spinnaker advice for a beginner please

nooooo..... I meant the foot of the sail was quite high off the deck, so it was easier to pull the guy down rather than the pole up..... and the pole was longer than J, so no dips anyway... everything came off to gybe... and we never flew it in more than 10kts.... young kids onboard....
 
We flew our kite for the first time on the boat in very very light winds, just to make sure the logistics were as expected - previous experience was almost all with cruising chutes. Downhaul wasn't rigged and the spare block on the foredeck was just behind the anchor locker - seemed too far forward to be properly useful. However, having now experienced the flying pole syndrome, think we'll either be using that block this weekend, or else adding a new one to the foot of the mast for the downhaul.
 
... and <u>NEVER, NEVER, NEVER</u> put stopper knots in the ends of halyards, sheets or guys.

Why? Because when shite happens, or someone falls overboard, just letting the thing go completely may be the way to go. Spinnakers float for a surprisingly long time.
 
[ QUOTE ]
... and <u>NEVER, NEVER, NEVER</u> put stopper knots in the ends of halyards, sheets or guys.

Why? Because when shite happens, or someone falls overboard, just letting the thing go completely may be the way to go. Spinnakers float for a surprisingly long time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've encountered two schools of thought on this. One is that the halyard should be knotted but not the sheets & guys and the other is that the sheets and guys should have stopper knots but not the halyard.

Over the years I've converted to the latter opinion, as it avoids having the spinnaker flapping from the masthead and I know several people who are good at re-running halyards.
 
[ QUOTE ]
We flew our kite for the first time on the boat in very very light winds, just to make sure the logistics were as expected - previous experience was almost all with cruising chutes. Downhaul wasn't rigged and the spare block on the foredeck was just behind the anchor locker - seemed too far forward to be properly useful. However, having now experienced the flying pole syndrome, think we'll either be using that block this weekend, or else adding a new one to the foot of the mast for the downhaul.

[/ QUOTE ]

The downhaul will give you a better angle from a block just aft of the anchor locker than from one at the foot of the mast. One disadvantage of an end-for-end pole is that a lot is expected of the downhaul attached to the middle of a bridle.
 
[ QUOTE ]


A letter box drop, taking down the spinnaker between the boom & the foot of a loose-footed mainsail is a good short-handed technique. It really de-powers the sail very well as it comes down.

Best of luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having now got the boat, I really dont see how this is practical. Presumably you start with the sheet corner of the spinnaker and are releasing the guy at the same time as the halyard. Unlike some racey boats the boom on mine is poarallel and close to the bottom of the main so the gap is small. So you are dragging the spinny round the shrouds and through a narrow slot whilst at the same time easing all three (or 5 ) sheets guys and halyards.

Havent tried it yet but how is this easier than pulling the sail down and through the forehatch with / without a snuffer. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Tie the bag onto something solid. So if you do kick it in after a clean drop at least you can fish it out easily.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


A letter box drop, taking down the spinnaker between the boom & the foot of a loose-footed mainsail is a good short-handed technique. It really de-powers the sail very well as it comes down.

Best of luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having now got the boat, I really dont see how this is practical. Presumably you start with the sheet corner of the spinnaker and are releasing the guy at the same time as the halyard. Unlike some racey boats the boom on mine is poarallel and close to the bottom of the main so the gap is small. So you are dragging the spinny round the shrouds and through a narrow slot whilst at the same time easing all three (or 5 ) sheets guys and halyards.

Havent tried it yet but how is this easier than pulling the sail down and through the forehatch with / without a snuffer. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

A letterbox drop is not about being easier, it is about being 100% safe. With a letterbox it's almost impossible for the kite to overpower the crew trying to tame it as the boom acts as a snubber and the slot acts as a squeeze to push all the air out of the spinnaker.
When racing we don't letterbox until we're starting to question if it was a good idea to put it up in the first place! But when letterboxing I have never had a kite in the water or any other drama.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


A letter box drop, taking down the spinnaker between the boom & the foot of a loose-footed mainsail is a good short-handed technique. It really de-powers the sail very well as it comes down.

Best of luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having now got the boat, I really dont see how this is practical. Presumably you start with the sheet corner of the spinnaker and are releasing the guy at the same time as the halyard. Unlike some racey boats the boom on mine is poarallel and close to the bottom of the main so the gap is small. So you are dragging the spinny round the shrouds and through a narrow slot whilst at the same time easing all three (or 5 ) sheets guys and halyards.

Havent tried it yet but how is this easier than pulling the sail down and through the forehatch with / without a snuffer. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're practiced at dropping a kite the letter box drop is hardly ever necessary, but it is the cautious way to do it. As Flaming has said, the power is taken out of the kite as it is blanketed by the main and squeezed through the letter box on the way down.

And yes, for an experienced race crew a forehatch drop is usually best as it means the kite can be set up for the next hoist without repacking, especially if you think ahead and are clever about the choice between a windward & leeward drop to avoid having to swing the gear around for the next hoist. But that's not relevent to the use of a spinnaker when cruising, and especially not for a beginner.

Back to the letter-box drop... if you haven't got a lazy guy, an extra line with a snap shackle that you can lead through the boom can help.

Once you've negotiated avoiding the pole slamming against the forestay then the guy should be completely off - not even one loose turn wrapped around the winch - so you shouldn't be dragging it around the shrouds.

Not sure what you mean about the gap between the foot and boom being small. As long as the main is loose footed and there's nothing on the boom for the spinnaker to catch on he technique should work. Racers should only have a bigger gap if the outhaul is eased (which you would do a bit for the downwind leg).

I did a couple of races on a boat where the skipper insisted on a letter box drop in all cases. I thought it a bit unnecessary but held my council and there turned out to be no disadvantage from doing it (at least against conventional drops down the companionway).
 
[ QUOTE ]
Treat yourself to a snuffer, it will change your life ( and your attitude to spinnaker flying),

[/ QUOTE ]

Not just Flaming. Awful things. Did you know that every time a snuffer is sold, a puppy dies?
 
Perhaps that is a little harsh, but I can't disagree with the sentiment.

Have tried snuffers on both cruising chutes and spinnakers, and experience has lead me to believe that they are probably more trouble than they are worth. Once you've got a procedure for launching and recovering a spinnaker clear in your head, its easy to do it without a snuffer. I can launch and recover the spinnakers on Aeolus single handed though they are the height of the mast with a fairly long foot (well, it seems so to me when I am mid drop).

Personally I find the look of having a bucket and yards of bundled up material jammed at the top of the mast unsightly. Which is why I worked out how I could do away with them as much to avoid the potential of tangled up lines which can happen with a snuffer.

At the end of the day even if you do use a snuffer, one day things will go wrong, and then you'll have to drop the spinnaker in the traditional way (with an additional weight at its head), so its a good idea to understand how to do it safely and well even if you don't plan to do it under normal circumstances.

Regards,
Jeff.
 
[ QUOTE ]

At the end of the day even if you do use a snuffer, one day things will go wrong, and then you'll have to drop the spinnaker in the traditional way (with an additional weight at its head), so its a good idea to understand how to do it safely and well even if you don't plan to do it under normal circumstances.


[/ QUOTE ]

Which has always been my main objection to people who say things like "just get a snuffer, it's easy then".

You need to know how to drop a kite without it, and once you do the snuffer just seems pointless.
 
Pointless and creating extra lines to get tangled up.

It looks wrong.

It complicates things.

Frankly, as Aeleous aludes to, it's unseamanlike.

That said, I am unsure how I would get a very large kite down, say on a 45'er +, if I was short handed.
 
I've letter boxed on a Swan 48 whilst 3 up. And that's a big old kite!

Was easy as you like and got a round of applause from another boat!
 
Never done one myself. Might try it next weekend as it would be handy for double handed racing.

Are you JOGing to Yarmouth of Clarkson Cupping?
 
Well exactly, especially in a Feeling 720. That said, I'm not terribly impressed with the course. At least one normally gets to poke ones head outside the Solent on the Yarmouth weekend, even if it is just to nip around the Shingles, but this year they've decided against it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

davethedog
Raymarine AP No drive detected and invlaid command errors
Replies
4
Views
220
davethedog
davethedog

Share this page

Top