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Thread: Spinnaker questions

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    Berkeley Marina
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    154

    Default Spinnaker questions

    Still figuring out how to do this thing.
    Thought I had it wired this weekend as I easily raised the spin sock in <5 kts over the potato patch, clawed past Pt. Bonita, then blazed past Kirby Cove and under the Golden Gate in 10-15 kts to the slack-jawed awe of the starboard crowd on a packed Hornblower cruise crowd -- while their port-side brethren would soon point and laugh on the return trip as they watched me scrambling around the deck trying futilely to unwrap the beast, and its sock and all its attendant cordage, from the furled jib loaf in what was now 15-20 kts just east of the gate.
    20 minutes later in the calm water off Sausalito I managed to get it all unwrapped. Nothing broke.

    So moral of the story: to fix spinnaker wraps, always have sheltered water nearby.

    Failing that, the internet says to just gybe the main in the event of a wrap and it will magically unwrap itself. Sounds easy enough. Is that real? What do you all say?

    While I was on the foredeck, I recalled all the stories I've read of cutting and slashing sails and lines to free a problem spinnaker, but frankly didn't see how it would have helped in my case. The bubble at the top was pretty well set and I'm just lucky the wind wasn't high enough to make it overpowering. I can now see how easily Fast Forward's fate could be mine.

    On a related note: still trying to set up deck hardware. The spin sheets run fairly when the pole is 40 degrees or more off the forestay, but when reaching with the pole further forward, the sheet (or is it a guy?) puts some ugly pressure on the lifelines and stanchions. I don't understand how to avoid this. I thought twings would help, but it just moves the contact point on the lifeline forward. Or are my twings set too far back? I dunno. Just rebedded my stanchions and really don't want to see them busted.

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    Last edited by Lanikai; 09-04-2017 at 11:08 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Arnold, CA
    Posts
    586

    Default

    When I bought Nightmare and entered the world of spinnaker sailing, I found myself filled with trepidation and horror stories of wraps, roundups, and chinese jibes.
    I even heard a story of a guy who lit a spinnaker on fire it was wrapped so bad!

    Most of the information regarding spinnaker handling is geared toward crewed sailing.

    Fortunately I found Andrew Evans book in our resources here; http://sfbaysss.org/main/resources/
    From his tips I learned how to launch, trim, jibe, and douse.

    He suggests easing the sheet and guy forward, jibing the main first, then the pole, all within 30 degrees DDW either side, not spending too much time DDW to avoid a wrap.

    My twings are just aft of the shrouds. They control the height of the clew .
    Yes, when reaching, the guy (guy is windward, sheet trims, and they alternate) is putting a lot of pressure on the lifelines and stanchions. Some boats use a reaching strut from the mast to the guy in order to keep pressure off.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    3,485

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    Quote Originally Posted by Daydreamer
    Some boats use a reaching strut from the mast to the guy in order to keep pressure off.
    I saw a reaching strut for the first time on Green Buffalo in the Drakes Bay race. Are they sold as such, or could I buy an itty bitty 6' whisker pole for Dura Mater and call it a reaching strut? I'd like to be able to speak knowlegably even if I never have the nerve to use it. Form over substance and all that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Berkeley Marina
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    Default

    Thanks, Daydreamer. I assumed reaching struts were purely the domain of big, crewed boats, and just another thing to cause trouble for a singlehander...I wonder if JQ uses his when he singlehands Green Buffalo?

    When my boat makes unusual noises, as was the case with the straining stanchion and lifelines, I usually interpret it as a cry for help. "Something isn't right. Don't do this to me!". My boat is a spoiled brat so now I'm just going to ignore such whining -- unless the sound is of rushing water belowdecks.
    I left my hardcopy of Andrew's book aboard...forgot about the free online. It's lunchtime and I know what I'll be reading, thanks for the reminder.
    Jackie, I saw a bunch of reaching struts at Blue Pelican last time I was there. They all seem to have a special fitting for attaching to the mast, nothing I've ever seen on boats as petite as our 2-27s.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    3,688

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    A quick gybe back often fixes a wrap on my boat, since the wind is then coming off the top of the main and into the kite in the opposite direction. But you have to do it quickly before things start tightening up. Especially when singlehanded, I try to position my gybes so I have room to gybe back to clear a wrap - it's that reliable if you do it quickly.

    I think if you position the twing block in the right spot fore-n-aft and then twing the guy down to it after the gybe, you can take most of the pressure off the lifelines and stanchions. As a shorthander, I would only mess with a reaching strut for a long reaching leg. Like from here to the Marquesas...
    Last edited by BobJ; 09-05-2017 at 01:51 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    San Francisco Bay
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    156

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lanikai View Post
    ...Failing that, the internet says to just gybe the main in the event of a wrap and it will magically unwrap itself. Sounds easy enough. Is that real? What do you all say?...
    Yes. Jibing out of a wrap can be the miracle you need. As Bob says, the sooner the better. But, you need room to run on the new course and it can take a while. And then you need to watch that it doesn't rewrap!

    Works for wrapped Genoa's, too.

    There are nets that fill the forward triangle to prevent the spin from passing through, but they are truly a pain for the single-handed. Haven't used these.

  7. #7
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    Sep 2007
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    The combination of a spinnaker net and a sock can cause you to experience the Abomination of Desolation.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Berkeley Marina
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    Okay, now I admit I'm kind of looking forward to another wrap so I can try the gybe trick.

    Quote Originally Posted by BobJ View Post
    The combination of a spinnaker net and a sock can cause you to experience the Abomination of Desolation.
    Honey Badger don't care! I spy both a sock and a net in the Illusion-finishing-Transpac photo, which hath wrought -- hey, wait a minute, sleddog is on that boat!
    http://honeynav.com/category/cal40

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