MickToo
New member
I'm using an asymmetric spinnaker / cruising chute with a snuffer - 41' boat, typically sailing 2-4 handed.
For many many years we didn't have a snuffer but after a couple of drops (over those years) that went spectacularly badly we decided to give a snuffer a try.
Whilst the additional line does provide yet another item to create a cat's cradle and facilitates other potential issues, on the whole my feelings are that it's been a positive addition.
However, I can't help feeling that it's been cut too long - it's been manufactured to luff length meaning that I'm ferreting about trying to find the clew when attaching the sheets (adding a further opportunity for the beginning of a cat's cradle) and once hoisted, on pulling the snuffer line, frequently the volume of sail forming the foot of the asymm bunches up and is markedly reluctant to release from the bottom of the snuffer.
The sailmaker that supplied the snuffer has said that they always cut to luff length and say that tackline and sheets should be parallel when raising the snuffer, whereas another sailmaker has said that he recommends cutting to clew length and that the unsnuffed foot makes a tangle-free connection of the tack and clew easier...
So, my question is NOT whether you love or loathe snuffers but, from experience, what's better: luff length or leach length?
For many many years we didn't have a snuffer but after a couple of drops (over those years) that went spectacularly badly we decided to give a snuffer a try.
Whilst the additional line does provide yet another item to create a cat's cradle and facilitates other potential issues, on the whole my feelings are that it's been a positive addition.
However, I can't help feeling that it's been cut too long - it's been manufactured to luff length meaning that I'm ferreting about trying to find the clew when attaching the sheets (adding a further opportunity for the beginning of a cat's cradle) and once hoisted, on pulling the snuffer line, frequently the volume of sail forming the foot of the asymm bunches up and is markedly reluctant to release from the bottom of the snuffer.
The sailmaker that supplied the snuffer has said that they always cut to luff length and say that tackline and sheets should be parallel when raising the snuffer, whereas another sailmaker has said that he recommends cutting to clew length and that the unsnuffed foot makes a tangle-free connection of the tack and clew easier...
So, my question is NOT whether you love or loathe snuffers but, from experience, what's better: luff length or leach length?