Helia 44: Wingaker vs. Parasailor

[VP and the Fox]

We have ordered it but don't get it until we pick our new Astrea 42 up in June next year.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Then there is the “no mainsail” thing. I never sail anywhere, at any time, without the mainsail. It is especially critical when using a spinnaker because without it you have no place to shelter the spinnaker while dousing. If you feel the mainsail prevents you from filling or trimming the spinnaker then I think you are doing it wrong. If you are sailing deep then square up the spinnaker more or come up onto a bit of a reach, it doesn’t take much and generally that will be faster anyhow. If you think the wind is too light to fly the kite, reach up more, bringing the apparent wind forward is called, “heating it up”. As long as you have a flattish sail and you pull the tack down to the bow you should be able to sail in very light winds.

Hmm let's see on my cat the specs call for a 108m2 spinnaker and a 14m2 main. Doesn't really provide much shelter does it?

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Hmm let's see on my cat the specs call for a 108m2 spinnaker and a 14m2 main. Doesn't really provide much shelter does it?

Oh yes it does. Even a blade of a mainsail, eased all the way out, will create a turbulence behind it and allow the spinnaker to stay collapsed.

[mikedefieslife]

It hasn't so far when I've run my spinnaker downwind. I don't have a cat rig, but still the main cannot be held out that far. Unless you pull the symmetric spinnaker way over the same side as the main (so basically like an asymmetric), it can still fill up just from the air coming in on the opposite side due to it being so much larger than the main.

I tend to run it in 7-18knts below 7 the motion the motion of the boat collapses it. I've not have a problem getting it down with the snuffer.

It's all moot now though as I shredded it en route to Maderia.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

It hasn't so far when I've run my spinnaker downwind. I don't have a cat rig, but still the main cannot be held out that far. Unless you pull the symmetric spinnaker way over the same side as the main (so basically like an asymmetric), it can still fill up just from the air coming in on the opposite side due to it being so much larger than the main.

I tend to run it in 7-18knts below 7 the motion the motion of the boat collapses it. I've not have a problem getting it down with the snuffer.

It's all moot now though as I shredded it en route to Maderia.

OK, you don't have a kite right now but you might get one again some day.

What the one suggestion I saw in a comment above, which I thought was a good one, was: sheet in the spinnaker all the way. Release the tack and let the spinnaker flag out (behind the mainsail).

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by MikeFergie

I only fly my asymmetrical spinnaker without a main. I fly it off a bridle on my cat allowing me to put the tack closer to one or the other bow eye depending on the wind.

As far as dousing goes on the bridle to the tack I use a Tylaska shackle. When I want to dump the sail single handed as this is mostly how I sail you simply winch in the clew walk forward and pull the tylaska shackle and the tack floats out and flat and you can pull down the sock without any effort. The minute you dump the tack all of the power has gone and the boat immediately stops.
Sailing Impi has a nice video of this on YouTube and he has been doing this for years on his Lagoon440.

Sailed my cat thousands of miles doing the same.
Never used shackles but dumping the clew had the same effect.

Expensive mainsail stayed in boom bag and shade tarp stayed up while underway.

[Training Wheels]

We also fly our spinnaker with no mainsail. The reason we do it is because the main doesn’t help that much going deep downwind, and our main is expensive. We’d rather keep it covered up in the sail cover when running deep downwind.