It is obviously most important that any sailing dinghy used for cruising should be capable of being reefed while afloat. Since the loose-footed gunter rig of my Mirror did not lend itself to this I modified it slightly.

Removing the kicking-strap and putting four rolls in the mainsail brings the boom almost to the first batten and drops the gaff by about thirty inches. When hoisted, however, the gaff will hang at a drunken angle, spoiling the shape of the sail, unless the main halyard is attached higher up the gaff.

To achieve this, the halyard is led from its normal attachment point (where it remains shackled) to a point about twenty-eight inches higher up the gaff where it passes between two wooden eyes. A brass rod passes through these eyes, thereby trapping the halyard against the gaff.

The arrangement has one other refinement which I consider invaluable, particularly when single-handing the boat. At the end of the boom, along its top, I have screwed a batten about one inch high and half an inch wide. This increases the effective circumference of the end of the boom when the sail is rolled round it and obviates having to put a tuck in the sail to prevent the boom from sagging. Its one less thing to worry about and greatly simplifies the reefing operation.

I have found that a PVC record sleeve makes an ideal chart case. It conveniently accepts Stanford charts folded along existing fold lines and takes chinagraph pencil markings well. The case can be sealed with one of those long plastic clips frequently used for binding catalogues and calendars.