Rigging the sock

[John New]

OK, so I'm about ready to take a deep breath and try flying my cruising spinnaker. It came with the boat but I'm not quite sure how to rig the line that raises and lowers the sock. There isn't one currently on the sail at all. I'm thinking of trying a small block mounted at the head of the sock and a line attached to the bottom of the sock running inside the sock to the block at the head and then back down to the deck outside the sock and then back up to the base of the sock, so it could act as an 'uphaul and downhaul'. But do I put another block down near the clew? Am I even warm? I haven't had much luck trying to find out how to rig this on the Web. Any suggestions?

 

[Larry Long]

Rigging the sock(answers)

My APC has a block with a continuous line running thru it at the top of the sock. The continuous line falls to near the deck when the sail (and sock) are raised. The loop is attached to the bottom of the sock with a bridle that keeps the bottom of the sock mostly even as it travels up or down the sail. The continuous line falls from the block on the outside of the sock. It is routed back up to the block inside the sock. Check the link to learn more about using your APC.

 

[David Foster]

Pulley and line in the sock

The sock hoist line is a continuous loop from the harness on the "cone" to gather the chute at the bottom of the sock up over a pully in the top, and back down inside a slot in the sock to your hands, and then back to the cone harness. (This sounds consistent with Larry's answer.)My line is soft and easy on the hands until the sock is all the way up, when it becomes a hard, thin line that is easy to tie to a clete on the mast.But I would take the sail (and sock) to the local loft of the company that made the sail, if possible. They will show you how to rig it for free, and do the job for you at a nominal price. If the pulley or line is missing, they will know how to get and install the right replacement.If the sailmaker doesn't have a local loft, I'll bet that any local loft would offer the same help. They give these services to build your relationship with them for the next time you want to buy a new sail.DavidLady Lillie

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Try this

Ask on your dock, and you'll find someone for sure who has a spin-in-a-sock. Check out the mech and you'll see it's delightfully simple. Hope you have a dedicated spin line on the mast. If not, you may need to rig one or use the jib halyard instead. Enjoy!

 

[Ed Allen]

You should shy away from using a jib halyard to fly the sail. These sails put a lot of load on the mast at various angles. Jib halyard can rise up and become jammed at the mast head which may require someone ot go aloft and free it. the spin halyard usually has a free floating block to fly the sail from or at least a shive at the mast head with a restrait that keeps it on the shive.I learned this the hard way!