matelot
Well-Known Member
Thanks. Its amazing how much you can still learn after 20 years sailing
re-packing a spinnaker
- Thread starter matelot
- Start date
sailorman
Well-Known Member
No Comment Young Chap, No Comment /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
flaming
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Why pack it at all? Here's what I do, two people on board. 34 ft boat, big masthead spinnaker.
Turtle is clipped to guard wires just ahead of the mainsail adjacent to shrouds. Bungees take the two inboard corners across to hand rails for dropping, opening it out to maximum size.
When dropping it, release halyard with one turn around winch, helm holds it. Release guy from self tailer, pole and spinnaker blow forwards. Walk forwards down leeward side, grabbing sheet when possible. Gather foot of sail into a bundle and begin to stuff into turtle as helm controls the drop. The sail is completely quiet behind the mainsail in this way. When the head of the sail is reached disconnect halyard, pull sheet and guy until the D-rings emerge, attach them to the velcro that is there for the purpose, unclip sheet and guy and close the lid of the turtle. Clip sheet and guy to guardwires. Disconnect turtle, carry it aft and drop it down the companionway. Lower pole uphaul (or helm does it if not too busy) stow pole.
The spinnaker remains like this throughout our long season. It is always ready for use, requires no further effort to repack and takes minimum time for a short handed crew. We reckon to fly our spinnaker at up to about 12 - 15 knots apparent, i.e. F5 unless waves begin to cause steering problems. This method is perfectly useable at these wind speeds.
Launching it is virtually a reverse of this, set the sheet at roughly the correct position on the winch, unfasten the turtle lid, release the clews from their velcro, haul the halyard straight out of the bag with the pole already set. The spinnaker is usually pretty tame until the guy is hauled in.
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This is pretty much what we do when racing doublehanded, and it works fine in lightish winds. Wouldn't do this racing fully crewed though as it takes much longer and will lose you valuable boatlengths.
Why pack it at all? Here's what I do, two people on board. 34 ft boat, big masthead spinnaker.
Turtle is clipped to guard wires just ahead of the mainsail adjacent to shrouds. Bungees take the two inboard corners across to hand rails for dropping, opening it out to maximum size.
When dropping it, release halyard with one turn around winch, helm holds it. Release guy from self tailer, pole and spinnaker blow forwards. Walk forwards down leeward side, grabbing sheet when possible. Gather foot of sail into a bundle and begin to stuff into turtle as helm controls the drop. The sail is completely quiet behind the mainsail in this way. When the head of the sail is reached disconnect halyard, pull sheet and guy until the D-rings emerge, attach them to the velcro that is there for the purpose, unclip sheet and guy and close the lid of the turtle. Clip sheet and guy to guardwires. Disconnect turtle, carry it aft and drop it down the companionway. Lower pole uphaul (or helm does it if not too busy) stow pole.
The spinnaker remains like this throughout our long season. It is always ready for use, requires no further effort to repack and takes minimum time for a short handed crew. We reckon to fly our spinnaker at up to about 12 - 15 knots apparent, i.e. F5 unless waves begin to cause steering problems. This method is perfectly useable at these wind speeds.
Launching it is virtually a reverse of this, set the sheet at roughly the correct position on the winch, unfasten the turtle lid, release the clews from their velcro, haul the halyard straight out of the bag with the pole already set. The spinnaker is usually pretty tame until the guy is hauled in.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is pretty much what we do when racing doublehanded, and it works fine in lightish winds. Wouldn't do this racing fully crewed though as it takes much longer and will lose you valuable boatlengths.
flaming
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Flaming - I was wondering how far forward you could still fly the spinnaker and it be worthwile - wind on the beam or 80 deg apparent or 100 deg apparent? Its a traditional full spinnaker as opposed to anything at all asymetric.
But you raise an interesting point that I hadnt realised. I had assumed that you could fly the spinnaker certainly between (say) 120 apparent on the port side through dead astern to 120 apparent on the starboard. Is that not so or are you saying that with your boat you benefit from tacking downwind?
So far with the wind forward of 120 we have used white sails in winds above about 10kn apparent and the cruising chute below that speed. Abaft of 120 we have goose winged white sails above 10 kn apparent and used the spinnaker below but retaining the main even dead downwind
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How high you can fly the kite depends on how full cut it is and how windy it is.
On a typical "one kite" boat the kite will be cut quite deep to give the best results running quite deep.
In light winds the limiting factor is being able to keep it full. Ease the pole to the forestay and drop it so it's about 1/3 to 1/2 lower than normal. Then sheet in and see how high you can go. Don't be tempted to oversheet it as you'll stretch the bottom of the kite and won't actually get any benefit out of it. If you do collapse the kite you must bear away hard to refill it, just pulling the sheet won't work.
In stronger winds the limiting factor is not having the boat fall over! Get the weight on the rail, have the kicker and mainsheet uncleated and in someone's hand and go for it! If you have tweakers on your kite make sure you have the leward one eased to allow the leach of the kite to open and spill wind.
Flaming - I was wondering how far forward you could still fly the spinnaker and it be worthwile - wind on the beam or 80 deg apparent or 100 deg apparent? Its a traditional full spinnaker as opposed to anything at all asymetric.
But you raise an interesting point that I hadnt realised. I had assumed that you could fly the spinnaker certainly between (say) 120 apparent on the port side through dead astern to 120 apparent on the starboard. Is that not so or are you saying that with your boat you benefit from tacking downwind?
So far with the wind forward of 120 we have used white sails in winds above about 10kn apparent and the cruising chute below that speed. Abaft of 120 we have goose winged white sails above 10 kn apparent and used the spinnaker below but retaining the main even dead downwind
[/ QUOTE ]
How high you can fly the kite depends on how full cut it is and how windy it is.
On a typical "one kite" boat the kite will be cut quite deep to give the best results running quite deep.
In light winds the limiting factor is being able to keep it full. Ease the pole to the forestay and drop it so it's about 1/3 to 1/2 lower than normal. Then sheet in and see how high you can go. Don't be tempted to oversheet it as you'll stretch the bottom of the kite and won't actually get any benefit out of it. If you do collapse the kite you must bear away hard to refill it, just pulling the sheet won't work.
In stronger winds the limiting factor is not having the boat fall over! Get the weight on the rail, have the kicker and mainsheet uncleated and in someone's hand and go for it! If you have tweakers on your kite make sure you have the leward one eased to allow the leach of the kite to open and spill wind.
awol
Well-Known Member
Your method is great for short handed cruising and is very similar to the way I drop and hoist mine when single or double handed or the wind is very light. However, usually it takes too long. We try to drop the spinnaker as late as possible and find that with a decent wind dropping it straight into the saloon hatch through the mainsail boom slot gets it away fast, keeps weight off the foredeck, allows tacking almost immediately as the still descending spinnaker just lies on the windward side of the main until it all goes below. Sheets/guys/halyard are clipped together and pulled back to the bow at leisure (i.e. when the drop side is leeward again).
As for angles - last Sunday in light winds we were carrying it to about 40deg apparent with good effect (pity we were OCS!), in stronger winds are good to about 90deg but on our boat the jockey pole is essential to have any control when the pole is on the forestay.
As for "still learning" - it's one of the joys of racing!
As for angles - last Sunday in light winds we were carrying it to about 40deg apparent with good effect (pity we were OCS!), in stronger winds are good to about 90deg but on our boat the jockey pole is essential to have any control when the pole is on the forestay.
As for "still learning" - it's one of the joys of racing!
matelot
Well-Known Member
yet more to learn. Whats a "jockey pole" and what are "tweakers"?
awol
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
yet more to learn. Whats a "jockey pole" and what are "tweakers"?
[/ QUOTE ]
Something to do with scotsmen and kilts?
In my vocabulary-
The jockey pole goes between the mast and the guy to give an angle to pull the pole off the forestay.
Tweakers are blocks and lines that on single line spinnakers pull the guy down at the fattest part of the boat to do the same sort of thing.
Depends if you have an elegant MAB or a fat arsed AWB.
yet more to learn. Whats a "jockey pole" and what are "tweakers"?
[/ QUOTE ]
Something to do with scotsmen and kilts?
In my vocabulary-
The jockey pole goes between the mast and the guy to give an angle to pull the pole off the forestay.
Tweakers are blocks and lines that on single line spinnakers pull the guy down at the fattest part of the boat to do the same sort of thing.
Depends if you have an elegant MAB or a fat arsed AWB.
flaming
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
yet more to learn. Whats a "jockey pole" and what are "tweakers"?
[/ QUOTE ]
Tweakers are blocks and lines that on single line spinnakers pull the guy down at the fattest part of the boat to do the same sort of thing.
Depends if you have an elegant MAB or a fat arsed AWB.
[/ QUOTE ]
Also used on twin line kites, with the tweakers on the sheets to control twist in the sail. As a guide the tweakers will be pulled on when running deep, especially in stronger wind, but eased on hotter angles to allow the leach to open and alow a clean exit of the flow across the sail.
[ QUOTE ]
yet more to learn. Whats a "jockey pole" and what are "tweakers"?
[/ QUOTE ]
Tweakers are blocks and lines that on single line spinnakers pull the guy down at the fattest part of the boat to do the same sort of thing.
Depends if you have an elegant MAB or a fat arsed AWB.
[/ QUOTE ]
Also used on twin line kites, with the tweakers on the sheets to control twist in the sail. As a guide the tweakers will be pulled on when running deep, especially in stronger wind, but eased on hotter angles to allow the leach to open and alow a clean exit of the flow across the sail.
