Spinnaker sizes

[dgadee]

Haven't used two spinnakers on board since I bought the boat. Planning to get a sock and measured both. One 10m leech (sounds right) and other less than 5m which doesn't sound right. Would a storm spinnaker be so small? Halyard would be 5m above the sail.

 

[DFL1010]

Last thing you'd want is a spinnaker at anything less than full hoist. On a reach it's in the wrong place and downwind it starts oscillating with some quite entertaining results.

 

[Concerto]

Haven't used two spinnakers on board since I bought the boat. Planning to get a sock and measured both. One 10m leech (sounds right) and other less than 5m which doesn't sound right. Would a storm spinnaker be so small? Halyard would be 5m above the sail.

Personally I hate the sock. I set my spinnaker singlehanded on my Fulmar. It is easy to raise with the pole fairly forward of the wind until fully hoisted, then square back and sheet to trim. Dropping is what scares most people. The trick is to use a snatch block on the sheet on the rail at the aft end of the coachroof as this tightens the leech behind the mainsail. Now trip the guy . Once back in the cockpit, the spinnaker is de-powered and the main covers it. Gather the foot under the boom and let the halyard down leaving one turn round the winch. The friction on the winch allows the sail to not drop immediately. The spinnaker is dropped into the cockpit well and then I unfurl the genoa and trim. Finally I repack the spinnaker in the cockpit and tidy the sheets, pole and halyard. The strongest wind I have dropped in was 18 knots on the beam and I still have never got the spinnaker wet.

 

[dgadee]

Last thing you'd want is a spinnaker at anything less than full hoist. On a reach it's in the wrong place and downwind it starts oscillating with some quite entertaining results.

That's what I would think.

 

[dgadee]

Personally I hate the sock. I set my spinnaker singlehanded on my Fulmar. It is easy to raise with the pole fairly forward of the wind until fully hoisted, then square back and sheet to trim. Dropping is what scares most people. The trick is to use a snatch block on the sheet on the rail at the aft end of the coachroof as this tightens the leech behind the mainsail. Now trip the guy . Once back in the cockpit, the spinnaker is de-powered and the main covers it. Gather the foot under the boom and let the halyard down leaving one turn round the winch. The friction on the winch allows the sail to not drop immediately. The spinnaker is dropped into the cockpit well and then I unfurl the genoa and trim. Finally I repack the spinnaker in the cockpit and tidy the sheets, pole and halyard. The strongest wind I have dropped in was 18 knots on the beam and I still have never got the spinnaker wet.

You must be younger and more lithe than me. That is the kind of faffing I tried to do away with when I brought the lines back to the cockpit.

Edit: younger and/or lithe than me

 

[Concerto]

You must be younger and more lithe than me. That is the kind of faffing I tried to do away with when I brought the lines back to the cockpit.

Edit: younger and/or lithe than me

I am nearly 68, so not a spring chicken.

What boat do you sail?

 

[PeterV]

A storm spinnaker would be a similar leech length as your normal spinnaker but with a heavier cloth, a shorter foot and cut flatter. Your 5m spinnaker is for a different boat!

 

[Daydream believer]

Personally I hate the sock.

+1
I have one for my SH sailing. It lives in the garage at home where it cannot do its best to kill me on the foredeck. They are the work of the devil
Iam 76 in a few days, so really not fit enough to run around of the foredeck playing with silly gadgets above my head

 

[dgadee]

I am nearly 68, so not a spring chicken.

What boat do you sail?

I am older than that and falling apart. It's a Seawolf 30.

 

[dgadee]

A storm spinnaker would be a similar leech length as your normal spinnaker but with a heavier cloth, a shorter foot and cut flatter. Your 5m spinnaker is for a different boat!

That makes sense. It is in very good condition considering its age. I'll measure it up properly and advertise it.

 

[dgadee]

+1
I have one for my SH sailing. It lives in the garage at home where it cannot do its best to kill me on the foredeck. They are the work of the devil
Iam 76 in a few days, so really not fit enough to run around of the foredeck playing with silly gadgets above my head

A friend controls his from the cockpit, he says. I don't like running around the foredeck any more at all.

It's for those light winds from the stern (every so common in the Firth of Forth) to save putting the engine on.

 

[Concerto]

I am older than that and falling apart. It's a Seawolf 30.

Give my method a try with about 8 to 10 knots of wind. Just ensure you have a good autopilot and some space round your boat during the spinnaker drop. Then take you time and check everything is ready before you start dropping.

This video shows a brilliant day under spinnaker I had and resulted in the photo avatar I use.

Whilst sailing singlehanded round Britain in 2022 I was disappointed I could only set the spinnaker once due to the wind being either wrong direction or too strong. This video includes a series of clips with the spinnaker up between 4.02 and 4.25 of this.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We like our sock, I can’t imagine going back to the naked kite. We sail 2 handed, and though our deck space is extensive, there’s just such a lot of cloth. We can’t realistically do a letter box drop, as the sheet is outside the shrouds, 12ft outboard of the cockpit. Depowering it isn’t an issue, it’s just the volume of the damned thing. And the consequences of a bit falling in the water and dragging the rest in, at 12kn, with the other Solent traffic around you. Losing control of a tri isn’t a good idea.