singlehanding an asymmetrical spinnaker

Les · Apr 20, 2015

Bob, I'm not sure I'm going to be of much help here but I also single hand a bit and like to fly a chute. Haven't done it much but I have flown one from the cockpit. However, I fly it from a bag or turtle from one side or the other near the shrouds. My sheets are permanently attached to the sail (Asymmetrical) and go around the boat outside of everything to the stern blocks where I put a knot into them.

My down haul is always on the boat and I release it and bring the snap shackle back to the bag and attach it to the bottom part of the sail. My halyard is always on so I bring it back to the sail and attach it.

All my lines come back to the cockpit. When I'm ready to fly the chute, I just pull on the halyard until it is up, adjust the one sheet around the winch and then play with the down haul.

When taking down the chute, I just let the halyard go and pull on the sheet and bring the sail into the cockpit. If I need to fly the sail again I have to get the bag (only time I leave the cockpit) and restore the sail in the bag with lines coming out the correct ends. Not hard but it does take a little time. I normally just fly the chute one time during my day sail.

I'm a senior and don't want to go forward to the mast if I can help it. My jib is a furling jib so it is normally already out of the way. I've had socks on previous boats and I always screwed up the lines. I don't have problems with this method.

I wish you well.

Joe · Apr 21, 2015

I agree with Les. The snuffer, when single handing on a medium to small boat is unnecessary... in fact, it's more nuisance than beneficial. You have to go forward to raise the sock and set the sail..... the same goes when you bring it down.

On the other hand, if you have the bucks to install a sprit and spin furler.... that's absolutely stylin'....

weinie · Apr 21, 2015

Autopilot

weinie · Apr 21, 2015

The nice thing about a sock is that you can raise it a few feet at a time to make sure the kite isnt hourglassing.

Swallow · Apr 21, 2015

Singlehanded asymmetrical spin

I too singlehand with an asymmetrical spinnaker. It is a delightful challenge as you have indicated. Meeting those challenges on our own is a lot of what singlehanding is about.

My spinnaker has a snuffer which as has been indicated is its own challenge. It means that you have to go forward when hoisting and dropping the sail. In preparation for hoisting, the sheet is run outside of everything to a block at the stern and a tack line is run through a block at the bow and back to the cockpit. The sail in its snuffer is hoisted and then the sock is raised and the snuffer line is cleated at the mast. The tack line and sheet are trimmed and the fun continues. Certainly there are advantages to launching the sail from a bag, as I have done on my other boats, but I still enjoy my snuffer!

Scott T-Bird · Apr 21, 2015

Thanks for that explanation, Les

That was very well said and applies perfectly for me. I've been wondering where you have been, having not seen a post from you in a while!

Swallow · Apr 21, 2015

Re: Thanks for that explanation, Les

Brian S · Apr 21, 2015

Les said:
Bob, I'm not sure I'm going to be of much help here but I also single hand a bit and like to fly a chute. Haven't done it much but I have flown one from the cockpit. However, I fly it from a bag or turtle from one side or the other near the shrouds. My sheets are permanently attached to the sail (Asymmetrical) and go around the boat outside of everything to the stern blocks where I put a knot into them.

My down haul is always on the boat and I release it and bring the snap shackle back to the bag and attach it to the bottom part of the sail. My halyard is always on so I bring it back to the sail and attach it.

All my lines come back to the cockpit. When I'm ready to fly the chute, I just pull on the halyard until it is up, adjust the one sheet around the winch and then play with the down haul.

When taking down the chute, I just let the halyard go and pull on the sheet and bring the sail into the cockpit. If I need to fly the sail again I have to get the bag (only time I leave the cockpit) and restore the sail in the bag with lines coming out the correct ends. Not hard but it does take a little time. I normally just fly the chute one time during my day sail.

By "downhaul" I think Les means the tack line. The tack line adjusts the height of, well, the tack, and also the fullness of the luff of the chute. Generally, tighter with a flatter luff for higher angles, and let off the tack line so the luff can round out and rotate out in front of the boat a little bit for deeper angles.

On my little boat, and a racer I know with a Santana 2023R, you can launch and retrieve into the companionway. The Santana guy has like a fabric clothes hamper on a PVC framework that rests over the top of the open companionway hatch. Of course, he sets and douses his chute several time a race.

I launch from a turtle (bag clipped to lifeline) and retrieve into the cabin, then re-pack the turtle. I've tried to launch from the cabin, but if I run the halyard inside the lower shroud, the head of the chute gets caught at the V of the lower and the mast. I wanted to get a ride in the Santana and see how he runs the lines, but I didn't get a chance. Poking around my emails, I found an email from a guy with the same boat as me who runs an asym, and he says he brings everything between the upper and lower, under the spreader. I think that would make a much easier launch, because the head would not get jammed under the wide open space of the spreader so easily. I can't wait to try that this year. I see the potential of a custom hamper for the companionway in my future, too.

Since I have a small boat, I mounted a swiveling cam cleat to the mast. This brings the halyard down, and then back toward the cockpit. It allows me to hoist and douse from the cockpit or standing just in the companionway, without having the trouble of leading the halyards aft. The OP has a bigger boat, so I know it's different than my little boat.

weinie · Apr 21, 2015

That's why I like the sock. It's easy to abort if doesn't look right and you don't have to jump the halyard. Mebbe it's just a comfort thing.

Swallow · Apr 21, 2015

Having done it both ways, and had problems with each method, having a sock allows the situation to be managed more easily. It is a big relief to ease the sheet, lower the sock and take the sail out of the wind

AlanRothenbush · Apr 21, 2015

I singlehand a fair bit as well.

I do not have an assym, but instead fly my old symmetrical kite as if it were an assym, using an ATN tacker. The combination isn't nearly as good as a genuine assym but it _does_ work.

I use a sock. It's actually an ATN style sock, but made as a "kit" from Sailrite. This style sock has an extra compartment for the control lines; no fouling.

I lead all lines back to the cockpit. Those are

. the sheets of course
. the halyard
. the sock control lines
. the tack "release" and
. the downhaul

The latter two lines are part of the Tacker. The Tacker has a snap shackle on the tack, for an emergency blow (have never even come close to needing to use it). The downhaul is as expected .. a line to control the height of the tack. Apparently, to get best performance out of a symmetrical spinnaker flown as an assym, you need to keep the foot level. (Makes for a lot of things to mess with; mains'l control lines, sheet, tiller, downhaul. Downwind is not the lazy doddle one might think.)

Anyway, back to the point. I can raise the kite from the cockpit (having first gone forward at some point to run all the lines), can raise the sock from the cockpit, and can douse the kite from the cockpit. But I have a horrible time lowering the snuffed kite, it always seems to get wet.

So lowering the kite then happens from the foredeck, with the autopilot engaged. I don't LIKE the dependence on the electronics, but until I rig up some other means to control the middle of the kite while lowering (one more line, methinks), autopilot it is.

Having lived with this for a couple of years now, I am sure that I will eventually

. retrofit a retractable bowsprit
. buy (sew) a genuine assym
. mount it all on a furler.

I say "eventually" because the current system is in that middle ground; it works decently well, but not as well as I'd like nor so poorly as to require immediate replacement.

Alan

bigpapaporsche · Apr 21, 2015

Asymmetrical Spin Procedures

It has been my experience that there are several items that I wouldn't be without when using the A Spin single handed. The use of a Sock is BIG, nobody mentioned the ATN Tacker also nice. Launching from a bag/Turtle, attached to the Life Lines on the Foredeck helps a lot and when launched from this position you can attached the Tack line and Sheet. Also some method of holding a course is mandatory, Auto Pilot of Tiller Tamer etc. My biggest problem with our "A Spin," is we can't fly it often enough, on our small lake, because the wind is from the wrong direction. Our new boat (Capri 22) is equipped with both a standard Spinnaker and the A Spin, so our options are greatly increased, regardless of the wind direction.

bfahle · Apr 21, 2015

I fly a symmetrical spin a lot, and often double-hand, though I have single-handed it too. I started out with a sock, which was no end of problems. Mainly it's more things to get tangled high, particularly with a furling jib up there too. When I got in trouble, it didn't help anything because I couldn't pull it down; it was all tangled. I dumped the sock and have never been happier. I've had far fewer problems, although I have learned a lot more too so that has something to do with it.

Speaking of furling jib, with the jib unfurled before dousing the spinnaker, it's a piece of cake because it blocks the wind into the spinnaker. I loose the guy (for a symmetrical) and pull it into the companionway while releasing the spinnaker halyard, which is also right there beside the companionway. I can even launch from there. When not single-handing, I repack the chute down below into the bag for the next launch. My boat is rigged for asym also, but I've never done it. I can do the whole thing from the cockpit besides put up the pole, but you won't have that problem with the asym.

vince arsenault · Apr 21, 2015

I single hand my Beneteau 37 and have found the Code Furler the best solution. I do everything from the cockpit and can fly it right into the Higher Winds and reduce in a short time. This sure beats all my days of flying full chutes with a pole to boot! Life was meant to be EASY!
Cheers
Vince A
Lake Simcoe

justsomeguy · Apr 21, 2015

My experience has been good, overall.

If the sock hasn't been used before moving it around a number of times since its last deployment, mine tends to open up just fine. A well-lubricated swivel at the mast is important, to deal with possible bowties.

Joe · Apr 22, 2015

The sock works fine... it's not the deployment/retrieving of the sail that is at issue. It is the single hander's need to go forward to handle the device while sailing downwind in the ocean (that's my venue).. Even with a wheel or tiller pilot controlling the boat.. the dynamics on the boat from the hoist/douse and the following seas.... plus having the boom out board... can be challenging for the little fella'.

On larger boats.... 35 ft or more... the sheer size of the sail can be a challenge for a single crew.... especially for older cruising couples... but the larger boat has a much safer and stable platform on the fore deck... so the sock is a real bonus for the shorthanded crew...

For a single hander, however... especially if you are comfortable with the mechanics of launch and retrieval.... the extra handling requirements of the sock must be considered. As far as twisting on launch.... correctly packing the chute will lower the likelihood of that happening.