My partner and I plan to store the boat with the mast up. We would like to get a Cruising Spinnaker for next summer.We don't have a spinnaker halyard. The sail would only be used for long off the wind legs while on a cruise. My question is it possible to hoist the sail on a a spare jib halyard and fly it as long as we don't jibe it? I would suspect that if we had to change course we could drop it and reset it on the other tack. Your thoughts please. It's a masthead rig.
Cruising Spinnaker ,but no Spinnaker Halyard
- Thread starter Tantallon
- Start date
- Status
Catalina 30 has that setup
The standard setup for the C30 seems to be a halyard that is essentially a second jib halyard which most use for their spinnaker. CatalinaDirect sells a masthead crane which allows you to put a block at the mast head and get the halyard out a bit further. If your isn't a Catalina I bet you could find someone fabricate a similar piece. Good luck, Jim
The standard setup for the C30 seems to be a halyard that is essentially a second jib halyard which most use for their spinnaker. CatalinaDirect sells a masthead crane which allows you to put a block at the mast head and get the halyard out a bit further. If your isn't a Catalina I bet you could find someone fabricate a similar piece. Good luck, Jim
Definately NOT!!
A spinnaker halyard, unlike a genoa, must be able to carry a force to the side. Genoa halyards exit the mast and stay inline with the headstay, spinnaker halyards do not. If the halyard exits the mast and travels to the side it will chafe on the mast. Very soon the halyard will chafe through and require replacement or break. Spinnaker halyards exit the mast and pass over a block that can rotate in any direction without chafe. Also, spinnaker halyards are set above the headstay so the spinnaker can be jibed without wrapping on the headstay.
A spinnaker halyard, unlike a genoa, must be able to carry a force to the side. Genoa halyards exit the mast and stay inline with the headstay, spinnaker halyards do not. If the halyard exits the mast and travels to the side it will chafe on the mast. Very soon the halyard will chafe through and require replacement or break. Spinnaker halyards exit the mast and pass over a block that can rotate in any direction without chafe. Also, spinnaker halyards are set above the headstay so the spinnaker can be jibed without wrapping on the headstay.
Yes, you can, but....
... it's not as good as spinnaker halyard. You would jibe it the same way you would a genoa. Regarding chafe, keep a close watch on the halyard's position. If you have the tack clipped to the forestay there shouldn't be too much sideways pull. You might consider a wire/rope halyard. Another solution I have seen is a second shackle on the halyard that clips to the forestay. Similar to the tackline set up. The result would transfer the sideways pull to the forestay at top and bottom. The downside is that using a dousing sock would be difficult and the crew must go all the way forward to launch and retrieve. With that being said, I think it's worth the effort and expense to go ahead and rig a spinnaker halyard with a swivel block on a masthead crane.
... it's not as good as spinnaker halyard. You would jibe it the same way you would a genoa. Regarding chafe, keep a close watch on the halyard's position. If you have the tack clipped to the forestay there shouldn't be too much sideways pull. You might consider a wire/rope halyard. Another solution I have seen is a second shackle on the halyard that clips to the forestay. Similar to the tackline set up. The result would transfer the sideways pull to the forestay at top and bottom. The downside is that using a dousing sock would be difficult and the crew must go all the way forward to launch and retrieve. With that being said, I think it's worth the effort and expense to go ahead and rig a spinnaker halyard with a swivel block on a masthead crane.
Come on now
I need more replies. 101 views and only 3 opinions. I expect there are a lot of cruising spinnakers out there.
I need more replies. 101 views and only 3 opinions. I expect there are a lot of cruising spinnakers out there.
I think it's been said.
Joe and Alan covered it about as good as you can. You CAN use a jib halyard, but to do it right with fewer potential problems you should use a true spinnaker halyard. There is not too much else that can be said. Not sure what you are expecting?
Joe and Alan covered it about as good as you can. You CAN use a jib halyard, but to do it right with fewer potential problems you should use a true spinnaker halyard. There is not too much else that can be said. Not sure what you are expecting?
We use the jib halyard ...
But we rarely use the spinnaker because our downwind runs are so short. We have a masthead rig on our 27' Starwind. We have no spinnaker hardware so the tack has a carabiner to slide along the forestay (we still hank our genoa) with a line to adjust the position. We jibe it like a genoa. Since the spinnaker is symetrical, I don't see that attaching the head to the forestay in a similar manner would do much for the shape, but maybe I should try it. When we move our boat to a location with much more open water, such as you have on the sound, it only makes sense to have the right hardware (and a roller furling genoa, like my wife says). Scott
But we rarely use the spinnaker because our downwind runs are so short. We have a masthead rig on our 27' Starwind. We have no spinnaker hardware so the tack has a carabiner to slide along the forestay (we still hank our genoa) with a line to adjust the position. We jibe it like a genoa. Since the spinnaker is symetrical, I don't see that attaching the head to the forestay in a similar manner would do much for the shape, but maybe I should try it. When we move our boat to a location with much more open water, such as you have on the sound, it only makes sense to have the right hardware (and a roller furling genoa, like my wife says). Scott
Thanks
Thanks for the responses, we will try the jib halyard and watch for wear. I will try to add a second shackle so that we can get more swiveling at the head of the sail. Also by bringing the jib halyard up tight against the sheave it will prevent much movement and hopefully the movement at the top will occur in the second shackle.
Thanks for the responses, we will try the jib halyard and watch for wear. I will try to add a second shackle so that we can get more swiveling at the head of the sail. Also by bringing the jib halyard up tight against the sheave it will prevent much movement and hopefully the movement at the top will occur in the second shackle.
I forgot to mention ...
Since the tack is attached to the forestay, we don't have much success going DDW because the main covers the spinnaker. We do much better with this set-up on a broad reach. Without a preventer rigged up, we don't attempt wing on wing. Our downwind runs are so short, we haven't done anything to get set up properly for going DDW. We normally head downwind on broad reaches. I think when we take the mast down to move the boat in another year, we will invest in some new gear to get set-up properly. I would think it would be a good idea for you to think about it, too.
Since the tack is attached to the forestay, we don't have much success going DDW because the main covers the spinnaker. We do much better with this set-up on a broad reach. Without a preventer rigged up, we don't attempt wing on wing. Our downwind runs are so short, we haven't done anything to get set up properly for going DDW. We normally head downwind on broad reaches. I think when we take the mast down to move the boat in another year, we will invest in some new gear to get set-up properly. I would think it would be a good idea for you to think about it, too.
Best thing you can do for an asail is a sprit pole. Very easy to rig, makes inside jibes much easier, and allows for deeper running. I added one this past winter. It is fully retractable and adds 5.5ft of extension. The whole thing cost me less than $500.
- Status