cruising shute

[KREW2]

Last summer was my first experience with a cruising shute on our first try I rigged it up for tacking as a genoea the second time I found the sheets were long enough to enable me to rig it up for gybing. Is it generally down to personal preference or is there a right and wrong way to do it

 

[Richard_Peevor]

cruising Chute spelt with a C...

You can rig it either way sheets inside or outside the forestay. I hope that is what you meant by tacking/gybing as you always need to gybe the sail to change sides (i.e. stern through the wind rather than trying to tack it when you would damage sail through it flapping and catching the rigging if you could get the bows through the wind that is!)

Points to think about are 1. How big the chute is - if its a big one you might want to rig it outside. 2. What you have on the forestay - to get it wrapped around ie if you have two halyards and a roller furler all up front you might want to rig it outside. 3. If you are attaching it infront of the forestay eg small bowsprit or prow.. another reason to go outside...

Going outside things are less likely to get caught up BUT you must be careful that the lazy sheet doesnt go really slack drop into the water as it WILL go under the boat as you sail over it and it can be really annoying especially if you havent noticed!

Hope a few of these pointers help. Ask the sailmaker who made the sail what their advice is...

 

[KREW2]

many thanks you have answered a badly asked question perfectly.

 

[Cobra25]

Hi Richard Peevor. So the end of chute is attached how? at the bowsprit?
Do you then swith tack for Clew when shifting to the other side (gybing)Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Cobra25]

Hi Richard Peevor. So the end of chute is attached how? at the bowsprit?
Do you then switch tack for Clew when shifting to the other side (gybing) or what? Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Cantata]

I have never tried the chute with sheets inside the forestay (in fact I don't see how that can work at all), but I have tried another variation - leading the sheets round the front of the chute itself, rather than between the chute and the forestay.
So on a gybe, the clew of the sail goes right forward of the luff of the sail before pulling in on the new side.
Seems to work fine although perhaps slightly more prone to sheet-under the-bow syndrome.
I do hope I've understood the questions and answers correctly and not repeated what's already been said!

 

[fireball]

A cruising chute is different to a spinnaker in that it has a distinct Tack & Clew ...

The Tack ALWAYS attaches to a bow fitting (or similar)
The Clew ALWAYS has sheets attached.

What is being discussed here is the routing of the (lazy) sheet, either between the chute and forestay or round the front of the chute.

From my Assymetric kite sailing I would put the sheet inbetween the forestay and the luff of the kite, but that is usually because the tack of my sail is on the end of a long pole some 3 foot from the bow!! Getting the sail to pass between the luff and the forestay is simple like that..

On a cruising chute the tack is usually attached very close to the attachment point of the forestay, this means that if the sheet is routed between the chute luff and the forestay then when gybing the whole chute has to pass through this small gap - not always practicle!!

As has already been said - routing the lazy sheet forward of everything risks loosing the sheet under the bow....

Hmm .. I'll have to try both ways I guess!

 

[boatmike]

Generally as you are going downwind with a sail like this you will gybe rather than tack so I am not sure what you mean. However some people (me) like to rig only one sheet rather than two in light airs to reduce the weight on the sail and stop it collapsing in a lull. For the same reason I use the lightest rope I can. This means on a gybe you have to walk the sheet around the forestay though. I do this by having a very light rope tail on the sheet and opening type rollers through which the sheet runs. I can then walk the tail around the forestay and to the other side roller while the sail is still set. When ready to gybe I release the sheet from the roller and winch and simply haul in on the other side. Hope this helps

 

[Richard_Peevor]

most (if not all are asymmetrical) and therefore the tack is always attached to the bow/sprit usually by a rope/wire or webbing strop. The halyard is obviously thatached to the head of the sail and the two sheets are attached to the clew. Most people rig outside I.e. the lazy sheet around the front of everything and then attching onto the sail.. when you change sides and sheet the new sheet in the sail just resets on the new side (inside out) and away you go.. I have seen a few people rig inside but the sail cant be too big and the genoa must be down/furled (as is usually the case when setting a chute)...

 

[catmandoo]

How can one tell the difference between a cruising chute and a spinnaker if one has one but with no rigging attached ? Is there something in the shape. All my one has is a green marker for starboard and a red for port

 

[Cantata]

If your spinny has one green edge or corner, and one red edge or corner, it sounds to me like it ain't a cruising chute, it's a spnnaker! A cruising chute is usually not symmetrical, and will have corners marked as 'tack' and 'clew'. There is no 'left and right'.

 

[KREW2]

When I took the cruising chute out of the bag for the first time and I saw a clew with 2 sheets attatched I rigged it up (with the genoa furled) as you would a genoa and when gybing pulled the chute thru between forestay and mast, as the sheets were attatched with snap shackles they could easily hit the mast, on the second attempt I rigged it as you descibed, and when gybing let the sail fly foreward and sheeted it in the other side this seemed to work fine and by reading the posts seems a fairly orthodoxed method thanks for your help