Sailing spinnakers single-handed

[Stede]

Not long after purchasing my 26 footer,I bought a used tri-radial spinnaker,a pole,and all the associated gear.I enjoyed using the sail,but as I began to sail my boat single-handed more often,it just wasn't a very user friendly sail for the application.I bought a sock for the sail thinking that it would help.My intention was to add some rigging where I would be able to launch,fly,and douse the sail from the cockpit.I never accomplished the task for various reasons.I started looking at cruising spinnakers and ended up buying one from Lee sails about a year ago.I also bought something called a "tacker" that basically attaches around my furled genny,and then the clew of the spinnaker attaches to it.I took the sock off of the tri-radial to use with the cruising spinnaker.I hadn't really used the sail much until yesterday. I have to tell you, I love this sail.For reaching,it's great!For anything other than reaching, it just isn't much pumpkin.(Southern term for not good) I had a blast playing around with it and found that it was very easy to jibe.Using the sock with the sail also makes it very easy to douse should things get dicey while out alone.I was wondering if there are any single handed sailors out there that fly spinnakers, and use similar gear that could help me with a few issues.(1)If you use the "tacker" how successful have you been using it with a assymetrical spinnaker.Do you use a regular pole with it,or just a whisker pole? How effective is the sail using it in this form for runs. What about rigging? If you're using a sock,have you devised a way to launch and snuff the sail from the cockpit? I've thought about buying a sock for my tri-radial and possibly a whisker pole.If the tacker would work well with the tri-radial for runs,it would give me a good arsenal for pretty much all conditions while sailing single-handed.I know that for flying these types of sails,(especially racing)there are a lot more efficient ways.When you're out there alone though,simpler is definitely better.Thanks for any help you can provide.

[over40pirate]

While cruising on my 35' sloop, I used a cruising chute for 4 years. I sailed a lot of this time solo, and used the chute. I had a generic sock for it. Had to snuf it from the foredeck. It was a little dicey at times if the wind was up. got a few hourglass wraps with it a few times. finally I found a good deal on a 3-4 oz dacron Reacher? sail that I had the luff shortened 3' to fit my boat, and had the clew raised so it wasn't a wave catcher.
It's sort of like a 200% lite air jenny. I sold the cruising chute and don't miss it. The Bananna sail (it's yellow) keeps the boat moving in very light air. It can also be used to sail fairly close to the wind, where the chute couldn't. It excells in winds up to about 10-12 kts. running wing and wing, whith the roller jenny on one side and the bananna on the other, both poled out, without the main up.
I rigged a removable baby stay that is attached about 8" from the mast head and attaches about 15" behind the forestay on deck. I also use this stay for the storm jib.
The mast mfg. (Metal Mast) told me that attaching the stay at this location, would not require running back stays. I believe in KISS

[Randyonr3]

For a number of years I raced with the singlehanded-sailing-society out of the San Francisco Bay area.. SSS is known for the single handed transpac..
When I was sailing the small boat, (24 foot) I had a bag in the companion way that streched from side to side.. I would launch and retreve from the cockpit..
I always used the foresail or the main as a shield when I pulled it up, and then dropped the forsail.
It worked best if I did a bear-away set, and then once the sail was set, Id drive the boat back under the sail and swap sides..
often I fly the kite without the pole so I could jibe without going forward.
Dropping the sail was just as easy as I would pull the jib up inside the kite and then pull the kite back into the cockpit bag........