jaycee
Well-Known Member
hello,i have used a spinnaker on other boats but what are the main differences of a cruising chute and their main characturistics compared to a spinnaker.
many thanks
many thanks
spinnaker/cruising chute?
- Thread starter jaycee
- Start date
pappaecho
Well-Known Member
Spinacres come in different cuts radial or triradial and tend to be symetric.
Cruising chutes are cut asymetric... so here is my pennyworth.
I find cruising chutes pain in the *** * because you cannot easily gybe them, because the foot of the sail is attached to the bows. To gybe the sail on a cruising chute you have to literally turn it inside out - leading the "other " sheet outside of the forestay and back to the winch.
A spinacre on the other hand just literally moves from port to starboard , and may not even need the pole to be moved.
I also find it easier to reach with a spinacre than with a cruising chute.
I also find that in some wind conditions the cruising chute does not fill as well as a spinacre, tending to collapse when the wind shifts slightly.
I have also used a cruising chute as a spinacre even though it is lop sided a bit, because it is cut asymetrically. I have both on my boat and usually use the spinacre unless the wind is strong.
So I suggest that you try a cruising chute on somebody else's boat to get a feel if it is for you. You have already used a spinacre, so you know the pros and cons. The last point is that unlike a spinacre you can never get the chute round the keel, because 2 out of three points of the sail are attached to the boat!
Cruising chutes are cut asymetric... so here is my pennyworth.
I find cruising chutes pain in the *** * because you cannot easily gybe them, because the foot of the sail is attached to the bows. To gybe the sail on a cruising chute you have to literally turn it inside out - leading the "other " sheet outside of the forestay and back to the winch.
A spinacre on the other hand just literally moves from port to starboard , and may not even need the pole to be moved.
I also find it easier to reach with a spinacre than with a cruising chute.
I also find that in some wind conditions the cruising chute does not fill as well as a spinacre, tending to collapse when the wind shifts slightly.
I have also used a cruising chute as a spinacre even though it is lop sided a bit, because it is cut asymetrically. I have both on my boat and usually use the spinacre unless the wind is strong.
So I suggest that you try a cruising chute on somebody else's boat to get a feel if it is for you. You have already used a spinacre, so you know the pros and cons. The last point is that unlike a spinacre you can never get the chute round the keel, because 2 out of three points of the sail are attached to the boat!
bigmart
Well-Known Member
I always prefer a Cruising Chute over a Spinnaker. Much simpler to hoist, doesn't require a pole & will, if you've got the right cut, set when a Spinnaker will just heel you over.
All in all a much more user friendly sail that doesn't require the crew to concentrate until their eyes are out on stalks.
Martin
All in all a much more user friendly sail that doesn't require the crew to concentrate until their eyes are out on stalks.
Martin
Phoenix of Hamble
Well-Known Member
I'm with Bigmart on this one....
Perhaps not quite so much performance gain as a spinnaker overall (although not a lot less), but so much easier and safer to handle.....
Also, on a tight reach, the cruising chute will outperform the spinnaker hands down....
Perhaps not quite so much performance gain as a spinnaker overall (although not a lot less), but so much easier and safer to handle.....
Also, on a tight reach, the cruising chute will outperform the spinnaker hands down....
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
You should regard a cruising chute as a light (ish) airs reaching sail, good from a bit in front of a beam reach round to broad reach. Not very useful as a real downwind sail, unless you start getting tricky and poling it out or gooswinging it (unstable).
It's set flying from the foredeck (usually led outside the pulpit) using a spinny halyard - not neccessary to hoist it tight to the mast if you can think of a good reason not too. Spinny sheeting arrangement applies - back to the leeward quarter, or thereabouts.
Sailmaker's sites (like this one) often have useful info.
It's set flying from the foredeck (usually led outside the pulpit) using a spinny halyard - not neccessary to hoist it tight to the mast if you can think of a good reason not too. Spinny sheeting arrangement applies - back to the leeward quarter, or thereabouts.
Sailmaker's sites (like this one) often have useful info.
paul_williams
Well-Known Member
i have both, i use the cruising chute when I'm on my own because it is much easier to set and handle. and the spinnaker when I have competant crew because it is a better sail. though it can be hard to get down. I've had two near miss MOB, both times whilst dealing with a spinnaker, so your crew has to know what it is doing and follow instructions.
BAtoo
Well-Known Member
If you fly a Cruising chute off a pole you should be able to fly it closer than a spinnaker - due to its cut(flatter) & pulling the pole down- and deeper than a chute off the bow because you can pull it round on the pole.............
best - or worst - of both worlds........
best - or worst - of both worlds........
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
My personal opinion is that a cruising chute is a sad compromise which, like most compromises doesn't do anything particularly successfully.
I have 2 spinnakers which I use (generally singlehanded) when the apparent wind is aft of the quarter and an assymetric on a large wishbone which is used when apparent wind is less than F4 and within 45 degrees of the beam.
The latter is particularly successful, during my recent cruise to and from Croatia it was worn more than the furling genoa.
The assymetric should not be confused with a cruising chute, the tack is some 1.5m ahead of the bow, it has a "hard" luff and is quite useless on a run. It's area is the same as my 3/4oz GP spinnaker, but in 1.5oz material.
I have 2 spinnakers which I use (generally singlehanded) when the apparent wind is aft of the quarter and an assymetric on a large wishbone which is used when apparent wind is less than F4 and within 45 degrees of the beam.
The latter is particularly successful, during my recent cruise to and from Croatia it was worn more than the furling genoa.
The assymetric should not be confused with a cruising chute, the tack is some 1.5m ahead of the bow, it has a "hard" luff and is quite useless on a run. It's area is the same as my 3/4oz GP spinnaker, but in 1.5oz material.
dulcibella
Well-Known Member
I accept the arguments for spinnakers but much prefer a chute when single-handing.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Setting assymmetrics
In fact quite a complex subject but probably cannot be applied to cruising chutes.
1. It's essential the tack is to windward, to make the assymmetric work it's essential to have an adjustable-angle bowsprit pole or a track on the end of the pole.
2. The halyard has to be hoisted so the head is flying free outside the disturbed air round mast and mainsail head. On my boat this varies from 100mm to 1400mm, dependant on wind force and apparent angle .
Results are dramatic, hull speeds close to true wind speed, up to about F3, despite the wind coming forward (as a result of acceleration) by about 30 degrees, tacking through about 120 degrees (in light airs that's as good as a 160% lightweight genoa).
However as soon as the wind goes aft it's impossible to get the sail to fill properly. Using the spinnaker pole is a waste of time as a standard length pole is too short. So I revert to the GP spinnaker. With guys and sheets it's easy enough to control and taking a spi down in wind tends to be less challenging than handing the assymmetric.
I've never owned a cruising chute, but my experience of two on others' boats is that they're only marginally better than a large genoa on a broad reach and are blanketed by the main on a run. Gybing them is far less simple, single-handed, than end-to-end gybing a spinnaker.
In fact quite a complex subject but probably cannot be applied to cruising chutes.
1. It's essential the tack is to windward, to make the assymmetric work it's essential to have an adjustable-angle bowsprit pole or a track on the end of the pole.
2. The halyard has to be hoisted so the head is flying free outside the disturbed air round mast and mainsail head. On my boat this varies from 100mm to 1400mm, dependant on wind force and apparent angle .
Results are dramatic, hull speeds close to true wind speed, up to about F3, despite the wind coming forward (as a result of acceleration) by about 30 degrees, tacking through about 120 degrees (in light airs that's as good as a 160% lightweight genoa).
However as soon as the wind goes aft it's impossible to get the sail to fill properly. Using the spinnaker pole is a waste of time as a standard length pole is too short. So I revert to the GP spinnaker. With guys and sheets it's easy enough to control and taking a spi down in wind tends to be less challenging than handing the assymmetric.
I've never owned a cruising chute, but my experience of two on others' boats is that they're only marginally better than a large genoa on a broad reach and are blanketed by the main on a run. Gybing them is far less simple, single-handed, than end-to-end gybing a spinnaker.