International Folkboat Tech Tips Flying a Spinnaker Johan Winberg

The above photo, is downloading from the The Swedish IF-boat union web site.

(The following originally appeared on the Sailing Chat Zone and was edited by Ken Kurlychek.) Posted by Johan Winberg on April 03, 1998 in reply to: spinnaker school for tyros posted by Katherine Dewar on March 26, 1998. I recommend you keep the genoa up when using the spinnaker. If you take the genoa down, there is the potential risk that the spinnaker will rotate several turns around the forestay and you will not get the spinnaker down until you reach the harbor. In Scandinavia we usually have the spinnaker in a special bag hanging in the compartment door slide or just have it on the cabin floor without any sail bag. Connect the halyard and the sheets, remember to carefully attach them so that they go the right way outside of all shrouds and lifelines. Put the spinnaker pole up with the windward sheet, lift and downhaul connected. Adjust to about horizontal. Steer a proper reaching course. Pull the spinnaker halyard quickly until it is completely up. Take in the windward sheet and trim as necessary. Then trim the leeward sheet. Don't be afraid. It works much better if you seem like you know what to do and then do it fast. In fact, in light weather, it is possible to raise or douse the spinnaker while single-handing, but there should be no other boats nearby while doing so. Posted by Len Careless on November 25, 1998 at 19:28:12: What is the preferred way to launch the spinnaker? At the moment I use a bag attached to the pulpit but you may have a better idea. Reply Posted by Marek Janiec on November 27, 1998 at 20:36:51: On smaller racing boats like the J/24, H-boat, X79, Albin Express, IF-boat etc. the spinnaker is usually lanched from a bag hanging in the companionway or just from the roof floor. Simultanously when the spinnaker is being launched, the windward sheet is also to be pulled, which may be done by the helmsman. The spinnaker is then launched well in the lee behind the sails and will not fill until the lee sheet is pulled. The only special things needed for this technique are spinnaker sheets that are long enough. When racing in a small boat with a crew of 3 there is no time for re-packing the spinnaker after taking it down. If you take it down on the same side you will lanch it later, the spiinaker will come up in te opposite direction and no re-packing is needed. For moderate and strong winds the foresail does not have to come down, but for light winds it is best to douse it first. The foresail may also be rolled up around its own aft leech and fitted to the forstay by a string. You can see how this is done on a photo of my IF-boat SWE 829 "Ingela" at the end of the "spinnaker downhaul" discussion. updated: 12/21/1998 [ home ]