asymmetric spinnaker

[njamesphoto]

I am looking for an asymmetric spinnaker/ cruising chute for my 37foot jeanneau i have been recommended momentum sails aspin fl with a snuffer. Has anyone got one? would they recommend it? Its mainly single-handed (Wife on board looking after my 2 year old!) Its to be the only spinnaker on board and to be used for family sailing and club racing with a crew. Budget is a consideration as is obviously ease of use. Any thoughts??

 

[johnphilip]

We recently bought a cruising chute and had prices from Momentum as well as smaller sailmakers including Dolphin who we used. Momentum insisted we needed a huge kite, far bigger than anyone else proposed. I doubt their offering would have fitted easily. Do check that what you are offered from different firms is what you need.

 

[FullCircle]

I have an SO35 with Tri Radial Cruising Chute (asymmetric) from Crusader in Bournemouth.
It was made in 7 colours, around 830sq ft and was under 900 quid.
I also have a snuffer, but although Lynn likes it, I am not sold on it. About 175 quid. Its great for getting the thing down and under control, but a fiddle to arrange the snuffer line onto the mast while trying to put the rest of it outside the genoa. I have taken to rolling away the genoa before starting to rig it now.

I have been very pleased with the quality, delivery and the price for all my dealings with Crusader. Very open and tell you whats included and whats not.
If you are going to have a snuffer, I suggest a long genoa bag, as this only has the chute folded into 3 lengths in the bag, rather than the round topped turtle which has all stuffed inside any which way.

Performance has been impressive, and I use it up to top of F4, and it will go upwind to just over 60 degrees.

I use a whisker pole just larger than the J measurement for downwind over 150 degrees, dropping the main dead downwind which lessens the roll and stops the chute from collapsing.

Dont forget to budget for the tack line, the sheets, turning blocks, pad eyes jamming clutch and a pole (and possibly fittings on the mast).

Although not strictly necessary, I am fitting uphaul and downhaul lines this year, just to add to my mast spaghetti.

 

[AIDY]

See My reply here to another thread

 

[moondancer]

Be careful what you buy if you are looking to club race with an asymmetric. Most decent sailmakers provide options depending on whether the sail is to be used for reaching or downwind use. An asymmetric will run higher than a symmetric but will never run truly downwind. The link below from North Sails site gives a pretty good explanation.

http://nsweb.itinfo.dk/uk/Gradient_Coding.asp

 

[gandy]

FullCircle,

Using a pole with the chute, do you attach the tack to the pole like a spinnaker, to get the tack out to windward? Or do you attach the clew, poling it out to leeward?

Tony S

 

[FullCircle]

We attach the pole to the clew.
I would think that the tack to clew could become a wee bit unmanageable in shifting airs.
Having said that, I will experiment weith that on Friday if I get a chance.

 

[jamesjermain]

I've done it both ways. Attaching the tack to the pole end and setting it like a spinnaker is the most effective method and gives much better performance dead down wind. But it is more complicated and takes a bit of good judgement when transfering the tack from the stem to the pole end. Setting it like a poled out genoa makes the sail less stable and less powerful. You also need a very long pole

 

[njamesphoto]

Thanks for all the info i have looked into the wind angles and i know its going to be bigger area than other offerings, so i have ordered the momentum AR and snuffer. Cannot wait until next week when it arrives.

 

[moondancer]

Let us know how you get on with it.