sailorman
Well-Known Member
go sailing with others you will learn much more than from one skipper for a day.
PS dont contact that chap from Soton
Spi guys and sheets question :
- Thread starter Boo2
- Start date
go sailing with others you will learn much more than from one skipper for a day.
PS dont contact that chap from Soton
Boo2
Well-Known Member
Not really my thing, but thanks for the thought.
Not sure who youy mean but I intend to use the guy who taught me on my DS course as he also freelances.PS dont contact that chap from Soton
Boo2
awol
Well-Known Member
I admit my £600 was based on Dyneema and Gibb snap shackles ~£50-£80ea.
Another tip with lightweight sheets is to tie them on with a long bight on the bowline - makes it much easier to untie when changed back to normal sheet.
Another tip with lightweight sheets is to tie them on with a long bight on the bowline - makes it much easier to untie when changed back to normal sheet.
sailorman
Well-Known Member
dt4134
Well-Known Member
Can I ask how the spinny gear on your boat is arranged?
Do you have one sheet/guy each side with an end-for-end pole (that would be my guess for a UFO34).
Or do you have a sheet and guy each side.
In general where a guy is always a guy you can make it a bit bigger. If they're going to alternate then either line will act as a sheet at some time and needs to be lighter and to run more freely.
Take the Jimmy Green website and similar as one source of information, but you should also look at it from the point of view of your blocks. Check what size line the block manufacturer recommends as optimal for the spinnaker blocks you are using. You might just then find that the rope suppliers are trying to sell you thicker line than you need.
When I first started trimming spinnakers I sometimes found it hard to grip the smaller lines, but you actually get used to it pretty quickly. I find the Harken gloves are best for grip even if they wear a bit quicker than some of the other brands. You'll get a good few regattas out of a pair even if you're trimming full time.
My tu'penny worth is also that you should race on someone else's boat to learn spinnaker work. Those skippers I've seen who've bought their own boat after only a season or two on other people's boats often end up being the back end of the fleet. Race on a few, a large percentage of non-winners oversheet the spinnaker and blame only the trimmer if it collapses. Work your way up to a good boat and you'll see they do it differently.
Do you have one sheet/guy each side with an end-for-end pole (that would be my guess for a UFO34).
Or do you have a sheet and guy each side.
In general where a guy is always a guy you can make it a bit bigger. If they're going to alternate then either line will act as a sheet at some time and needs to be lighter and to run more freely.
Take the Jimmy Green website and similar as one source of information, but you should also look at it from the point of view of your blocks. Check what size line the block manufacturer recommends as optimal for the spinnaker blocks you are using. You might just then find that the rope suppliers are trying to sell you thicker line than you need.
When I first started trimming spinnakers I sometimes found it hard to grip the smaller lines, but you actually get used to it pretty quickly. I find the Harken gloves are best for grip even if they wear a bit quicker than some of the other brands. You'll get a good few regattas out of a pair even if you're trimming full time.
My tu'penny worth is also that you should race on someone else's boat to learn spinnaker work. Those skippers I've seen who've bought their own boat after only a season or two on other people's boats often end up being the back end of the fleet. Race on a few, a large percentage of non-winners oversheet the spinnaker and blame only the trimmer if it collapses. Work your way up to a good boat and you'll see they do it differently.
Bosun Higgs
N/A
I had 10mm in stock but the load doesnt require anything quite so strong. Handelability is the key - I dont have ST spinny winches or even proper clutches so the 10mm is more practical than anything thinner. My light weather sheets are single too ie one sheet / guy to each side.
I use plastic snap shackles on the light weather sheets. Amply strong enough
With the 10mm light weather sheets the spinny never collapses in any wind that I want to sail in. ie 4kn true or above. My boat is too heavy to have any chance of doing well racing in lighter winds than 4kn and I havent the patience to cruise in lighter winds either. So its on with the engine
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Boo2
Well-Known Member
Well, currently there are no spi winches fitted just genoa winches but there is evidence that spi winches were present before and I am going to fit some, so I will have a sheet and guy on each side. The pole & mast socked is fitted for dip-pole gybing and there is a centre-line foreguy/downhaul which is, like the uphaul, mounted to the end of the pole (ie not via harnesses to both ends).
I've no plans to race by the way,
Boo2
PeterR
Well-Known Member
I used to race on a UFO 34 and then an OOD 34 where we used guys and sheets each side. Dyneema did not exist in those days so it was braid on braid 12mm for the guys and 10mm for the sheets but if you are not planning on racing the chances are you will not be gybing in strong winds so you could probably cope with single sheets and end for end gybing. I use 10mm Dyneema on my Dufour 34 with just a single sheet each side, midship twinning lines and end for end gybing.
Its the wrong time of year but if you search for Dyneema on e-Bay at the end of the season you will usually find firms auctioning off hanks of dyneema which depending on length usually go for between a third and a half of chandlery prices.
Its the wrong time of year but if you search for Dyneema on e-Bay at the end of the season you will usually find firms auctioning off hanks of dyneema which depending on length usually go for between a third and a half of chandlery prices.