Installing a Spinnaker

[jssailem]

My bad. I must have sped read the first sentence. Then the repeated reference to "spinnaker" stuck.

The rig for the floating tack line is what I use. The folks at north sail suggested a bungie cord attached to the bow pulpit to hold the block out and away from the forestay. I attach the block to the bow roller using a soft shackle.

 

[Tedd]

The folks at north sail suggested a bungie cord attached to the bow pulpit to hold the block out and away from the forestay. I attach the block to the bow roller using a soft shackle.

That seems like a good arrangement. Thanks!

 

[sail sfbay]

So how did you rig the spinnaker sail?

 

[George Braun]

Tedd.
Lets distinguish between Asymmetrical and Spinnaker.
Basics

The Asymmetrical attaches the Tack of the sail on the bow. Location is out in front of the forestay. Since you want to adjust the tack to trim the sail the attachment at the deck is a block. You run a line from cockpit thru the block and attach to the sail tack. When the tack is pulled tight to the deck the sail looks like a balloony Genoa.

The head is hoisted to the mast and a sheet is attached to the clew giving the sail 3 points of attachment.

A standard spinnaker has a head up the mast and two sheets port/starboard. On the windward side a pole is attached to the mast and the clew to help hold the sail in place. A guy or topping lift is used to support the pole and trim the height of the sail.

Which sail do you have?

Jssailem has it partly correct. one of the 2 ways you trim an asym is by raising and lowering the tack. Down tight in higher wind speeds and higher angles, up higher in lower wind speeds and lower angles. done together with the sheet. The ATN tacker allows you to more easily maintain the tack position on a boat without an asym pole, which pushes the tack out away from the bow.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

I'm not sure you got an answer to your question. I'll try. There basically are four lines that attach to an asymmetrical spinnaker to fly it. Of course the halyard, the tack line and the two port and starboard sheets. The tack line attached to a block that you add near the stem head fitting where the forestay attaches. That line is lead aft where it can be operated up or down from the cockpit. The line can lead down the deck through fairleads, cheek blocks, deck organizers or whatever works on your boat. It needs to be leased off somehow. The halyard is pretty straight forward and you probably understand that part as you already have defined where the halyard exits the mast. The two sheets need to be run to the aft corners of the boat, through a block and led forward where the trimmer can handle it. Usually a winch is used for mechanical advantage - especially in heavier air. So, the sail trims much like a genoa in terms to leading the sheets in and out for trimming. The tack line adjusts up and down and the halyard in or out. An asymmetrical spinnaker can't efficiently go straight down wind like a spinnaker with a pole. So, racers will gybe down wind, increasing their apparent wind on each course to keep the boat moving fast and not letting the mainsail block the kite's air. What an asymmetrical spinnaker will do is let you sail tighter (closer) to the wind, because if acts more like a genoa. When sailing as close hauled as you can you will straighten out the luff by pulling down the tack line and pulling in the halyard and bringing in the sheet on the side that the sail is. As you fall off, the sheet is released, the tack line is payed out as is the halyard for a more billowy presence to the wind. But, in heavy air, you want the tack line down to the stem head fitting to help stabilize the sail. I hope this clears stuff up for you. You have a sprit on your boat which puts the tack of the headsail further forward, which helps get the spinnaker away from mainsail. Sport boats, like a J/Boat one-design (and others) have a retractable sprit which pushes the tack of the spinnaker out to keep the mainsail from blanketing it from the wind. For cruising boats, that have no sprit there are retractable after market sprits that can be installed on deck to accomplish the same thing. Selden Spars (Furlex) makes them with various deck attachments to accommodate different applications. Bill out.

 

[Tedd]

Thanks, @Barnacle Bill !

That was good information about the set up for an asymmetrical spinnaker, especially the part about the tack line. I think I knew before that the tack line should be adjustable but in the meantime I'd forgotten about it, so that was a good reminder,

Here's how the boat was equipped when I got it. The spinnaker halyard is fully installed with a line and everything, including its own clutch. There's a block on either side very near the stern, about three feet behind the winch on each side. So it looks like all I have to do is rig up something for the tack line and I'll be ready to try out the spinnaker.

I'm really looking forward to it because I've learned that light winds are very common in the areas I sail. In four seasons of sailing I've only seen double-digit winds a handful of times. I've reefed far more times just for the practice than when it's actually needed!

 

[Bosman]

What you have is a genaker, if this is a factory one. It is a poor quality photo, but if you zoom in, you can see furler beneath the sali (I don't see a sock od any type to douse the sail).

 

[sailme88]

The ATN Tacker wraps around the furled headsail. the tack of the spinnaker attaches with a quick release. A line is attached to the ring on the tacker, drops to block and runs aft to the cockpit. This line allows you to control the rise and fall of the tacker and thus aids in sail shape and position. ATN has several videos that show the proper use.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

With an asymmetrical spinnaker, you want to have a block attached somewhere where a tack line feeds through it and then leads aft the cockpit where it can be adjusted in and out. The further forward the better as they you can get the spinnaker further away from the blanketing of the mainsail. That is why many one design race boats have a retractable sprit - to get the spinnaker way out forward and away from the dirty air of the mainsail. You can purchase after market retractable sprits as well to be mounted on the deck, or in your case, the bow anchor roller sprit. When you are sailing closer the the wind, you want the leading edge of the spinnaker more straight and sort of trim it like a genoa. In this case, you'd pull down the tack with the tack line and pull in the halyard to straighten out the leading edge of the sail and trim the sheet accordingly. As the wind goes aft, then you need to ease out the tack line (and the halyard and the sheet) so that the sail opens up and catches the wind as you sail more down wind. Also, when you dowse the sail, you can ease out the tack line and pull the sail into the cockpit with the sheet (also letting the halyard go) to stow. So you need enough tack line to accommodate that. A dowser is something tubular out of a cloth material that folds down on the sail to collapse it and then you release the halyard and pull the head to the cockpit and either secure it on the deck for the next hoist, or ease out the tack line and pull the neatly collapsed sail down into the cabin. They are particularly nice for short-handed sailing.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I recently bought a boat that came with a brand new asymmetrical spinnaker that, so far as I know, was never used on the boat. I've never flown a spinnaker before and I plan to take a friend who has racing experience to show me how to use it, the first time. But, while preparing for that, I came to wonder if the boat is even properly set up for it.

Did you ever get your boat set up for your A-symm and if so, how did it go? I love mine and fly it every chance I get. This is how I attach my tack line.