Spinnaker on a Cat 30

[Edward 14244]

My newly acquired 1988 Cat 30 is going to the rigger next week (had never been re-rigged)and I want to take the opportunity to see if I can make provisions for the use of a spinnaker. The boat is the TRBS type. I have actually two questions:1) to attach a asymetrical spinnaker I could do with a ring on the bowsprit. But there seems to be room only aft of the Furlex attachment. The spinnaker halyard appears to go forward/outside of the forestay/furlex. This would make gybing impossible, as the spinnaker would be caught around the furler. Is there a solution?2) I want to have a spinnaker pole, if only to be able to pole out when running square. I might as well go for a 'normal' spinnaker set-up then.I can lead a downhaul along the stanchions, that is no problem.But there seems to be not much room on the coachroof for the other necessary hardware. My first reef is led aft to the cockpit (using the spinnaker clutch, that can be changed back), next to it is the jib halyard. At starboard side I have the main halyard and the mainsheet. How would I go about a topping lift? Has anyone done this? An unsightly solution is to just plonk another clutch on the coachroom, but I must admit that aesthetics play a role....I am sure the rigger will have some ideas, but Cat 30's are rather rare in my neck of the woods, so he wouldn't have any experience with one.Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Richard4728]

Spin set up

Edward,It depends on the amount of crew you plan having on board when flying the spinaker and gybing is concerned. It would be best to hook the tack as far forward as possible with the tack line that is secured aft to the cockpit. Asymetricals aren't designed to run DDW but if you ease the tack line when the apparent wind is between 150-180 degrees this will allow the luff to lift up and to windward, slightly out of the shadow of the main. The tack line or a pole downhaul can be run along side of the cabin near the deckline to a rope clutch or cam cleat at the aft edge of the cabin. Or along the stantion bases to a rope clutch on the deck near the helm, again, it depends on the amount of crew you plan to carry. The only way to jybe the asymetrical on a Catalina 30 (without major modifications)is to float the tack around, out in front of the boat. If you don't have the halyard mounted to the masthead you'll need to buy the masthead fitting and have your rigger run the halyard(see link). It takes practice and having extra hands is a must. The other way is to buy a snuffer and move it around the headstay manually. A snuffer is nice because it makes it do-able with a crew of 2. If you really want a pole, buy a whisker pole(Forespar). This allows you to run before the wind with your rollerfurling headsail that can be reefed easily for the conditions.Topping lift? Use your extra jib halyard.Hope this helps.

 

[Randy]

block on the bow roller

Edward,Mine has a block attached to the pin above the bow roller. A tack line is tied to the tack of the aspin, runs through the block and can be cleated to the bow cleat. You can then adjust the tack up or down depending on point of sail and conditions. When the sail is raised everything flies forward of the furler.Randy