Hello racers!
My wife and I sail an Express 34 in Alaska. Great boat, we absolutely love it, and race it 5-6x per summer up here. Folks who are familiar with the design will know that we run a symmetrical spinnaker.
This offseason we decided to experiment with an *asymmetrical* spinnaker as well. The goal is to have a big headsail that can point a bit higher than the symmetrical (we tend to lose on reaching legs) and be a bit easier to run than the symmetrical, which really requires a full crew. We got an A5, and I'm pretty excited about it.
That said, the "wind was taken out of my sails" when I realized we don't have a convenient location to tack it. See attached pictures - the only sensible anchor is literally right under the roller furler:
So - what does the community recommend here? I know some people use the anchor roller with zero issues, and it's pretty beefy... but definitely designed to pull from below (not above or sideways). I read some boats have had devastating failures from doing this.
Another option would be to go to the correct, reinforced tack point, but then the tack line would be pulling against the roller furler in one direction or another. Not ideal either.
I'm sure using the bowsprit would be a disaster waiting to happen so not even going to go there.
Is there some kind of loop or bridle folks can envision? How would other racers handle this?
Thank you!!!
My wife and I sail an Express 34 in Alaska. Great boat, we absolutely love it, and race it 5-6x per summer up here. Folks who are familiar with the design will know that we run a symmetrical spinnaker.
This offseason we decided to experiment with an *asymmetrical* spinnaker as well. The goal is to have a big headsail that can point a bit higher than the symmetrical (we tend to lose on reaching legs) and be a bit easier to run than the symmetrical, which really requires a full crew. We got an A5, and I'm pretty excited about it.
That said, the "wind was taken out of my sails" when I realized we don't have a convenient location to tack it. See attached pictures - the only sensible anchor is literally right under the roller furler:
So - what does the community recommend here? I know some people use the anchor roller with zero issues, and it's pretty beefy... but definitely designed to pull from below (not above or sideways). I read some boats have had devastating failures from doing this.
Another option would be to go to the correct, reinforced tack point, but then the tack line would be pulling against the roller furler in one direction or another. Not ideal either.
I'm sure using the bowsprit would be a disaster waiting to happen so not even going to go there.
Is there some kind of loop or bridle folks can envision? How would other racers handle this?
Thank you!!!