How often do you use a spinnaker

[mattonthesea]

Don't fly it as often as I'd like. Mainly single handed I work on a 2:1 principle. If I can fly it for twice as much time as it takes to hoist then I'll use it.

I learned (learnt?) how to fly it solo from advice here back in 2010. I think the taking down is when you need a halyard friction device that is enough to hold it up but I can pull it through. That is, when the main is blanketing it and I am on the foredeck. The two best friction devices I have found are training the halyard in the water and/or running it behind the boat in the water. The latter practically guarantees a clean line.

 

[mattonthesea]

I remember watching a French boat come into the Port St Louis marina under spinnaker. Once inside the crew dropped the spi, jibed around and came up into the finger berth without the engine. Very impressed was I.

Ditto! I wonder if we were there at the same time - or do they do it every day?

They bring the boat alive don't they. We only use it on longer trips, if I think it will be up over an hour then it's worth the hassle. Best ever is 14hours coming back from Ireland.
Brill.

Between 36 and 48 hours about (I'd be more sure if I hadn't forgotten to log it) Mid Atlantic. There was so little wind and I got to sense any change, even in my sleep, by the time i'd been two weeks at sea on my own. And after that time it's difficult to remember anything that vaguely relates to time!

 

[Channel Sailor]

I can see a use for one poled out foresail, jib or small heavy weather genoa. If too windy for a spinnaker, the mainsail might be reefed, the foresail is simply not stable enough and the helm is very unbalanced as the mainsail powers up, then yes. Also if you do not have a spinnaker I suppose. On a long enough leg or crew who are bored (or fed up with rocky motion) then I would rig a pole. With an uphaul, downhaul, foreguy and after guy, then run a 2nd spare sheet on a part furled genoa or a jib through the end of the pole possibly using a spare block on the toerail for the correct pull angle. The helm and motion would be improved and your sails will last longer. It can be used in a goose winged set up (with a Preventer) or a Broad Reach. Set up this way it means if you need to change course, for say avoidance action or god forbid MOB, you can tack or gybe almost anywhere leaving the pole exact where it is. Even the original sheets are still there not roved though the end of pole. When/if the load is off the pole it will not slam backwards and forwards causing damage or injury. You can even furl the genoa, stow the main and get the engine on with the pole still not a hazard.

Just a thought, if you know what you are letting yourself in for with the weather and sea state, you could rig the pole on the mooring. Then go out to sea for your 40 mile or more passage, then take down the rig when the wind/sea is calm or you are back on a stable mooring. One example could be rig it when in calm water before the overfalls, then take it down when back on calm water. The Alderney Race springs to mind, which is a place with significant risk of changing apparent wind, can be a very choppy motion and I that in some conditions I would not want to be on the deck rigging a pole. With a windy forecast I have on occasion put two reefs ready in the mainsail before leaving the mooring, so rigging the pole ready could be similar I guess.

 

[TonyMS]

Some 20 years ago, when we had a Hunter Delta, we thought the main aim of sailing was to find an opportunity to fly the spin. It was small enough that we could manage it, and big enough, relative to the boat, that it gave us a big lift.
Now, we have a catamaran and fly a genneka. It gives almost as good a lift as one of our asym spins, and is a dodle to set and roll away. We can use it dead downwind, because our wide beam allows us to set it goosewinged without using a pole.

 

[johnalison]

We used to race with a spinnaker back in the '70s with a 26' boat and often crowds of children, and then spinnakered happily with our Sadler 29. When we got the 34 we thought we'd wait the first season and see how we got on. In the end, we never got around to fitting a spinnaker, even though it would probably been easier than the Sadler's, with a steadier boat, handier pole, and a fractional rig, so a similar sized sail. I think it's an age thing. I've never fancied a cruising chute, having only used them on other people's boats, as a spinnaker seems much more versatile.

In the past, spinnaker was often spelled 'spinaker', which I like to affect occasionally, but I imagine that I would be labelled senile if I tried it here.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

To add a question - does anyone pole out to windward the tack of their asymmetric in order to run deeper downwind (as per the John Goode/PBO demonstrations of a few years ago)? Does this work?

Must be great to fly a spinnaker or cruising chute but I am usually on my own so I'm not tempted.

I use the Goode technique often for poling out the genoa. Probably the
best tip for downwind sailing I've had. As mentioned, when the wind starts to wander you can use the leech of the genoa as a luff. It works.

 

[Stemar]

I would rig a pole. With an uphaul, downhaul, foreguy and after guy, then run a 2nd spare sheet on a part furled genoa or a jib through the end of the pole possibly using a spare block on the toerail for the correct pull angle.

Blimey, that sounds like hard work! For me, it's clip one end of the pole to a soft shackle on the clew of the genny and the other onto the ring on the mast. Job done.

I suppose that's one of the advantages of a small boat. I can imagine the genny of a 40 footer having a strop and launching me into low earth orbit!

 

[flaming]

Blimey, that sounds like hard work! For me, it's clip one end of the pole to a soft shackle on the clew of the genny and the other onto the ring on the mast. Job done.

I suppose that's one of the advantages of a small boat. I can imagine the genny of a 40 footer having a strop and launching me into low earth orbit!

Yes, as the boat gets bigger you can't rely on being able to out muscle the sailcloth. The golden rule of foredeck work in boats over about 35 feet is simply to never ever try to do anything with a loaded rope or pole. Clip it all in before you transfer the load to it, and get the load off it before you try and undo it.

As to spinnakers, downwind sailing would be so boring without them. Even when cruising I'd pop a kite for anything over a couple of miles in reasonable weather. I guess the racing I've done does make me a lot more confident handling kites though, and I tend to be sailing boats that are very well set up for a quick hoist and douse.

For the cruising chute vs symmetric kite debate. I've used both a lot, and in a cruising context I found the symmetric kite, paradoxically, to be far more versatile when you're talking about a displacement hull. Although you can pole the tack of the chute back as described above, it's more complicated than simply squaring the pole back on a conventionally rigged kite. Gybing is undoubtedly a different prospect though. I was going to say "more complicated" but on reflection I don't think it really is, there's just a bigger penalty for getting it wrong.

 

[Koeketiene]

Has anyone any experience of these? The Tacker | No Boom Spinnaker Handler | ATN Sailing Equipment

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Personally, I have never used one of these "Tackers", but I have seen others using them and given positive feedback. I use cruising chutes often but I am not too sure how effective would this be, hence, I have not purchased one yet. It would be interesting to get some views from the forumites here.

 

[TLouth7]

It seems that a tacker is only useful if you wish to fly a symmetric spinnaker without a pole. It would therefore only work well on a reach when the pole would be well forward, and would make gybing more of a faff than when using a pole. I guess it makes sense if you only have a symmetric, and no pole.

A nice feature about decent cruising chutes/asymmetrics is that their tack/luff should swing up to windward as they are eased, allowing them to be flown deeper than you would expect, this will not be possible with a symmetric on a tacker.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Just a thought.

Most of the problems I've had when cruising with chutes and spinnakers
are with building winds .Particularly in the summer months when sea breezes are about more. Although I suppose these should be predictable.

The other problem is sailing close to shore or rivers where shore features
can have a big influence.

 

[lw395]

Has anyone any experience of these? The Tacker | No Boom Spinnaker Handler | ATN Sailing Equipment

I don't see the attraction of point-loading the furler foil.

 

[Koeketiene]

It seems that a tacker is only useful if you wish to fly a symmetric spinnaker without a pole. It would therefore only work well on a reach when the pole would be well forward, and would make gybing more of a faff than when using a pole. I guess it makes sense if you only have a symmetric, and no pole.

The reason I'm considering this is that the new-to-me boat comes with a spinnaker only (no cruising chute).
As I will be singlehanded most of the time I would want to avoid messing around with a boom.

 

[SaltyC]

Regularly, it works really well for us. If you have an adjustable tack line then this can become the foreguy. You just need to rig a guy (we use a mooring warp) through the pole, bowline onto the tack, ease the tackline and winch the guy in.

We can also run goosewinged with the chute poled out like a genoa:

View attachment 92642

I initially struggled with the cruising chute, didn't work close enough - too full cut. Couldn't go downwind - blanketed by main. then decided to try Goosewinged, despite a dinghy racing Son saying Noooooo! What a revelation! Goosewing chute and Main, spinnaker pole on Chute and run slightly by the lee, yes we had fractional rig and swept spreaders, but it was the difference between motoring and sailing.

Singlehanded, it could be done for 'passages' the most notable, with tidal windows, without Chute 2.5K and 40 mile passage, with Chute 4 + Knots can meet tidal gates and sail all day.

 

[lw395]

I initially struggled with the cruising chute, didn't work close enough - too full cut. Couldn't go downwind - blanketed by main. then decided to try Goosewinged, despite a dinghy racing Son saying Noooooo! What a revelation! Goosewing chute and Main, spinnaker pole on Chute and run slightly by the lee, yes we had fractional rig and swept spreaders, but it was the difference between motoring and sailing.

Singlehanded, it could be done for 'passages' the most notable, with tidal windows, without Chute 2.5K and 40 mile passage, with Chute 4 + Knots can meet tidal gates and sail all day.

There is a knack to getting the most out of a full cut asy. Don't just steer a course and play the kite. Helm and kite trimmer must work together to keep the kite well eased so it 'rotates' to windward, while steering to keep it full and setting the main to keep flow going. It's quite 'full on' for cruising but can be very rewarding when you get it right and work with the waves. Steer up to build speed, bear away to make progress low until the speed is falling too far.

Nothing wrong with goosewinging the beast though, there are times when I'm sure it would work in our dinghy, but we don't have a jibstick!

 

[Solent sailer]

we have symetrical and a furling assimetrical, didn't use the symetrical all last year, the furling assimentrical is great. When it get to liveley and we can just roll it away and put the genoa back out.