hunter 19 spinnaker setup

[jummles]

Hi all,

First post after joining the forum (although I have been reading it for the last few months). I have just purchased my first boat after years of wanting one and crewing on other boats. I got bored of being rail meat and although my boat (hunter 19 europa) is no where near as glamorous as the boats I have crewed on I find it a lot more exciting managing all the systems myself while doing small cruises in the bay I live near than sitting on the rail for 3 hours during a club race.

The boat I got was quite well maintained and came with a fairly full sail wardrobe. There is a spinnaker and spinnaker pole but no rigging. There is a block for a spinnaker halyard on the mast which should be fairly straightforward to add but I am unsure about the up/down haul. The pole is a superspars pole with "ramps" for the up/down lines but I am unsure how to rig this. If anyone has any tips or could point to a rigging diagram on how to use this type of pole I would be very appreciated (I have googled but can only find setups for much larger boats).

 

[B27]

Poles with ramps are common on some dinghies. E.g. GP14? Mirror even?
The uphaul and downhaul are joined together as a loop the the pole will slide through, twist the pole to get the ramp through the loop.
The pole can then be stored along the main boom when not in use.
The spinnaker can be gybed leaving the uphaul/downhaul retained in the middle by the ramps, take it off the mast, onto the new guy, then off the old guy and onto the mast.
The string which operates the pole jaws generally goes outside the loop, retaining the pole in the up/downhaul.
Probably want some elastic to take up the slack in the downhaul when the pole is stowed, and maybe some means of stopping it banging against the boom.
You see boats with bits of pipe or stiff wire loops to stow the pole on the boom.

You will want some means of leading the guy down to the deck fairly well forwards, such as reaching hooks to put the guy under, or 'twinning lines' AKA stranglers to pull the guy down somewhere near the shroud base.

https://www.gp14.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Rigging_guide-1.pdf

 

[jummles]

@B27 thank you for your very informative post and the link to the gp14 rigging document. The pole I have is the same one as in that guide and I should be able to use it as a reference when rigging mine. Thank you

 

[PeterV]

With ramps I’ve normally used an elastic uphaul and a rope down haul. I’m fairly sure this is how I rigged my Hunter 19 but I can’t remember the details as it was over 40 years ago. Depending how high the upper fixing is you may need to put a block there and lead the elastic back down to a fixed point to give you enough stretch.

 

[William_H]

I would not use elastic on spinnaker rigging. Firstly as you say you need a halyard do take it back to cockpit for pulling up and releasing. You need a topping lift usually from a sheave near middle of mast. This goes to the middle of the pole. I am nopt familiar with the term "ramp" but asume it means a wire from one end of pole to the other. Put a ring in the middle for topping lift. This means lift is always at end of pole via the wire. No tendency to try to snap the pole. I have tried stowing pole on boom but have found most successful stowing parallel to mast. A ring of some sort rivetted to mast off slightly to one side to avoid the snotter. (the ring the pole attaches to on mast about 60cms above deck. (I presume you have one) then near where the top of the pole its on mast a plastic clip to hold pole. I have 2 clips)
Now down haul of pole and so spinnaker can be achieved by having a down haul to a bridle (ramp?) to underneath pole down to am point mid fore deck. This goes back to cockpit. I found on my 21fter this requires a lot of power to hold spin down. Perhaps a 2 purchase down haul.
What I have found after 40 years of spin flying (racing) on my 21fter that 2x separate down haul tweakers that attach via a ring to the sheets. (sheet runs through freely) Only the one on the windward side is pulled holding down the spin sheet and pole. This tweaker runs through a sheave set on gunwhale about mid way along foredeck. It's precise location is a compromise well forward gives good control on a reach but limits how far pole can come back on a run. I tend to like to be able to reach well so put up with limited pole aft possibilities.
Sheets will run through a sheave near the transom on each side and the sheet goes back to main winches. Sheets will need to be 10mm polyester at least 2.5 times boat length. (I have used successfully a single sheet endless)
I mounted cam cleats on the aft side of the cabin to take jib sheets when using spinnaker. You can leave jib up (hanked on in my case) for running but need it down for reaching.
The spinnaker itself is stowed on my boat in anchor hatch. It works well I divided the cover into two and have cut outs for sheets to emerge. Other people carry spin in a basket on front of pulpit.
Gybing is done as said with symetrical pole take inboard end off snotter and put on to sheet to become new brace then release end on the ol;d brace and fit to snotter. easy with mast head rig no baby forestay. Not so easy with baby fore stay.
On my little boat helmsman always moves his body to new side before gybe. The boat has a tendency to round up from gybe ie keep turning especially with weights of crew on wrong side. Helmsman needs to be ready to pull hard on the tiller after gybe to keep on track.
What can be a real problem on little boat is that if a person goes forward to retrieve the spinnaker when wind gets up is that bow goes down and boat tends to round up and lay over. Very alarming especially for person on bow. There is a technique you should perfect early on for strong winds. A person stands in cabin hatch on step and grasps the sheet. Under the boom and in front of main sheet. A boat hook can help. Brace (windward sheet) is released as well as the halyard. Person pulls the whole thing into cabin. Later when he gets courage goes forward to stow pole.
Spinnaker flying can be fun but do start off in light winds. I have a big one and a small one just for stronger winds. Just keep trying all sorts of options. Set up for larger boats can be very good for smaller boat making every thing more manageable. I reckon it took me 15 years to learn to manage spinnaker in a race even now things go wrong. Don't be alarmed if she goes over ona reach with water pouring into cockpit. A shy spinnaker can do that to you. You will discover just how self righting your boat is. ol'will

 

[BobPrell]

It took me a while to find out what a ramp is. All good advice here.

Have you considered using an asymetric spinnaker set off the bow?

I take it you are not constrained by class and racing rules if you are solo cruising.

 

[jummles]

Thanks for the replies everyone and sorry for the very late response. Now as it's Winter and the boat is in the front garden I am finally getting around to this. Any advice on the thickness/length of lines needed for the halyard and sheets? I think I will go with @PeterV method of elasticated uphaul and rope downhaul led back to cockpit. As there is no sheave on the mast for the spinnaker halyard I'll just need to run it outside the mast, could any foresee problems with this?

 

[14K478]

Since the Hunter19 is the Squib dayboat with a cabin I am going to guess that the spinnaker may be the same, in which case its all pretty simple but note that the spinnaker is quite small and sets rather high.

A working rule for halyards is twice the length of the mast from deck to sheave plus two metres to belay with and to allow you to change the nip at the sheave. The same rule for headsail sheets is one and half times the length of the boat.

 

[Simonpk]

The Squib is fractional rig whereas the Hunter 19 is masthead, so a Squib spinnaker maybe too small.

 

[PeterV]

A Squib spinnaker measures 4.9 m leeches and 3.42 on the foot, a Hunter19 spinnaker measures 6.5 m leeches and 4.0 on the foot. Sheet and halyard about 8mm thickness, pole down haul 6mm.

 

[William_H]

Re length of halyard for spinacker. I have an emergency system for spin retrieval on my 21 fter Where brace is released and sheet is grabbed from cabin entrance and is pulled in under the boom. No one on foredeck until; time to stow pole. This then requires an extra long halyard to enable spinacker on halyard to be pulled right down to cabin floor. So at least 3 times height forestay to deck. You can launch spin this way also but is a bit difficult to get it out. I always launch from anchor locker in fore deck. Sheets for spin need to be twice boat length plus half again. I would not use elastic topping lift for pole. I did for a long time use just a fixed length topping lift for pole. But have now taken topping lift back to cockpit. ol'will
PS a couple of photos from last Sunday. First shows stowage of spin pole (a section of wind surfer mast ) means topping lift is always attached so can't lose pole over board.
second shows if you look closely the down haul arrangement as a barber hauler on the brace. I found more successful when shy than a down haul on pole. ol'will