Downwind Sailing- Adding a Drifter

[Oceandeep]

I'm planning to do some downwind sailing this fall and I wanted to add a small Asymetrical Spinnaker to my Hudson Force 50. I have an extra halyard and mounting space on my Bowsprit. Has anyone else done something similar? Does it help with downwind sailing? Do I need a sock to make it easy to control? All input welcome

[AndyEss]

The sock makes it a breeze to set and douse. Beats, by far, setting your jenny wing on wing.

[scotty c-m]

I did that. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I find I seldom use it. I'm usually sailing with my wife, and I find that it just isn't worth the extra trouble!! I did get a sock, which I consider very useful. I'm careful not to carry it in too much wind (over 15 knots) because it's a lot of work to get down for just me! But then again, I'm almost 70 years old.

For longer sails downwind, or for a younger person, or for larger crew, I would use it more.

[sailorboy1]

you need a sock or furler

I love flying the chute. But it's a rare sail that it works out. Yesterday we put it up for the first time in 6 months. But only flew it for an hour before the wind died too much. I find you still need 10 knots of wind unless you really have no time issues. Otherwise you are sailing at 3 knots and decide to start the engine anyway.

But, every once in a while you get that chute up and just fly along for hours!!!!! And then you forget all the times it didn't work out.

[IntoMyHealth]

We love flying our asym (47’) even though it’s pretty heavy to lug up forward. I agree that a sock is a must. Ours lives in a deep starboard side lazerette. My wife had the great idea to bring the halyard back to the laz, attach it to the sailbag, hoist it up to waist level (we do have electric winches [emoji12]), swing it out and forward, drop it on the forward deck. Couldn’t be easier!

Originally Posted by scotty c-m

I did that. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I find I seldom use it. I'm usually sailing with my wife, and I find that it just isn't worth the extra trouble!! I did get a sock, which I consider very useful. I'm careful not to carry it in too much wind (over 15 knots) because it's a lot of work to get down for just me! But then again, I'm almost 70 years old.

For longer sails downwind, or for a younger person, or for larger crew, I would use it more.

[boatman61]

Prefer single line furlers to a sock which can snarl up at a inconvenient moment..

[Pete7]

Since it requires a bit of work and time to fly it, we tend to need some space and only rig it with one sheet. To gybe we lower the sock, move the sheet and then raise the sock again. Lovely sail on a beam reach through to a run, though we tend to run off rather than sail dead down wind to keep the sail shape.

Pete

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Prefer single line furlers to a sock which can snarl up at a inconvenient moment..

Word.

Socks are a double edged sword. They are great until something goes wrong and then they can be an absolute nightmare.

[Cpt Mark]

adding a "small asymmetrical" will probably be a waste of time and money. Sort of like going sailing in 15 knots of wind with a double reef in the mainsail.
I used to fly one singlehanded on my 40' sailboat and loved it. Didn't do this in confined areas but when coastal sailing in light winds I could sail my full keel boat at hull speed instead of using the motor. At around 10-12 knots, I'd drop it and switch to the genoa. Rigging my cat the same way now. It came with a chute/sock. Haven't played with the sock yet so can't say if I'll like it or not. Blanketing the chute with the main works well for dropping the chute.

[Howler]

Great comments. Most cruisers have a love-hate relationship with spinnakers. A lot of work to set them, then the wind either dies or hardens so you need to take it all down. The best is a symmetrical spinnaker, but it takes an able crew to set and to gybe, not to mention a big old spinnaker pole to store somewhere on deck.

Socks are generally good, but as Suijin says, they can be a problem. You can hoist it to lower than its maximum height to reduce the probability of it snagging but you lose a little shape.

Nobody mentioned top-down furlers. They allow you to hoist the asymmetrical spinnaker and rig the sheets before leaving the dock. Then you can unfurl and furl from the helm. You can also easily furl it to gybe. They are expensive and there are probably other downsides, but that's where I'd go.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Howler

Nobody mentioned top-down furlers. They allow you to hoist the asymmetrical spinnaker and rig the sheets before leaving the dock. Then you can unfurl and furl from the helm. You can also easily furl it to gybe. They are expensive and there are probably other downsides, but that's where I'd go.

Howler, thanks for mentioning this relatively new technology.
I was once fumbling with a pole (and symmetrical spinnaker) on the fore deck with our crew, practicing before race day to get the end-for-end gybe sequence faster. Somebody shouted and pointed at another boat ahead of us, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. My jaw dropped. "Holy cow, where did their chute go?!! It just...VANISHED!!"

The first time you see a top-down furler in action on a really big asym, it is quite impressive indeed. I've never tried one. (I did some searching here but probably missed the key thread.) Who has used a top-down furler for an asym and were their any hassles? It looks awesome and easy, but I have never seen a top-down furler trying to operate in any wind above 12 knots or so...

[Howler]

First, need to take back the comment that, "nobody mentioned top down furlers". Boatman61 mentioned single line furlers in his post.

Where I sail, there's a lot of racing and those boats (monohulls and catamarans) all use top down furlers for their Code 0s and downwind sails. It looks easy from a distance, and I've never seen or heard of a snag. Will post first hand experience when our newly ordered asymmetric (A1.5 with extra LP) with a Selden GX25 furling system arrives.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by cyan

Howler, thanks for mentioning this relatively new technology.
I was once fumbling with a pole (and symmetrical spinnaker) on the fore deck with our crew, practicing before race day to get the end-for-end gybe sequence faster. Somebody shouted and pointed at another boat ahead of us, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. My jaw dropped. "Holy cow, where did their chute go?!! It just...VANISHED!!"

The first time you see a top-down furler in action on a really big asym, it is quite impressive indeed. I've never tried one. (I did some searching here but probably missed the key thread.) Who has used a top-down furler for an asym and were their any hassles? It looks awesome and easy, but I have never seen a top-down furler trying to operate in any wind above 12 knots or so...

I have used them in winds touching upto 20knots both on a L380 and a Roberts 54.. then its time to furl..

[44'cruisingcat]

The main worry with a sock is that if the wind picks up you may not be able to pull it down.

What we've found really works well is to have the mainsail up too, but double reefed, and on really deep angles we have the traveller centred and the main sheeted on tight.

This way the main doesn't interrupt the flow onto the spinnaker, but when we want to sock it, we let the mainsheet out, and the spinnaker collapses so the sock comes down easy.

I've socked a 110 square metre kite in 25 knots like this, easily.

[Bill O]

When I think of the term "drifter" my thoughts go back to an old school hank on light weight sail that we used on one of our previous boats. These were fairly basic sails and easy to set that still allowed you to point up relatively well without a lot of expensive hardware. A spare halyard could serve as an extra stay off the sprit and a ready bag with the hanks aligned made it easy to set up. When ready to douse, blanket like an asym, pull in the sheets and typically it will dump nicely due to the hanked on luff.

Don't get me wrong I think a code zero type furler would be great and because it is much easier to use, you would use it more often. (This is why many asyms are not used much unless you have extra hands to help). It really comes down to how much $$ you want to throw at a new sail (and hardware). Also as suggested by others, while nice to have, how much will you use it??

Food for thought.

Bill O.