Reef points

[Snowy]

hi all
just a quick question
were reef point's and the rope that hung out to tie up sails on both sides of the sails on 1700-1800 sail ships.ie were the ropes on both sides.
cheers snowy

 

[Uwek]

Yes - reef points were one both sides of the sail ! also called reefing line or bunt line
I am not sure, but they punched a hole through the sail and the rope / line was pulled through half of the length, than the made on each side a knot close to the hole / eyelet, in order to make sure that the rope remains in place. Maybe somebody knows more ....

 

[Gilles Korent]

A reef-point is a short braided rope / line hanging on both sides of the sail.
The length of a reef-point is the same on both sides of the sail.
The reef-points are fitted through a series of eyelets (reef-eyelets) located along each reef-band (1, 2 or 3) across the width of the sail.
Once the rope is passed through the eyelet, a knot is tied on both sides of the sail cloth / eyelet to secure the reef-point.

G

 

[Uwek]

A reef-point is a short braided rope / line hanging on both sides of the sail.
The length of a reef-point is the same on both sides of the sail.
The reef-points are fitted through a series of eyelets (reef-eyelets) located along each reef-band (1, 2 or 3) across the width of the sail.
Once the rope is passed through the eyelet, a knot is tied on both sides of the sail cloth / eyelet to secure the reef-point.

G

So I was not wrong Thanks for the confirmation

 

[Snowy]

Cheers guys makes sense now but what a bummer of a job on a ship of the line
Thanks snowy

 

[Uwek]

Cheers guys makes sense now but what a bummer of a job on a ship of the line
Thanks snowy

But this was a profession of it own...... on a ship of the line, they had several men on board only to take care of the status of the sails, means sail-making..... very important men, like the carpenters also