Cruising Chute - Single Handed

[puddock]

I sail, mostly, single handed (Westerly Storm 33). I am investing in a new 120% R/R Genoa, to supplement the current 150% Genoa (based in Peterhead at the moment and find that, with the winds usually being a little stronger, a rolled 150 is far from efficient).
However, sailing being sailing, I also find that there is quite often not enough of a breeze to fill the 'big bu66er', which is fairly heavy. I have been looking at the possibility of a Cruising Chute and found that almost all the discussions relate to 2 or more crew handling them.
Does anyone have any 'real life' advice on the use of these single handed? I don't wish to discuss the for/against aspect of Cruising Chutes, just the practicalities of handling them and any tips/advice.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Have a Google for "Thoughts, tips, techniques and tactics for single handed sailing" buy Andrew Evans. There's a pdf file well worth downloading.

 

[Tradewinds]

Download it here (it's free).

http://www.sfbaysss.org/includes/click.php?id=1

 

[puddock]

Wow ! That was quick ! Just had time to brew up a coffee :-D

 

[alan17]

Chute

I also sail mainly single handed and I use a cruising chute. I use a snuffer and as long as I remain sensible about wind speed and direction find no difficulty hoisting or dropping. The secret is organisation and not getting lines tangled. You will develop your own system very quickly. Just do not try to do it in a rush.

 

[awol]

Yup, I have real-life experience of both single-handed cruising and proper chutes. For what it's worth, my technique with both requires an auto-tiller that is vaguely trustworthy - the Simrad one I had with its idiotic learning algorithm could not be trusted - and then just do what you would want your crew to do. The other essential is lose or flatten the sprayhood so that you can reach cockpit control lines from the coachroof.
Cruising chute is a dawdle. Tackline is led to the cockpit (without a stopper knot), I only usually bother with one sheet through pure laziness though if you use 2 you get to decide whether to gybe inside or outside. The great thing is that at any angle deeper than 140deg the thing collapses behind the main so for hoisting and dowsing, bearing away takes away all the drama. I drop both chutes into the saloon hatch. Like all things single-handed, plan your moves in advance and do everything a little earlier than you have to - and that particularly applies to dropping the thing when the wind is rising or there's a lee shore.
Have fun!

 

[doug748]

I do not bother with a snuffer. A good piece of kit for two, perhaps, but you can't be on the foredeck hoisting and in the cockpit sheeting, at the same instant.
Gybing the sail round the forestay with extra long sheets is one method but it is difficult, with one pair of hands, to keep the sheets out of the water. Once they fall in you will sail over them. This is either dramatic or comic depending on your disposition. My latest thinking tends towards a single sheet.
I use a modified sail bag, in turtle form, lashed by the shrouds, hoisting in the lee of the main, on a run. I drop, again in the lee of the main, into the companionway under the main. I always furl the genoa first and unfurl is last, this prevents masthead wraps on my setup.
Anything over 10kts gets me twitchy and I generally take it down.

 

[vyv_cox]

I fly a full masthead spinnaker singlehanded from time to time, pretty much along the lines advised by awol. When two-handed Jill helms, substituting for the Tillerpilot, but I do virtually everything else. I have owned a couple of cruising chutes in the past but got rid as they are so limited so far as wind angle is concerned. I don't use a snuffer and always drop the spinnaker into the turtle just ahead of the mainsail without disconnecting any sheets. This avoids the need to repack after every use and means it is always ready to fly.

I use a lazy sheet system, i.e. a sheet and guy on each clew. This makes gybing far easier, especially on a boat with a babystay, where I use the end-for-end pole method

 

[Graham_Wright]

Talk to Kemp Sails. I sailed with Rob Kemp while he was developing their "Rollex" furling system. From the sail, rope and drum in the bag in the cabin to fully hoisted and drawing to the sail rope, and drum back in the bag in the cabin took him 15 minutes! I think they took a video of it.

 

[Blueboatman]

I use an asymetric and snuffer single handedly, with autopilot, this is as far as I have evolved it in 6 months...

Couple of u bolts along the centreline cabin top in front of the
mast, with snapshackles on them, take care of the snuffer up/down hauls. The extra friction is useful to stop the sail coming out before you are ready, the u bolt positions help keep the snuffer controllines clear of mast, spreaders etc..

Netting on the forward lifelines ( I use line arranged in big vees from deck to upper lifeline and back) stops the whole lot sliding into the sea when it is all lying on the deck.

Sheets are double the boat length, the working sheet gets led twice round a cockpit winch and forward to the mast, where I can pop the sail from the snuffer and ease/tighten the sheet enough to get a set on the sail, tidy up then back to the cockpit for 'proper' sheet trimming.

Also made an eyesplice in the loose end of the tack line, this gets fed through the bow block then back along the deck and a 4 part tackle is snapshackled to it, useful for trimming the luff shape of the sail without playing with the loaded halyard.

This works for me, some of it might work for you!

Have to say, it is a genuinely useful sail, worth a couple of knots when one option ( when you look around) is people banging on the engine. Go for it!

 

[Chrissie]

I use one single handed, I put the boat on tiller pilot, hoist the snuffer whilst at the mast, tie the sheets on with the sail still snuffed, the other ends of the sheets are back in the cockpit, having been left run out side of all rigging, and cleated off ready.
Then I pull the cords for the snuffer to rise, tie cord off at mast and run back to the cockpit to adjust the sheets.

It is a performance but worth it inb light winds, I have blocks set up forward for the sheets, and rather than tie one corner to the bow, I have both ends running through the blocks to the cockpit, so I can jybe with it set up.

 

[puddock]

Thanks guys, some useful tips there, much appreciated. As I said earlier, I realise the sails limitations regarding points of sail but believe it will be useful to me, considering the prevailing winds in the area that I sail most.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Does anyone have any 'real life' advice on the use of these single handed? I don't wish to discuss the for/against aspect of Cruising Chutes, just the practicalities of handling them and any tips/advice.

Key requirement is a good reliable autohelm whilst you are hoisting. Personally I dont think socks brings much to the party and would instead hoist the sail held in rubber bands and behind the 120%. Furl the genny and break out the chute if it hasnt done so as the genny furled.

I would try to avoid the pole if single handed. If the wind is more thasn 150 off the bow, sail without main to keep the chute flying. Trying to do a swift emergency tack single handed with the pole up is a recipe for trouble.

But the real honest answer is I dont bother with coloured sails on the rare occasions when I single hand. I go slower instead. Too much potential for falling over whilst messing around on deck

 

[TQA]

The cruising chutes I have had have come with a snuffer so have always used them. If you have a pole why not fly them on the pole it increases the angles you can use them on.

Some one will doubtless tell me why I shold not do this but it seems to work OK for me.

My current 44 footer has a assy in a sock and a pole so I use it both tacked down and on the pole. I was interested to read about people who launch and recover single handed from a turtle, I am going to think about it as when the sock goes wrong it is a real PITA.

A good autopilot is essential and like reefing take the thing down the first time you think about it.

 

[Seajet]

I use my chute singlehanded; I don't use a pole with it, but did make sure to specify a tri-radial cut, so it's relatively close winded when the windspeed is low enough not to be too interesting.

I don't use a snuffer, but do have a thin, strong downhaul line to the head of the sail led to a block on deck by the sail tack then led aft, which can be very handy.

I have netting on the forward guardrails like Blueboatman, I think this very useful old trick, a godsend sometimes when handling any headsail or just going forward generally, has become a bit neglected.

The sheets should be long enough to let the sail fly cleanly, if necessary.

 

[davidwf]

Used a chute with and without snuffers single handed, I found using the un snuffed one was much easier as I launched from a turtle attached to the forward guard rails. I was able to do this from the cockpit and hence get the sail drawing quickly which prevented a wrap round the forestay.

With the Snuffer I found it hard to get the sail drawing from the foredeck and had a couple of bad wraps around the forestay. It may be because I was flying from a bowsprit so the sail had a tendancy to wrap, not to sure.

However with a larger boat now I would not want to fly without some form of snuffing as there is too much sail to handle single handed when dropping it. I have looked at the various furlers but these are too expensive for what they are. I guess in a few years they will drop in price.

 

[wizard]

I also sail mainly single handed and I use a cruising chute. I use a snuffer and as long as I remain sensible about wind speed and direction find no difficulty hoisting or dropping. The secret is organisation and not getting lines tangled. You will develop your own system very quickly. Just do not try to do it in a rush.

I do exactly the same its not difficult once you have done it a few times

 

[Rowana]

You're back from the land down under then.

I have a cruising chute on Rowana, but I've only had the courage to fly it once single handed in very light winds coming out of Cromarty last year. (see photo)

I'll probably be up in Peterheid tomorrow sometime, so keep a lookout for my battered old Volvo in the car park.

 

[puddock]

I am indeed back from the land down under .... got two weeks home and am now in Gabon (West Africa) for up to 80 days !!!!! I'll miss 1/2 the bloody season ! I was going to ask you about your chute but I kept missing you when I was there. Is Rowana back in the water yet? She wasn't when I left.
Fiona will be going to the boat tomorrow (just for a bit of peace and quiet - good forecast apparently). If you see her, could you ask if she needs a hand with anything (steady Jim !) as she's not too clued up on the boaty things... she makes exceedingly good scrambled eggs though !
Hopefully this well will be cut short (30 days) if they don't find any traces, so fingers crossed it'll be a duster and we can head out for a sail when I get back.
How do you fancy coming through the canal later this year, over to Dunstaffnage?
Let me know if you fancy it (as usual, expenses will be paid and a generous alchohol ration will be provided :-D).
Better go - I have to write up instructions for "turning the pressurised water on and opening the sink drain seacocks !".

You're back from the land down under then.

I have a cruising chute on Rowana, but I've only had the courage to fly it once single handed in very light winds coming out of Cromarty last year. (see photo)

I'll probably be up in Peterheid tomorrow sometime, so keep a lookout for my battered old Volvo in the car park.

 

[alahol2]

Only got a couple of points to add to the above. I hoist from a turtle on the leeward rail under the genoa which is left unfurled until the chute is up and flying. I stretch the foot as far as I can before the hoist, I've never had a twist since doing this. The halliard (if not on a winch) needs to at least be hooked under a cleat ready for a turn just in case the chute fills whilst hoisting. When sailing I will sometimes goosewing (gybing the main) on a dead run to get back to a broad reaching course. I use a single sheet. Once the tack has been released, I recover the chute under the boom into the main hatch.
Had a glorious sail from Gilkicker to Poole on Thursday under the cruising chute never needing to gybe it the whole way.