be honest - how often do you get to do it?

Rivers & creeks

Rivers & creeks

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I am serriously considering buying a cruising chute, but you come accross adverts quite regularly that say something like "5 years old, used very little". So for coastal cruising is it once, twice or more often per season?
 
Erm ... last season ... twice ... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif it's still nice and crispy though! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
We've just bought our boat, and it came with a cruising chute - invoice for chute said 2004, however when we took all the sails off the boat for a local sailmaker to check them all over, he said the chute had never been up a mast (still had cardboard tags on the tack).

We will be aiming to use it much more often, but then we are coming from a dinghy racing background and love sail handling and trimming (I'm sure this will wear off eventually!!)

Jonny
 
If you have a F2 - 3 anywhere between a broad and close reach it can make the difference between a really nice sail and motoring. Racing and cruising sails are cut quite differently so be sure you get the correct one for your needs.
 
If you ain't got one you can't flaunt it.

Had one for the first time last year. SWMBO took a bit of convincing but then she saw it was easy to use and looked pretty - well that's OK then.

Worth having.
 
[ QUOTE ]
SWMBO took a bit of convincing but then she saw it was easy to use and looked pretty - well that's OK then.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds very familiar.

Its quicker and easier each time, but only F2/3 especially with only SWMBO aboard. With a bunch of bloke, like coming back from Cherbourg last September, we 'had it up' for quite a lomg time.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you ain't got one you can't flaunt it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totaly agree, I have two kites but cannot flaunt both at the same time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Before we got the furling genoa (only had furling jib), we would use the cruising chute probably 4-5 times per season. Since buying the genoa, it's rare for us (me!) to be bothered with all that faffing about on the foredeck, dragging the chute up through the front hatch whilst invariably getting uphaul /sheets / snuffer lines tangled up around my safety lines.....

I think OH uses it occasionally as he often sails with 'the boys' and has plenty of crew - with just two of us on board, the chute is often more hassle than it's worth.

If the winds are light enough to warrant using the chute, the main and genny do just as well most of the time, though admittedly they don't have quite the same panache.
 
[ QUOTE ]
the main and genny do just as well most of the time, though admittedly they don't have quite the same panache.

[/ QUOTE ]

Precisely! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
I used my little kite twice last year. Once single handed in light airs and once with Mrs Lakesailor on board in what quickly became a f3/4.
Now that the burn scars are nearly healed I may think about it again. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
We use ours fairly frequenty. We have a heavy boat, with a small main and a comparatively heavy genoa.

Our flat-cut Asym is designed to operate almost like a light airs genoa and without it we struggle to make progress in F1-2
 
Re: be honest - how often do you get it up?

We are the total opposite, got both... bought the chute first and hardly ever used it as a chute wished we had a kite... so used the chute as a kite for a season then bought a kite.... which we wish we bought to start with... the chute only goes up if we are racing and had no time to pack the kite down below.
 
We use the chute quite a lot, but the previous boat was 350 sq ft and fractional, but this is 830 sq ft and masthead. It scared the bejasus out of SWMBO at first, especially in 14kt+, so she insisted we buy a snuffer, which I did.
She declared it a waste of time after 1/2 a season, and so we are back to manual operation.
But..... wwe are currently about to take delivery of a Selden Gennaker Bowsprit, and have looked at the attractive looking Facnor Gennaker furling system, which will work forward of the Genoa gear. Its still pricey, but you could see Lynns eyes light up at the thought of being able to douse the beast at will..... next year, next year.
 
The only problem I envisaged is that we sail 2 up most of the time and it seems like a big deal to get the thing out, hoist it, de-snuff it, set the lines etc. I can see why a furling genneker is a whole different ball game.
 
I reckon it takes less than 5 minutes to get one of the kites up(all Asym on a small bowsprit). As our weather gets more and more like the med, ie. feast or famine wind wise, these sails become a must. What else do you do in light winds? A F3/4 broad reach is v. tedious with out the extra S/A. Maybe I just strayed onto a Mobo forum. 2 up use a snuffer, more than that, letter box them and there is never a crisis.
 
Almost a pointless question, really: the right one might be ''How often do you get the weather when a cruising chute can be used to advantage?''
My answer to that is ''Quite often!''
And how often do we take up that advantage? ''About 80%''
For info: we mostly cruise 2-up these days, and have developed the techniques for setting and dropping without unwelcome excitement. We have carried the chute for course legs of 20 miles to 90 miles, often doubling our speed and avoiding having to motor late in the day.
Given 'cruising chute weather', your percentage will entirely depend on how keen you are to enjoy the extra fun, speed and satisfaction, and whether you are prepared to set up your boat so that you/your crew can set it (and drop it) in a slick and seamanlike manner
If your cruising is enthusiastic, Go for it! If your cruising is lazy, Forget it!
 
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