Boom kicker, or YCC spirit

The great part of preparing for the Translemanique is the chance to learn many things, and benefit of experiences of the others. Many YCC members have already helped me one way or another - here is just one example.

When sailing with Andrin, we discussed reefing the mainsail, and he mentioned that a rigid kicker could be useful to support the boom while the mainsail is lowered. I haven't yet reefed the mainsail as part of my Translemanique preparations, but that sounds like a very good idea.

Kicker on Mic Mac

Checking our keelboats, I see that only Mic Mac has a rigid kicker. Both Mamma Mia and Jedi have the kicker fittings on the boom and at the foot of the mast - but no kicker itself. Could I borrow the kicker from Mic Mac? Not really, because the fittings are different... a dead end. 

Kicker fittings on Jedi

Talking to Tim and François - our experts of J/80 - I've learned that the kickers got broken due to repeated overtensioning, and were not replaced as they also obstructed ropes from deck to boom level, and tend to damage the mast and boom tracks. François also added that changing the boom kicker is a quite tricky operation as parts tend to not really collaborate. I could try to get a new kicker, but the supply and delays aren't guaranteed.. so, dead end too. 

However, when I mentioned this to Genrich who was taking Jedi from me, he reassured me that the kicker is not really needed for reefing - it's enough to ease the vang, trim the reefline (thus lifting the boom), and only then ease the main halyard and fix the tack. Genrich has then actually tested it during his outing, and confirmed reefing works fine without a kicker - it's just important not to pull the reefline too hard (fully), as it would pull the whole sail too much like an outhaul, and it wouldn't be possible to lower the mainsail to the reefed position. So I guess a kicker would be nice to have, but it's not really necessary - excellent!

Thanks to all for your suggestions and help. Great YCC spirit!

PS: I will try reefing the mainsail myself tonight, so will see firsthand how it can be done single-handed.