Flying a Spinnaker Without Pole or Tack Point

upthesolent

upthesolent

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I used a spinnaker just a few times on my previous boat (some 7 years ago) and sailed her as in the picture. I didn't even know what type of spinnaker it was either, but I had no problems in light winds.

I might be getting an assymetric spinnaker this year which I understand has to be fixed at the bow at the tack and then with a controlling sheet to the clew. Can - and has anyone - used an assymetric with no fixing points (as per my photo).

Grateful for any tips, advice etc., as basically I am a total novice to this kind of sail.

tia
 
It's just like flying the kite through an extended gybe. I had to do it for fifteen minutes once in a practice session when I joined one boat.

A no pole hoist is one of the things we practice for racing. Sometimes it gives a tactical advantage where setting up the pole beforehand would be inconvenient. The pole can be put on after the hoist at the bowman's leisure.

Similarly we sometimes take the pole off approaching the leeward mark. It allows a quick burst of multiple gybes when jockeying for position. Also allows the drop to be held off to the last second or two when there are tactical reasons for doing that. Means the pole is already tidied away so there's no restriction on tacking at the start of the beat. Or in light airs you can do a windward drop so the kite is position for a forehatch hoist on the right side at the next mark.

However, you do have to concentrate a bit when flying a spinnaker without a pole, so I wouldn't really recommend it for cruising.
 
upthesolent said:
I used a spinnaker just a few times on my previous boat (some 7 years ago) and sailed her as in the picture. I didn't even know what type of spinnaker it was either, but I had no problems in light winds.

I might be getting an assymetric spinnaker this year which I understand has to be fixed at the bow at the tack and then with a controlling sheet to the clew. Can - and has anyone - used an assymetric with no fixing points (as per my photo).

Grateful for any tips, advice etc., as basically I am a total novice to this kind of sail.

tia
Click to expand...
The sail in your picture is a symetric spinnaker, this sail has got a built in stability because it is symetric. An assymetric sail will be less stable used this way..

When gybing a spinnaker with a spinnaker boom, the sail will fly this way while the boom are moved to the new tack.

Why would you fly an assymetric this way?
 
It is possible to fly a symmetrical kite as shown in your photo when going dead down wind or nearly so. It is more efficient if the tack is held to windward with a pole.

An assymetric is designed to be flown at more of an apparent wind angle. If the tack is not fixed to the bow it will blow off downwind and it won't fly.

What is wrong with flying a sail the way it was intended to be flown?
 
We flew our (symmetric) spinnaker like that when sailing back from the Scillies overnight. It was much easier to control in the dark as it could swing from side to side a little without the risk of it being blanketed by the main. We did however add short guys tied to the first chainplate on each side to hold it down.
 
A spinnaker flown with neither clew held at a fixed position is naturally unstable as it can swing about in an uncontrollable way. This is the same for and A sail or S sail. You can get away with this in light airs and dead down wind but as soon as the wind gets up above F2, unless the kite is very small you will find it takes over the boat and you will end up in a right mess.
I would recommend that you use a spinnaker pole or tack the A sail to the bow as it is intended.
 
What's wrong with doing things a little differently if it achieves the same aim and makes your life easier? If we never did anything differently we would all still be sailing square riggers.

If you are sailing downwind in a following sea in light airs using just the spinnaker this way is ideal. The sail stays full as you corkscrew off each wave and there is no shock loading on the boat as the sails fill and flap. The alternative is poling out the jib and tying off the main, still leads to a lot of flapping sails and banging rigging. It pulls you along like a kite and you simply get towed along behind the sail.
 
Ross D said:
What's wrong with doing things a little differently if it achieves the same aim and makes your life easier? If we never did anything differently we would all still be sailing square riggers.

If you are sailing downwind in a following sea in light airs using just the spinnaker this way is ideal. The sail stays full as you corkscrew off each wave and there is no shock loading on the boat as the sails fill and flap. The alternative is poling out the jib and tying off the main, still leads to a lot of flapping sails and banging rigging. It pulls you along like a kite and you simply get towed along behind the sail.
Click to expand...

Or it happily wraps itself around the forestay, once - that is - the sheets have had fun sawing themselves to pieces on the shrouds while, incidentally, placing sideways loadings on the shrouds that they're not designed to resist.
 
There is a kind of spinnaker called a Parasailor which flies without a pole. I've seen it in action. It uses 2 lines from each of the bottom corners. One runs aft as a normal spinnaker sheet, and the other through a block on the bow. That way, you can tack down one corner to give stability. It's also easy to gybe without taking it down by simply swapping one tack for the other - easier to do than describe. On a lightly crewed boat, or inexperienced, anything that does away with a pole is a good idea.
Worth looking at one YouTube.
 
oldvarnish said:
There is a kind of spinnaker called a Parasailor which flies without a pole. I've seen it in action. It uses 2 lines from each of the bottom corners. One runs aft as a normal spinnaker sheet, and the other through a block on the bow. That way, you can tack down one corner to give stability. It's also easy to gybe without taking it down by simply swapping one tack for the other - easier to do than describe. On a lightly crewed boat, or inexperienced, anything that does away with a pole is a good idea.
Worth looking at one YouTube.
Click to expand...

That's what I do and tried to explain.
 
Hunter Boats had a sail called a "Scooper" which was described as an "extreme cruising Chute". It looked like an assymetrical spinnaker tied down with a tack led back to the cockpit via a sheave fitted to the stemhead ahead of the forestay. It took two lightweight sheets also ahead of the forestay and gybing was achieved by easing the tack and then letting one sheet go and hauling in the opposite side one, thereby turning the sail inside out before re-setting the tack. I always hoisted it in the wind shadow of the main but that is normal.

When we sold the boat, to my surprise the buyer's surveyor discovered, by simply measuring, that the sail was actually symetrical so could have been flown as a normal kite if we'd have had all the kit.

Anyway, it made the boat go like stink in it's standard mode.

Chas
 
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