Snuffer: line size and construction

[mattonthesea]

Being a singlehanded sailor who loves setting the spinnaker, I am puzzled why so many people think they need a snuffer for their spinnaker. The trick to drop a spinnaker is to clip the sheet down with a snatch block at the aft end of the coachroof before tripping the guy. This holds the sail behind the mainsail, so is depowered and easy to gather the foot. I then slip the halyard with one turn an the winch and it drops straight into the cockpit. Unfurl the genoa and then sort the boat out.

Agreed in that I would prefer not to use a snuffer. I've sailed over 10k nm single handed without one. However, last summer we found ourselves in situations where I was reluctant to hoist the kite because of the potential need to hand it in quickly or in the dark. Moreover, our present setup is not conducive to accommodating large bits of rip stop nylon ?.

I find that snuffers cause as much as they solve. It's just the balance has swung for me/us?

 

[mattonthesea]

Update: will be at the boat this weekend so will try it out- so long as the gusts aren't too high for being up on the hard!

I used offcuts of rip stop nylon from a balloon manufacturer plus some hyperlon (even less friction than the nylon) for the mouth. I fastened it around a ring made up of two lengths of 25mm plastic strips (their joints opposite each other). This is the piece I'm least sure of - I have bought an ikea waste bin just in case! I've used a low-friction ring for the control line which also passes thru' a ring on the deck for ease of snuffing. The control line (6mm braid on braid) passes up inside the sock and thru' loops at 1m intervals. I tried it passing up a channel but there was too much friction to run smoothly and without bagging.

Thanks everyone for your input

M

 

[mattonthesea]

OK so further update: he plastic strips are not rigid enough to keep the mouth open on snuffing. Changing to waste bin. Everything else worked well.

 

[Martin&Rene]

Here is a piece I wrote about my snuffer set up.

Snuffers

Relevant points
The rope pulling the snuffer mouth goes up inside the snuffer, then back out through a pulley and outside the snuffer back to the deck.
I run the snuffer through a snap-link near the base of the mast so whenever I pulling on a rope, I am pulling up from the deck as it is safer if there is suddenly a gust powering the chute.
You need there to be some torsional flexibility between the snuffer head and the head of the chute so that the chute can turn round in a gybe.
8-10mm will probably do. You are hauling on the rope fast, so you want to be able to grab the rope easily, so do not go too thin.
I always wear gloves when handling a spinnaker to prevent getting a rope burn if the loads suddenly increase more than you expected.
If you drop the snuffer carefully into its bag, then there is no need for any repacking before its next use, so there is no messing about sorting the spinnaker out in the saloon.