Spinnaker

[ryanjes]

I have been sailing for about a year now (qualified). The cruising boats I have chartered don't have spinnakers. Does anyone know if you can charter with spinnaker or gennaker though Sunsail etc.?

[Suijin]

You might want to call around to find out. It may be s matter of what the owner has on the boat or it may be policy. It’s not that hard for the inexperienced to get into trouble flying a kite and it’s the kind of thing that most companies might feel is not worth the risk as there is no way to assess competence.

[psk125]

Spinnakers can be problems for people who have lots more than 1 year of experience. In light air a passing powerboat wake can empty the sail and make it wrap around the forestay so tight that it may require climbing up to free it - and hopefully not ripping it. How do I know this?? In heavy air they can cause a broach which might damage other parts of the boat, its crew or its equipment. These are risks that charter companies like to avoid.

[meirriba]

From my experience you can. However you will be asked for extra payment for the extra equipment and, usually it will not be covered by the cruise insurance, i.e. any damage to the sail will have to be paid in full by you.
If you go this way, check the sail thoroughly before start of charter. More than once we were offered a sail that looked more like a net than a sail.

[ryanjes]

Quick update - went on a friends boat recently and he put me off using spinnakers on my own! Thinking of maybe trying some of these sailing simulators to get some practice first. Any thoughts?

[GILow]

Originally Posted by ryanjes

Quick update - went on a friends boat recently and he put me off using spinnakers on my own! Thinking of maybe trying some of these sailing simulators to get some practice first. Any thoughts?

I consider myself pretty adventurous when it comes to solo sail configuration s, and I’ve been a sailor for more than 40 years. But soloing a spinnaker on a boat my size (42 feet) is not something I’d ever like to try. Used to do it on my old 20 footer and that was hard enough.

Perfectly happy running the asym with a dousing sock though, even at night in the right conditions.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by ryanjes

Quick update - went on a friends boat recently and he put me off using spinnakers on my own! Thinking of maybe trying some of these sailing simulators to get some practice first. Any thoughts?

No...
Find a friend with a spi and practice with him.
Cannot learn to swim by correspondence course😃

[ryanjes]

I have shelved the spinnaker idea for now - thanks for the advice! I have found that the hardest bit is mooring when the wind is up when I'm allowed to steer my freinds boat in the marina which is not often! I did have a look at a couple of simulators though as it occured to me that it should be possible to get some practice 'electronically'. In Sailing Today there was an advert for eSail and there is another called Sailaway I saw on google. I might give eSail a spin as it looks more for learning. Will report back!