always happens at the worse time. 
A new CDI Furler is on my upgrade list. 
So is a 130% Jib. The CDI system will allow me to change jibs without dropping the mast. 
 Over 15 Kts, Reefing the main takes a lot of load off and still supports the Jib.
Rolling the jib partially in a blow, always makes the jib look odd and inefficient- you can learn to improve this, and it looks better on port tsk, but it never looks right.  
The 170% Jib is huge and if I’m at any point of sail below a close reach (at least with MY ‘commodore’ on board), I will only use the jib and leave the main in its cover on the boom. 
MY commodore does not like to go to weather under any circumstances except the iron spinnaker, so when I want to go sailing for real, I leave her ashore. 
My main has two reef points. In both locations, the Jiffy reef clew is lower that a the tie down grommets. I don’t know why, but it seems to work. 
Ric 
SV Dadventure  

> On Aug 6, 2025, at 11:44 PM, Paul Rhodes <plrhodes29 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I’ve finally gotten our new-to-us 1990 Rhodes 22 out on the water, and it was a blast!  Two separate days on Lake Murray near Columbia SC, both with forecasted winds of 8-10, yet very different actual strengths.  First day out, my elder son and I discovered that “New Mercies” moves very well in light to moderate air.  Second day out, a friend of his and I discovered that her full rig is way too much for whatever we had, which I would guess at 12-15 mph, if the first day’s 8-10 was accurate.  However, the flared gunwale held firm and we flew!  Our rails are well washed.
> 
> Given that our two sailboats for the last 4 decades were a heavy wooden 22ft gaff fractional sloop and a 40 ft yawl of a more classic Phil Rhodes design, I found the Rhodes 22 to be much more responsive both to me and the weather, for better and for worse.  She’ll make me a better sailor too.  And I have some questions:
> 
> First, I’m curious to know if the sail numbers relate to the order of construction, as they do in many classes.  “New Mercies” wears #444, and we don’t have any evidence of a different number or previous name.
> 
> More importantly, when the Commodore comes aboard for a cruise, I’m pretty confident that she will prefer a more level boat.  For those of you like us still using a non-furling main, how do you shorten sail?  As we needed to on our second day, we simply rolled in the jib a bit.  It worked, but was pretty sloppy. Any thoughts on keeping the jib shaped when it’s partially furled?  Our jib furler is very simple: just the sail track with a disk on the bottom that for the most part keeps the furling line off the deck.  Not sure whether this is what other boats have, but so far it works.
> 
> As for the main, there is a second grommet that could serve as the tack for a first reef, but no reef points.  However, the fittings on the boom are only at the ends.  It seems like I could reef to any amount (at least up to the first batten) by simply taking the boom out of the mast track and rolling it to take on the sail.  I like the concept - similar to what was on our yawl.  Yet with the boom detached unlike on the yawl, I could see that this might become a very lively operation if we didn’t reef early enough.  Does anyone have experience or thoughts about this?
> 
> Finally, we’re in the market for a Boom Room, Bimini, and boat cover.  I’ve left a few messages and sent a few emails about them with no replies.  It seems likely that we’ll need to have them made.  Does anyone have plans or patterns we could use?
> 
> Thanks so much.
> 
> Glad to be part of the Rhodie band,
> Paul and Nancy Rhodes
> S/V New Mercies 
> Chapin, SC and Savannah, GA
> 
> Sent from my iPhone

Richard F. Stott, AIA, LEED AP 
ric at stottarchitecture.com
C- 516-965-3164