Spinnaker broach avoidance and recovery

[mrming]

Skippering on a corporate gig yesterday, and 'we' managed a complete wipe out, so I've been googling around to learn from my mistakes. It was identical to flaming's video from last year, full kite in the water etc.

1. Don't go for the kite just because other boats have, there were others that hadn't too!
2. Don't go in front of the helm to help out, leaving a (very experienced) dinghy sailor alone to steer

While on our side, we did manage to ease, not let go of, sheet guy and halyard to get back up right, then it was just a load of effort to retrieve everything - nobody got hurt, nothing got damaged.

My biggest concern was that having the main gybe because we sailed to deep (to avoid another boat broaching) I wanted to gybe it back to drop the kite through the letter box, but the helm simply couldn't get the boat the stern through the wind, which is when we went the whole distance.

So my question is - once you've accidentally or 'chinese' gybed, is it possible to gybe the main back, or do you just prepare for the the inevitable and deal with it.

If it was exactly like Flaming's video, you're never going to gybe the main back until you get the kite down and get the boat back on it's feet as you'll have lost all rudder authority by that point. All the tips on how to avoid it happening in the first place are very well covered in this thread, but once it's happened it's really just about making sure everyone's okay and then slowly undoing the mess which it sounds like you did well.

Edit - just realised it sounds like you couldn't get the boat to gybe back before you actually wiped out. A kite in heavy weather that hasn't been flattened, tweaked down and over sheeted etc will tend make the boat's nose dip. Having crew then run forward may have completed the job of breaking the rudder out and causing it to lose grip. On many boats you see nearly all the crew standing at the back in heavy airs downwind for that reason.

 

[Yacht Yogi]

One point not mentioned that I can see is the matter of NOT putting stop-knots in any of the spinnaker sheets, guys (tack on an assy.) or halyards. The Sunsail boat shown in an earlier photo seems to have blown the sheet and guy which have just run out until the stop-knot reached the cleat or blocks. Without knots you have the option of "blowing" one of the lines to spill all of the wind from the sail and then pulling it back on board with a remaining one. Worst case is a wet spinnaker and a trip to the top of the mast to re-run the halyard.

 

[lw395]

One point not mentioned that I can see is the matter of NOT putting stop-knots in any of the spinnaker sheets, guys (tack on an assy.) or halyards. The Sunsail boat shown in an earlier photo seems to have blown the sheet and guy which have just run out until the stop-knot reached the cleat or blocks. Without knots you have the option of "blowing" one of the lines to spill all of the wind from the sail and then pulling it back on board with a remaining one. Worst case is a wet spinnaker and a trip to the top of the mast to re-run the halyard.

That's what I meant by 'running the guy' in post 13.
Letting the halyard run should not be necessary, so I have a knot in that.
Worst case, you can always cut it.

It pays to have practised letting the guy run, and don't forget the lazy sheet has to go too if you have them!
And FFS keep out of the way as it goes.

 

[Foolish Muse]

I can see is the matter of NOT putting stop-knots in any of the spinnaker sheets

This is not as cut and dried as you might think. In a high wind broach, if you blow your guy without a stopper knot, it simply starts streaming out 60' beyond where your spinnaker is already streaming. In a couple of minutes you will have a 1 cubic foot solid block of tangled rope. But the issue is that it is extremely difficult to pull in your chute in high winds, with just the sheet, when the sail is already 30'-40' out away from the boat. It is unbelievably hard to even wrap the sheet around a winch so that you can start to grind it in. And grinding it in takes everything that you have. If you decide to blow your halyard as well, then what you've got is a sail dragging behind while your boat takes off again at 8 knots in the high wind. Things will rarely get better by blowing lines.

In the extreme case where you have tried to ease the sheet all the way, but you still can't get the boat sailing downwind again, the very first thing is to try to get the sheet back in again as much as you can. Then very purposely ease the guy 10', then ease the halyard 10', then grind in the sheet, Then ease the guy another 10', then the halyard another 10', then grind in the sheet again. Don't blow anything, just ease them 10' at a time, always grinding the sheet in as much as you can.

The best advice is from the front of the Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy: Don't Panic! Or the advice that an IMOCA 60 skipper gave me "make a cup of tea and drink it." When ever I watch videos of boats broaching, it seems like every one is in a panic state. I can tell you that this is just due to lack of practice. But having broached many many times myself, I've learned to take it a lot easier. Take the time to figure out what you are going to do and then do it in a calm, purposeful way. It really doesn't matter if your boat is over on its side for a few minutes. The boat can take it - can you?

 

[Birdseye]

I like your approach!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I've always preferred to keep my options open, and put what I call 'figure of sixteen' slipped stoppers on guys and sheets. (A figure of sixteen is a figure of eight but with three twists, and that is tied with a slip loop). With the extra friction in the knot I've never had one jam even slightly tight, so can always let a guy run when wanted.

 

[Foolish Muse]

Here is a good photo of what happens when the sheet and guy are both out.

I also use a slip knot as a stopper knot on my guy. I've even had it run right through the block.

 

[Neil_Y]

As a bowman we would sometimes just blow the snap shackle on the guy with the sheet still on a winch, wind it in tight and then blow the halyard. We've also dumped the kite in the water as we headed for Lee on solent beach. Guy had gone and snap shackle on sheet had let go itself in all the shaking so we had it streaming from mast head taking us to the beach. Dumped in the water we sailed down to collect one corner with just the main and could then stop and collect. I also had to go up to the mast to release the halyard snap shackle after the kite had twisted itself round the forestay and again we were heading towards the shore with a kite that wouldn't come down. Releasing the halyard allowed it to untangle and get pulled down. I brought the halyard down with me. Pretty bumpy up there in 30knts and hard to hang on though.