Editing Sailing (section)

====Reducing sail====
Reducing sail on square-rigged ships could be accomplished by exposing less of each sail, by tying it off higher up with reefing points.<ref name=":4" /> Additionally, as winds get stronger, sails can be furled or removed from the spars, entirely until the vessel is surviving hurricane-force winds under "bare poles".<ref name="Royce" />{{rp|137}}

On fore-and-aft rigged vessels, reducing sail may [[furl (sailing)|furling]] the jib and by reefing or partially lowering the mainsail, that is reducing the area of a sail without actually changing it for a smaller sail. This results both in a reduced sail area but also in a lower centre of effort from the sails, reducing the heeling moment and keeping the boat more upright.

There are three common methods of reefing the mainsail:<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />
*Slab reefing, which involves lowering the sail by about one-quarter to one-third of its full length and tightening the lower part of the sail using an [[outhaul]] or a pre-loaded reef line through a [[cringle]] at the new [[Parts of a sail#The corners|clew]], and hook through a cringle at the new [[Parts of a sail#The corners|tack]].
*In-boom roller-reefing, with a horizontal foil inside the [[boom (sailing)|boom]]. This method allows for standard- or full-length horizontal battens.
*In-mast (or on-mast) roller-reefing. This method rolls the sail up around a vertical foil either inside a slot in the mast, or affixed to the outside of the mast. It requires a mainsail with either no [[battens]], or newly developed vertical battens.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Snook|first=Graham|title=How to: A Trouble-free Furling Main|url=https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/how-to-a-trouble-free-furling-main|access-date=30 April 2021|website=Sail Magazine|language=en-us}}</ref>