Correct sheet routing on a A-sym. spinnaker

[C Jones]

I have sailed with friends in the past on larger boats in the 34'-40' range. They had A-sym spinnakers and routed their sheets outside or forward of their jibs or furlers. Wednesday evening I sailed with a friend on a 30' Catalina and he routed his A-sym sheets inside or between his furler and A-sym. We were racing and this seemed slower on tacking than outside routed sheets. We couldn't come about and let the A-sym back fill, pull it over and then set it. We had to pull it thru the jib and A-sym. Definately slower and counter productive I thought. Which is correct?

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Both are correct. Personal preference. Here's a link that gives pros and cons for each method.

http://www.fxsails.com/spinnarticle2.php

I don't race, and I fly my aspin in light winds. I also don't tack or jibe that often when running with the aspin. As a result I only use a single sheet that I walk forward to switch sides.

 

[C Jones]

Thanks Dave, thats a good article that explains it well. It looks to me like we would be better off running the lazy sheet outside when racing. Running over the lazy sheet with a crew of five should not happen with a few practice tacks. 3rd mate forward to watch for any sheet hang ups and 4th mate taking in slack on the lazy sheet as its flying straight forward as the helmsman comes about. With that being said running the sheets inside might be best if short handed or single handed. We have to tack alot on our lake so the single sheet might not be the best for us. Thanks again, Charles

 

[Alan]

Properly gybing an asym takes coordination between the trimmers and helm. When done correctly running the sheets for an inside gybe is faster and prevents the possibility of sailing over the lazy sheet.
An inside gybe runs the sheets outside the forestay but inside the asym tack. An outside gybe would run the sheets outside everything and require the sail to flip completely inside out which is far too slow when racing.

 

[C Jones]

Thanks Alan, We tried both ways yesterday on a Bristol 35 in low winds of 2-4 knots.
Finally the wind picked up to 5-8 knots knots and we made better progress in our gybes.
We achieved the needed coordination every time and made good progress against a Catalina 310 and Beneteau 323. Both boats had standard jibs. Charles