Making my spinnaker easier to deploy

Jackdaw · Jan 19, 2016

Kermit,

We do this quite often, in particular before a race or on fun days when we think we might use the spin.

We pre-run all the lines, and have them terminate together at the spot where we launch the kite. Often we clip (or tie asym sheets) to the port lifeline stanchion just in front of the stays. That's where we put the spin deployment bag; before use. We don't use any special fairleads, we just keep them snug. We'll clip it all on to the corners. We don'yLike in the pic below. Everything is run and ready to launch.

If we're lazy we might leave the spin rigging out all night, but we usually pull it in.

weinie · Jan 19, 2016

I have a small headsail and fly either a code 0 or an asym on top down furlers frequently and mostly short/single handed. Throw in a stopper knot at the aft spin sheet blocks, take up all the slack and coil the forward end and tie them off on either side of the pulpit.
The easier you make it to setup and take down your spinnaker, the more often you will want to use it.

Jackdaw · Jan 19, 2016

Kermit said:
Thanks Jackdaw! My reason for the fairleads is because I want to leave them on the boat at all times. Just figured it would make things look better. No purpose other than that. If I don't need them I won't use them. As far as leaving the rigging out all the time, I figure everything else is exposed to the weather. Sure, the lines will look better if I keep them stored but I won't use them as often. Reminds me about the saying about boats in harbors and not being what they are for...
Thanks again!

Try this maybe? We use it for furling lines but it would work for what you are thinking. It opens easily.

http://www.seldenmast.com/en/products/line_management/double_fairlead.html

jdhohmann · Jan 19, 2016

I leave my Spin Sheets out most of the season, it is very useful when I decide on a moments notice that we want to raise the Asymmetrical.. Though I have not mastered the raising or lowering of it yet... Damn it!!!. I really do like racing with it in our Tuesday races. We have a PHRF fllet and it is the oly thing that lets me keep up with our nemisis ( C&C 29-2) on a light wind day.. Truthfully even on a high wind day, damn that boat is fast!!!!!

Scott T-Bird · Jan 19, 2016

Kermit said:
Well I'll be John Brown. That looks like it'll work a charm. Thanks!

Likewise! I think I'll do the same!

Brian S · Jan 20, 2016

Kermit, I agree, even on a 18.5' boat, running out the tack line and spin sheets is a PITA.

I usually do it on the water, while singlehanded, with full sail up, and the tiller locked.

Getting the sheet around the jib is a particular PITA. (I use a single line sheet with a butterfly knot in the middle, which is softie shackled to the clew.) It's a lot of line to run around. Even though I think and think and think that I have everything run properly, and outside everything else, many times I've gotten it wrong, and have to pull the chute all over to get it flying, and maybe re-run a sheet or two. Doh!

At the end of the season last year, I think I got my rigging down pretty well, and started launching and retrieving from the open cabin hatch. I did one afternoon with like three runs up the lake and back down with the chute

It's less fiddly than using the turtle to launch, and I don't have to re-pack the turtle for next leg. One of the racers with a HUGE asym on his Santana 2023R (when you're blanketed by him, it's really like being stuck behind a mountain, but with no wind wrapping around) has built a PVC framework with a clothes hamper hanging down. It sits in the hatch rails, and makes for really nice takedowns and launches. I might do the same, just because, but since I don't race the O'day often, making one would just be a project to waste time fiddling with.

Jackdaw · Jan 20, 2016

Brian S said:
built a PVC framework with a clothes hamper hanging down. It sits in the hatch rails, and makes for really nice takedowns and launches. I might do the same, just because, but since I don't race the O'day often, making one would just be a project to waste time fiddling with.

Spin launch bag. Tell him they sell these. Short handed we use the big one (this) for companionway launches, the small one on the same site for hatch launches. Fully crewed (5) we repack. 97% of the time it goes up fine from the launch bags, but....

http://www.apsltd.com/aps-spinnaker-launching-bag.html

Jackdaw · Jan 20, 2016

Brian S said:
One of the racers with a HUGE asym on his Santana 2023R (when you're blanketed by him, it's really like being stuck behind a mountain, but with no wind wrapping around)

LOL that's funny and I can relate... Our First 260 has a 600 sqr/ft spinnaker. Its huge. The WYC J22 fleet calls it the 'nylon eclipse'. You should see them scatter to stay out of its wind shadow.

Bad Obsession · Jan 20, 2016

I hoist and launch single handed. I have doused in 15 knots too.

I run my lines if I think that I will launch. My tack line stays on most of the time. I will run the sheets and then place the clip for the sheets (the clip goes to the clews) on the front pulpit. When I launch, I do this without a crew or a sock, I set the sail up and then hoist it in the blanket of the jib. Once it is up I trim it in and boom.

To douse it I grab the leeward sheet near the clew. I then release the halyard and tack line and haul it into the companionway. Works like a charm.

Yep, I hoisted it once this past summer because I thought the wind was dying. It built back up quickly and was blowing over 15 knots. That was one hell of a ride for a while but I decided it was time to douse it. Surprisingly it wasn't that hard to do.

druid · Jan 20, 2016

I had a snuffing sock on the asym on the Crown 28, and I loved it! Could hoist the chute up and leave it dangling till you wanted it (sometimes lashed to the mast), then a quick pull of the line and it's out. Snuffing was just as easy.
I had an old-school symmetrical on the Cal 25 - THAT was a chore to launch single-handed (especially with a tiller...

). One trick I used was when I wanted to drop it I pulled up straight into the wind and tripped the halyard - the chute just dropped on deck.
My Ontario 32 has a symmetrical (complete with pole) and a snuffer. It's a myriad of lines that have to be untangled when I launch it. I REALLY like the OP's idea of running the lines (as much as possible) ahead of time. I make an attempt at leaving the pole ready to go on the foredeck, although it does interfere with the jib when tacking.

But doing things ahead of time is the secret to single-handing!

druid

Brian S · Jan 21, 2016

Jackdaw said:
Spin launch bag. Tell him they sell these. Short handed we use the big one (this) for companionway launches, the small one on the same site for hatch launches. Fully crewed (5) we repack. 97% of the time it goes up fine from the launch bags, but....

http://www.apsltd.com/aps-spinnaker-launching-bag.html

Jackdaw, as for our racer with his home built launching bag, he's very much a DIY guy - he's also a mechanical engineer. He built a boat lift in his carport, and his entire basement is set up as a sail loft, with huge table. He's got an old mast bolted in to a joist so he can run a bolt rope in and have the sail hanging down. He's a fun guy to hang around with. Picked up an old Laser, painted it to pretty it up some, then sewed his own Laser sail

Also, yes, launching from the turtle up by the bow pulpit is a nice way to get the chute up. I first tried from the companionway with the halyard coming in under the lower shroud, but the head got jammed at the tang. Then I tried launching outside the lower, but inside the upper, under the spreader. I can't remember if I liked that better or not, or just decided to go outside all the shrouds. I'll figure it out again come spring. Not much problem, it's a small chute on a fractional rig, going about 6" above the hounds. Even with the backstay, I was concerned about hoisting to the masthead the way the PO had it rigged, afraid side loads would not be good for the mast tip.

Brian S · Jan 21, 2016

Jackdaw said:
LOL that's funny and I can relate... Our First 260 has a 600 sqr/ft spinnaker. Its huge. The WYC J22 fleet calls it the 'nylon eclipse'. You should see them scatter to stay out of its wind shadow.

I'm going to start calling Craig's Santana the "nylon eclipse," see if I can get it to catch on!

Brian S · Jan 21, 2016

Kermit, Bad O, that's how I take down my asym also. It's pretty easy to blanket it with the main if needed. Just a note that I drop my hank on jib with a downhaul when the asym is up. I have heard differing opinions about the necessity for a sock. I daresay Kermit's chute will be much bigger than mine or Bad O's, but on the other hand, our local "nylon eclipse," with masthead asym on a pole, taught me takedowns the way I do it, and he races solo all the time. Another thing, since I don't have a sprit or pole, I gybe my chute outside the forestay, which is kinda a PITA. Requires some decent timing, which gets to be a handful solo. That's why I tend to fly it in light airs, maybe up to 10 knots.

Making my spinnaker easier to deploy

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