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View Poll Results: How long do you need to fly your spinnake to to take the trouble to put it up
less than 1 hour, if I can fly it I do 11 23.91%
at least 1 hour 14 30.43%
1-2 hours 4 8.70%
2-3 hours 6 13.04%
3-4 hours 5 10.87%
4+ hours 6 13.04%
Voters: 46. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 30-06-2015, 14:22   #1
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How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

It's June 30 and I haven't flow my spinnaker yet this year. I find that weird as I like to fly it as there is just something satisfying to me in flying it. But, it's a big sail and there is just the 2 of us on the boat so it has to be worth it in my mind to get it out, put it up, and take it down later to fly it. That normally means I only fly it in light wind when out in the open when I can plan on keeping it up for a few hours.

Just wondering what other people use to decide when to fly their spinnaker when short handed on a "larger" boat. (I say this because on a smaller boat with 4 people there isn't any reason to not fly it even if it is only for 30 minutes)
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Old 30-06-2015, 14:25   #2
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

If the forecast suggests I can fly the kite for at least 3 hrs, I'll make the effort to rig the sail, and that's being single handed, usually takes me at least 30 mins to rig the spinnaker.
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Old 30-06-2015, 14:28   #3
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

BTW - I only have an asymmetrical and don't need a pole. Back when I had a symmetrical chute I wouldn't even consider putting it up unless it was going to be up for at least 20 miles as after dealing with the pole etc I needed to rest after!
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Old 01-07-2015, 07:55   #4
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

maybe I'm just in general mistaken and most cruising couples just don't ever fly a spinnaker
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Old 01-07-2015, 08:12   #5
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

i fly kites at every opportunity. every reach and every run

i have a hatchbag attached to the underside of the forward hatch so every time i go sailing all i do is attach the sheets/guys to their respective tapes and attach the halyard and then when it comes to flying the kite i switch the autopilot on and walk forward open the hatch and hoist my kite

my spin pole lives in a tubular housing on the side of the boom already attached to the up/down haul halyard

dead simple plus cos i only use the foward area for sail and ancillary storage it doesnt matter if a bit tof juice gets in - plus once its launched the hatch is closed but the clams are never locked until everything gets packed up at the end of the day

i love my kites
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Old 01-07-2015, 08:21   #6
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

ruby tuesday is a 32ft racing yacht - big big sail areas and i sail by myself now - all the time - i just prefer it tbph just me and my doggy oh and the autopilot to take care of steering whilst i'm trimming

just soooooo sweet
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Old 01-07-2015, 08:24   #7
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

I fly our assym with a light-airs forecast (< 8 knots) that extends at least three hours. Forecasts are hard to trust on the Great Lakes though, but I do like to use the light-air sail whenever I can.

Last year I pulled out the nylon drifter, and we sailed with it approximately 1/3rd of the time. We had the old drifter re-taped to fit our furler, so we'd swapped out the headsail whenever there was a light forecast for the day. We got good at swapping out the headsail back to the yankee when the wind started to build, and if the wind really piped up suddenly, I could furl the drifter and run on staysail.
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Old 01-07-2015, 08:31   #8
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

We just finished installing a Bamar EVO 20 top down furler which works excellent. Made in Italy, superior quality. Now we can fly our house sized cruising spinnaker when ever we find ourselves in light wind. We seem to be able to go at wind speed when we fly it... just the two of us. Otherwise, it takes 8-10 knots to get us going with the main and jib.

Much too worrisome to fly it without the furler. Generally, I think we'd furl it in when wind exceeds 12 knots. The Main and jib will do fine at that point.
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Old 01-07-2015, 09:31   #9
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do you store the sail at the end of the day?
Does the stay come down with the sail or what?
I found a link but it didn't have much in the way of operation.

http://www.oceansailing.ca/wp/media/...ch2014_WEB.pdf
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Old 01-07-2015, 09:36   #10
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

Quote:
Originally Posted by sailorboy1 View Post
maybe I'm just in general mistaken and most cruising couples just don't ever fly a spinnaker
I'd say that's pretty close to the truth of the matter...

;-)

A few years ago, my winter cruise was from NJ down thru the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Bay Islands, up into the Rio Dulce, Belize, back thru the Yucatan Channel and the Keys, and back home...

This Southern Cross returning to Fronteras after a sail on Lago Izabal was the ONLY other boat I saw flying a chute during the entire course of that trip...

A very sad side note, the skipper of this boat was murdered while anchored in the Rio a few months later...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...der-18134.html



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Old 01-07-2015, 10:14   #11
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

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Originally Posted by senormechanico View Post
Thanks for the suggestion.
How do you store the sail at the end of the day?
Does the stay come down with the sail or what?
I found a link but it didn't have much in the way of operation.

http://www.oceansailing.ca/wp/media/...ch2014_WEB.pdf
One of two different ways to store the spinnaker. Right now, the long 73ft roll was lowered through the forward hatch and is resting comfortably on the forward double berth. Its not as bulky as you might imagine. The second more practical method we will start doing when my wife returns in one week with our new Mack Sails custom cover, will be to hoist the zipp on UV Weathermax cover using the extra spinnaker halyard. Then we'll be able to leave the sail up full time. It does come quite close to the furled jib, so we need to furl the jib or spinnaker when we tack or gybe... Which isn't a problem because we have a hydralic furler for the gennoa.

Furling the spinnaker using the Bamar takes some practice and requires some significant muscle power if done wrong. One needs to follow the owners install directions to the letter, or the contraption won't work correctly as we found on the first day.... Which went terribly wrong. But luckly nothing broke and nobody got hurt. All because I failed to properly shackle the tack in place. I tried instead to use a new tack sheet that was already attached to the new spinnaker.

Do a search on youtube for Bamar top down furling and/or Mack Sails. Or call Colin Mack in Florida at Mack Sails. He has a demo video on the system on youtube. I got a better deal on the unit from Mack than here in Italy where its made.

Ken
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Old 01-07-2015, 12:10   #12
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

i find it interesting that the cruising community are all using 'A's and those of us with race boats are using symmetrics.

think that i'm gunna need a boat change to turn me properly onto 'A's and that J/105 looks damn good

so maybe at the end of the summer i'll trade ruby tuesday for a newer model same name (roobee toozdy ?) cos i like it - prolly not the red hull cos its a mare to keep clean and shiny

think also that my autopilot (st4000 wheel) makes a whole heap of difference cos without it i know that i wouldn't be able to use a kite as often as i do -- it is my second person on board
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Old 01-07-2015, 12:44   #13
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

Quote:
Originally Posted by sailorboy1 View Post
.......I only fly it in light wind when out in the open when I can plan on keeping it up for a few hours.
Gee, who wrote that perfect description!
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Old 01-07-2015, 14:34   #14
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

A lot depends on my level of motivation...sometimes conditions are right and I'm just too lazy...especially of its a relatively short run. I've considered going to some version of a Code Zero for this reason.

Guests aboard who want to fly the chute, or see it flown, help get me motiviated.

Full asymmetrical. Takes a bit (30 minutes max single handed) to haul up and rig, but very easy to fly on a cat with blocks at the end of each bow.

Ghosting thru the anchorage in Placencia, Belize...I used to make a point of that at the end of charters because so few boats in the charter fleet ever even raised their sails.
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Old 01-07-2015, 14:38   #15
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Re: How do you decide when to fly your spinnaker

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Originally Posted by ruby tuesday View Post
i find it interesting that the cruising community are all using 'A's and those of us with race boats are using symmetrics.
...
Not all of us.
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