Spinnaker guys

[KREW2]

I have decided rather than barber haulers, or tweakers, as they are sometimes called, I am going to have two sheets and two guys. What I want to know is, can I use one snap shackle to attatch both lines to the spinnaker clew, or do I need to splice one on both the sheet and the guy.

 

[bbg]

Separate shackles for each rope. Spinnaker sheets get attached to the sail. Guys get attached to the bails on the shackles of the sheets. That way, in light winds, you can unclip the lazy guy from the sheet, taking a lot of weight off the sail.

Also make sure the sheets have proper Wichard trigger snap shackles which can be spiked off with a fid (not your finger - I've got the dislocated shoulder to prove that's not a good idea) when the wind picks up.

 

[KREW2]

Thanks for that.
I have already spliced two snap shackles onto the sheets. The ropes I bought for the barber haulers, which I now want to use as guys, have a soft loop spliced into them, so I will just have to either resplice them with a snap shackle, or maybe I can just shackle them onto the sheet bails.

 

[bbg]

Thanks for that.
I have already spliced two snap shackles onto the sheets. The ropes I bought for the barber haulers, which I now want to use as guys, have a soft loop spliced into them, so I will just have to either resplice them with a snap shackle, or maybe I can just shackle them onto the sheet bails.

That sounds strange to me. I would expect barber hauler lines to be significantly shorter and lighter than the guys.

The spinnaker guys can be the lines with some of the highest loads on the boat. They are typically larger diameter than the sheets.

Depending on how you intend to hoist and drop the kite, the guys can need to run from the cockpit to pole end when it is resting against the forestay to the turning block amidships (on the other side of the boat) to the winch - and then a few metres to spare. Tweakers (depending on the setup) really only need to be a few metres long - maybe 3-6 metres on your boat (depending on how you have them set up) and can be significantly thinner than the sheets / guys.

To give you an idea, on my boat (which is admittedly somewhat extreme) the sheets are 10 mm (including cover). The guys are 10 mm dyneema without cover (just upgraded from 8 mm to avoid stretch). Tweakers are 4 mm dyneema. That is strong enough, but not very easy on the hands so I'll probably go up to 6 mm.

And, although it will be dear, this is one line that really should be dyneema. You don't want the guys to stretch.

Edit - if they already have a soft loop spliced into them, you could push the splice through the bail for the shackle for the guy, then the tail of the guy through the spliced eye - at least to try them out. One other thing you will almost certainly want is a plastic doughnut on the guy, right up against the shackle. This prevents the splice / shackle from entering the jaws of the pole and jamming in there.

 

[KREW2]

I seem to have it the wrong way round, my boat is 10 mtrs, and I bought 12ml for the sheets, and 10ml for the barber haulers, that are 13 metrs in length, too long it seems. I rigged it all up and decided a sheet and a guy on each clew would be better, especially for gybeing. So, I intend to use the 10ml rope as guys. It is plenty long enough to reach from the tip of the pole back through a pulley block cited on the toe rail by the mast, then back through deck turning block, and jammer mounted on the cockpit combing leading onto a primary winch.
THanks for your input.

 

[William_H]

Spinnacker set up

In my experience you should try all different arrangements until you find what suits you. By all means attach sheet and guy to the snap shackle . good luck olewill

 

[Resolution]

I would second using dyneema, stripped for the last few metres to reduce weight when wet. We eventually had both sheet and guy spliced onto the same shackle to save more weight.
Do make sure the shackle shuts securely - we were plagued with ones (proper spike type, not pull-on-a-string)that kept undoing at the first flog, and finally realised that the lever arm was only just locking by about 0.5mm. Switched to a different make and never had a problem again.
Having saved so much weight meant we could use the full system 95% of the time. In the remaining 5% there was so little wind that we would switch to a microscopic dyneema line fastened with a longish bowline. Devil to untangle tho'.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have decided rather than barber haulers, or tweakers, as they are sometimes called, I am going to have two sheets and two guys. What I want to know is, can I use one snap shackle to attatch both lines to the spinnaker clew, or do I need to splice one on both the sheet and the guy.

A lazy guy/sheet system is superb for short-handed spinnaker flying. I have used it for more than 20 years on boats the same size as yours with masthead rig. In particular it makes gybing on a boat with a babystay considerably easier and safer.

I have always set it up as you suggest with both sheet and guy seized to a single snap link. This saves weight at the spinnaker clews which will thus fly better in light winds. The only time it is a problem is when coiling it up after use but I solved this by only doing it at the end of the season. Otherwise I leave them permanently attached to the guard wires.

My sheets and guys are both 12 mm although there are times when I think the sheets could be a size less. Dyneema will aloow both to come down but you reach a time when the small size becomes unhandleable with heavier loads, plus for the times I manage to fly the kite the cost can barely be justified.