cruising chute

[alanhanson]

just bought a cruising chute for the boat , as i already have a spinni what i want to know is can i use it with the wind further forward than the spinni ?.
i could go out & just practice but any advance info will be greatly appreciated .also any tips on getting the most out of the cruising chute thanks in advance alan

 

[vyv_cox]

In time honoured manner...

I would say - it depends. It is possible to fly the chute a little further forward of a fairly full spinnaker but I doubt whether it will give you any advantage over a genoa. Heeling becomes much more of a factor and boat speed does not benefit. The cruising chute is far more limited than a spinnaker in the wind angle that it will accept, a broad -to-beam reach is about it. You can pole out to run downwind but you need a 1.5J pole as otherwise the clew is too close to the boat and the chute does not fill. You can also run with the tack of the chute taken out to windward on a 1J spinnaker pole, this is much easier to set up than a spinnaker. The chute does look after itself rather better within its narrow range of angles, so is perhaps better suited to long cruises, i.e. blue water.

It does beg the question as to why you bought a chute when you already had a spinnaker? I recently binned my cruising chute as it was never used.

 

[alanhanson]

Re: In time honoured manner...

thanks for the advice
i bought the chute at a really cheap price approx 10 % of new cost & only used 4 times. i think i will use it more than the spinni as i will not be using the pole as much.
the spinni can get a bit of a handfull for just me & the wife.
it also comes with the snuffer which should make it easier to handle.thanks alan

 

[iangrant]

Re: In time honoured manner...

A chute with a snuffer is a joy compared to a spinny. it can safely be launched and used by a couple, I don't think that you can do that with a spinny on a boat the size of yours!

 

[alanhanson]

Re: In time honoured manner...

thats what i am hoping , we have not had any mishaps with the sppini, but you can literally feel the power when the spinni is launched & you really have to have your concentration & wits about you.you can see the potantial for accidents .can,t wait for the weekend now

 

[Twister_Ken]

Still learning...

...having come to crusing from racing where spinnakers are the rule, it' s taking me a while to learn how to use the cruisng chute. I've slowly gravitated towards setting the tack from just aft of the stemhead, using a tack line which I bring back to the cockpit. On a broad reach the tack can be freed off to carry further from the boat and lift out to windward (opposite side to the main anyway). You can achieve the same by letting some halyard go, or combining both. As the wind comes squarer so the tack is hauled down close to the deck and it sets like a reacher, which is worthwhile in lighter airs, but has a heeling disadvantage in stronger breezes compared to a genoa.

So far I've taken the sheet to the quarter, which works well on a broad reach/run, but seems a bit uncontrolled on a beam reach so I'll experiment with snatching it down to the rail next time conditions are suitable.

I've also set the tack to windward on the spinny pole which works quite well on a run, but I hadn't thought it through beforehand so ended up with a bugger's muddle of uphauls, downhauls and guys. This needs a bit more work! And I've used the pole to go to the clew (like booming out a genoa) when running goosewinged. That works quite nicely.

One of the reassuring things about a chute is that it is somewhat less powerful than a kite, so I feel I can experiment more and try to convince the sail to be more versatile!

Good luck.

PS a question for someone else - I'm flying it with one sheet. Is that usual, or do you put two sheets on, so that you can gybe it in one (I gybe by snuffing it and then unsnuffing)?

 

[tony_brighton]

Re: Still learning...

2 sheets more usual - means you can gybe without snuffing.

 

[andrewhopkins]

gybing a cruising chute

Definately 2 sheets, the lazy one taken right round the front. Some posh people go for very light sheets as the two together can drag the sail down in light winds.

Gybing needs practise as it can get a little tangled round your furled headsail (ive assumed) if you gybe too quick.

I handle it by slowly turning into a broad reach to shield the chute with the main and collapse it, i then get tension on the lazy sheet and slowly gybe pulling it across. If you do it too quick, it might try and come inside your forestay.

If you have more hands, its nice to get someone up the front to physically drag it round.

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: gybing a cruising chute

Or you can run the lazy sheet inside, but ahead of the forestay. Let go the tack line a couple of metres or so, then gybe. Less heaving with this method and the wind is helping, rather than hindering.

 

[ChrisJ]

Re: gybing a cruising chute

I use one sheet. But it needs to be long! When gybing (before gybing) I take the end of the sheet around the front and back to the about to be the new leeward quarter. Then a slow gybe, and as the main blankets the chute, pull on the sheet and it goes around just nice.

Not as quick as a roll gybe in the racing dinghies, but all fairly controlled.

Launching and retrieving is a balance of using the mainsail as a blanketer, and luffing at the right time.

A cruising chute can also be used singlehanded - as long as you have a reasonable auto-helm to hold you on a broad reach while setting and retrieving it - but make sure you clip a harness on whatever the weather as you can get some strange pulls at odd times.

I also agree with the tack rope being led back to the cockpit, and adjusting it as needed. I have mine permanently set up to a pulley at the jib tack, with a snapshackle on the end. This clips to the chute quickly, or unclips if needed. Unclipping the tack allows the sheet to be pulled into the cockpit as the halyard is dropped - allowing safe retrieval even if it starts to blow at the wrong time.

Cheers, Chris
Westerly Konsort

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by chrisj on Tue Sep 4 13:54:09 2001 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

On a fairly heavy 36' boat the cruising chute gives good results from 70-115 degress (true), I tend to use it us a sort of super reacher. Never tried poling it out, that's what the kite is for. Stuffer makes the whole job easy with two and possible with one (and an autopilot).