I realize Vic was using an old main in this video (VeeJay Reefed) but I couldn't help thinking the reef setup didn't provide enough leech tension. It's a bit hard to tell in the video, but it looks like the reef line is only pulling aft on the reef cringle and downward tension to the boom is relying on ties.

Try passing the reef line through the cringle and tying a fairly tight bowline around the boom. Capture the standing part of the reef line between boom end and cringle with the bowline. As the reef line is tensioned, it pulls the mainsail aft and straps it tightly to the boom. If you reef regularly, a turning block strung into the loop of the bowline (or attached to the boom) would reduce chafe on the reef line.

Bob - That is a great suggestion. I just rebuilt my boom and ran a new reef line because it got chaffed at the attachment to the main clew when we reefed for 100 miles on the delivery back after the NAs last fall. I was actually planning on keeping a snatch block onboard just to accommodate reefing in the future.

roger, roger ... I am not sure which video you referred to ... but after blowing a few reef lines a ways back, I started putting a tie through the reef cringle as a back up ...

then depending on how fast or how senior the crew is we have a wide tolerance on "fine tuning"

With senior crew ... decisions are always based on "crew ability" du jour and boat motion.

we "try" to follow standard procedures re boom through cringle to aft end of boom ... never got fray on the reef line ... just simple stress failures with old 3/8s.

the Pentex we blew up a month ago ... didn't have a clew slide, I didn't have a velcro strap, and a pretty piece of red line was handy ... and that would have been on the end of the boom with some sort of reef sort of sitting on top if it. Red is our favorite color.

we tried a small block at the reef point a couple of times to make it easier, but if we using the horns anyway ... ...

Bob is on the right track but we use one modification that really gets the tack down tight. Do what Bob says but rather than putting the bowline around the boom, you make a slip knot around the boom with the reefline. This lets you crank on the reefline to tighten the reef but also tension the reefline on the boom to keep a nice tight tack point.

Steps:
1. Run the reefline down the boom to where it is under the reef cringle and pass reefline through port side of reef cringle
2. Take reefline on starboard side down, under boom, back over boom AND over portside of reefline - between the foot of the main (this only works on loose footed mains)
3. Tie a bowline around the part of the reefline that is coming down the starboard side of the main.