Thor,
How are the blocks attached? Permanently sewn to the sail?
Reefing in three boat lengths...that’s impressive. I don’t think it’s hard but I doubt I’ve ever done it that fast.
Jim Cosgrove
FATE 30U #343
Galesville MD
Jim,
You need to ask Thor how fast he was sailing. At low speeds it can take a while to cover three boat lengths, especially if you think your boat is the same size as the Queen Mary. The paddle wheel on La Reina measures in nautical miles. It does not have setting for boat lengths. Mariner’s Cat V must have different instruments. 
Mark (he likes to stir things up) Powers
La Reina 26C
Vancouver, B.C.
We were in the lea of a small island looking at 25 K on the other side… so were for all intents becalmed. Debbie can hold the boat into the wind at low speed so we chose that moment as doing it in 25K is a pain . Like Mark says I travel in a different time warp 
As for the blocks. I used a stainless ring on one side and deema loop on the ring through the reef point to the block. Here is a very crude diagram, when Mariners Cat is back in the water and passing Mark at high speed while reefed I will take some pictures of the set up and Mark waving at us from way back on the horizon
I look forward to the sailing lessons Master Po.
Mark (your humble student) Powers
La Reina 26C
Vancouver, B.C.
Thanks Thor. How did you make your loops? Are they just tied or spliced somehow. Can’t wait to see photos but guessing you’ll need a pretty fast shutter speed otherwise will be a blur.
Jim Cosgrove
FATE 30U #343
Galesville MD
I am going to need all the laundry out to keep up, 
https://www.thechandleryonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=17_526_760&products_id=9592
Loop the ring and attach the block to the other side
Boat is out for the season but I will post a photo next spring.
Eric, Jim et al -
I sail a smaller boat than Thor’s (an N22) with, of course, a sail that’s smaller and lighter. Like many Nonsucher’s, I do not have blocks on the sail at the reef points (tack or clew), simply rings that the lines go through. I haven’t needed blocks to deal with friction from the lines (especially the 1st and 2nd clew reef lines that travel along the boom then down to the base of the mast, etc.) as I’ve tried to minimise friction at various points along the way.
I was also a little concerned about blocks slapping around, whacking the sail, possibly chafing or abrading it (though many of us have gone the route of Thor with blocks at the actual reef cringles and, likely, haven’t had issues).
Like many of the things that we mess around with on our boats, there is the “way it was designed” (usually perfectly fine) and, sometimes, the “improved method”, discovered through experimentation (aka try anything … hey, why not ??) and discussion.
My old sail simply had reef cringles (BIG grommets) in the sail. That’s normal. This simply meant tying the reef line to the appropriate place on one side of the sail (the mast base or boom), passing the line THROUGH the cringle to a block on the other side of the sail and then … via various routes … sending the line back to the cockpit. That is the philosophy, granted, slightly oversimplified.
My new sail came with TWO rings (one on each side attached with webbing) going through EACH of the TWO tack reefs (not the clew reefs). This allowed me to rig these two reefs in other ways. I did not have to pass the reef line THROUGH the cringle - I could tie the line to the port side, pass it through this new ring on the port side down to a block on the port side and send it back to the cockpit. Or, I could attach a block to this new ring and pass the line through that, instead of the new ring.
I hope this makes sense. I have never had to put a reefing line through a block (and wouldn’t want to) in orde to get it good and tight.
I’ve attached a few photos to (hopefully) clarify all of this.
Have fun and experiment. If you think that something that you are doing might chafe your sail or anything else, try lashing it with a length of Dyneema (Spectra) instead of using a metal shackle. Like attaching the clew of the sail to the end of the boom !!
By the way, I don’t have a photo of the trophy that I was given by LYRA for “the quickest reef in history” (2 boat lengths - my LOA is 22’). That was back in 2018. I reefed so quickly that no one even caught it !!
Good story, eh ??!! Stay well.
Ernie A. in Toronto
Ernie,
Nice looking sail and bronze slides. Perfect.
Mark Powers
La Reina 26C
Vancouver, B.C.
That’s funny about the reefing points, Ernie, as I just returned from helping a friend put his new sail on his 30U. We noticed the straps in the cringles and didn’t sort that out right away.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I was a little surprised about the rings and straps when I got my new sail from Mack. I wasn’t quite sure of what to do but wound up happy with what I rigged. Effortless reefing, honestly. Especially at the tack - you just let her slide down and yank that reef tight.
And, yes, Mark, I LOVE the bronze slides. They are VERY expensive (especially in Canada). Travis, at Mack, scavenged them and the old aluminum headboard from my old sail.
I really like that sail - it powers MOUSTACHES along.
Ernie A. in Toronto
I have not seen any chafe from the blocks, but I do reverse the lines each year and look for wear on the leach end.. One, thing a friend of mine found out under duress, you can control the sail with the leach reef lines of the main sheet blows out!
The issue as I see it is you need to get the tack as low as you can and running the line across the sail means your tack will be at the top of the sail pack, nearly two feet up. Botteral this had this trick of running the line through the gap in the sail slide to the common side. The idea works but there is friction.
Thor
Thanks for all of the input - you guys are great! I think I am light on the mast hardware so will mostly need to double block the two leach reef lines to have space to terminate the luff reefing lines…