How to Rig and Fly a Spinnaker

[GreenLake]

Just finished rigging the boat for the season; I know, a bit late but nothing this year has been as forecast.

Now, I ended up with a longer stretchable part on the uphaul. Thinking that 42" might work. When not in use, I store the UH along the mast (the shackle gets clipped to the mast ring). Total unstretched length is just slightly less than the distance from upper eye-strap to the mast ring, so there's slight(!) tension on the UH when not in use. I've marked this with a note in my original post discussing the geometry.

[tomodda]

Greenlake: Thanks for the tips! Question, where exactly are you attaching the uphaul along the mast? At the spreaders, or?

Tom

[RobH912]

Still following this thread

[GreenLake]

Thanks for following, Rob. Tom, there is an eye-strap 60" above the mast ring. All my measurements assume that location for the UH. The DH position I have is too far back; I may get around to adding yet another fairlead a bit further forward. Will see, but probably not at the forward edge of the cuddy, because I want to be able to rig everything while standing in the cockpit (and the current position, while too close to the mast, is not that terrible - mostly works - so I figure I'm not that far off).

[GreenLake]

Just in case we never mentioned that in any of the posts so far:

The standard location of the mast ring is 58" above the bottom of a keel-stepped DS1 mast. (Note chapter 3 of the DSA class bylaws defines the legal positions, two of them IIRC). Look at the main DSA site for that info.

A maximum of two fittings may be attached to the mast for securing a spinnaker pole and/or whisker pole. The fittings shall be fixed in position no more than 48 inches and no less than 24 inches above Mast Datum. No portion of such fitting shall protrude more than 2 inches from the front of the mast.

The topping lift for the spinnaker (uphaul) is fitted to an eye that is at spreader level on my mast. I assume that would be standard. It does not seem to be regulated.

[GreenLake]

A number of years I built a spinnaker pole made cheaply from bamboo, as described earlier in this thread. Here's a bit of an update. The pole is still going strong (with picture). It's been generally trouble free and I can't imagine ever wanting to switch this for a heavier and more expensive aluminum one.

That said, I did bang the pole against the forestay while sailing at the upper end of the wind range where I still fly the spinnaker and while on a broad reach - always the most challenging point of sail for a symmetric spinnaker.

This jarred loose one of the end fittings to where it could be wiggled a bit. So I re-seated it with a bit of Marine Tex and at the same time gave the end of the pole another wrap of fiberglass to strengthen it against that kind of wrenching, sideways load on the fitting.

Treating your pole like that isn't recommended, but it's good to see that it held up so well that I could still finish the sail that day.

PS: for reference, here is the post with the description of how I put it together.

[GreenLake]

Here's a series of steps I wrote down for the benefit of a new crew member. It's still tentative and I'll be updating this post in place if I learn of a better way.

Raising the Spinnaker

1. Raise the CB
2. Uncleat the downhaul
3. Hand sheet and guy to the helm
4. Helm passes pole forward
5. Connect the pole to the sheet (claw opening down)
6. Connect the up/downhaul to the middle of the pole
7. Connect the pole to the ring
8. Hoist and cleat halyard (see notes)
9. Adjust downhaul and cleat
10. Get sheet and guy from the helm
11. Trim and sail

Notes:

• My downhaul doesn't pull the pole forward, so I tend to prefer connecting the pole not to the sheet, but to the loop of the bowline with which the guy (windward sheet) is attached to the sail. Downside is that I need to pull the tack of the spinnaker around before I can connect the pole.
• In light winds, I tend to hoist first, then trim so the sail fills, then pull the tack around to connect the pole.
• In my setup, both up and downhaul are attached to the same shackle, so there's only one connection. The uphaul (topping lift) is a bungee, so only the downhaul (foreguy) needs to be adjusted and cleated.
• My setup doesn't have a hook for the guy, and therefore the list does not have a step related to it.
• On a DS the jib is usually just left to mind itself when the spinner is set, therefore no instructions to douse it.

[GreenLake]

Here's a series of steps I wrote down for the benefit of a new crew member. It's still tentative and I'll be updating this post in place if I learn of a better way.

Dousing the Spinnaker

1. Hand sheet and guy to the helm
2. Hand tail of halyard to the helm
3. Disconnect the pole from the mast
4. Disconnect the pole from up/downhaul and attach latter to the mast ring
5. Disconnect the pole from the guy (windward sheet)
6. Hand the pole to the helm for stowing
7. Tighten and cleat tail of downhaul
8. Reach in front of the shroud to grab either sheet or sail
9. Gather up foot of the sail
10. Helm releases halyard (controlled)
11. Pull spinnaker in and push into an open bucket (placed in the cockpit, but outboard of the jib sheet)
12. Cleat halyard
13. Get guy and sheet from helm and secure
14. Lower the CB

Notes:

• If pressed for time, pole can be disconnected from sail and mast and left hanging from the downhaul
• The pole has a tripline to release the sheet from the claw, but often it's easiest to just pull the pole in and disconnect directly (and in the same motion, continue to pass the pole aft for stowage)
• On a DS1, the natural place to store the pole is below the coaming.
• On a DS, the jib is usually left up while the spinnaker is in use, therefore no instructions on raising it,

[GreenLake]

Here's a summary I wrote down for the benefit of a new crew. It's still tentative and I'll be updating the post when I learn of a better way.

Trimming the Spinnaker

• Initially, set the downhaul so the pole is level, and cleat.
• As needed, adjust the downhaul to raise or lower the pole to keep clew and tack at the same height.
• When sailing a broad reach (with the wind at the forward range of what the spinnaker can handle) position the pole to where the tip is forward, but doesn't touch the forestay, and low to the deck.
• Set the guy (windward sheet) so that the pole is at right angles to the apparent wind.
• Cleat the guy, but be ready to adjust to changes in wind angle.
• Trim the sheet, until the spinnaker fills.
• Ease the sheet, until the luff (leading edge) of the spinnaker begins to curls.
• Trim the sheet again, as needed, to prevent the spinnaker from collapsing.
• Continuously alternate the last two steps.
• The optimal trim is when there is a slight curl at the luff.

Notes:

• The DS is a small boat. In light winds, it's not necessary to cleat the guy.
• If the spinnaker isn't filling, a sharp tug at the sheet, or sometimes the guy, will assist in filling the sail.
• After the sail is filled, further trimming should be smooth and incremental.
• On a DS the jib is left to mind itself while the spinnaker is used. However, on a broad reach it might be possible to trim the jib as well, forming a sort of cutter rig with the spinnaker.

[GreenLake]

Here's a series of steps I wrote down for the benefit of a new crew. It's still tentative and I'll be updating the post when I learn of a better way.

Gybing the Spinnaker

1. Helm sails boat dead downwind.
2. Hand sheet and guy to the helm.
3. Stand forward at windward side of the cockpit.
4. Disconnect the pole from the mast ring.
5. Attach pole to the sheet (new guy).
6. Disconnect the pole from the old guy (now sheet).
7. Helm hands back sheet and guy.
8. Crew sits down.
9. Helm gybes the boat.
10. Crew trims the spinnaker.

Notes:

[GreenLake]

Here is a summary I wrote down for the benefit of a new crew. It is still tentative and I'll be updating this post if I learn of a better way.

Stowing and Preparing the Spinnaker

• On my boat, the spinnaker is launched from a bucket.
• Find the middle of the spinnaker (near the sail numbers and push into bucket.
• Make sure the three corners (both clews and the head) end up on top.
• Attach a sheet to each clew with a bowline, leaving a 2" loop.
• Place bucket in the cockpit, forward of the seat, on the expected leeward side. For the remainder, we'll assume that this side is leeward, and name sheets accordingly.
• Attach halyard with a buntline hitch. (Preferred as it will not work loose and is very compact).
• Lead sheets and halyard forward/outboard of jib sheet.
  
• Lead the (leeward) sheet forward and then back around leeward shroud, from there to turning block at the leeward stern.
• Bring tail forward, add a stopper knot (figure eight) and secure.
• Lead guy (windward sheet) forward, around forestay and windward shroud to turning block at the windward stern.
• Bring tail forward, add a stopper knot (figure eight) and secure.
• Snug up the tail of the halyard and cleat, but leave enough slack so jib sheet, which will be inside the halyard on the sail side has room to move outboard as far as the shroud.
• Make sure downhaul is snug and cleated.
• Stow the spinnaker pole at the back of the seat bench below the leeward coaming.

Notes:

• On a DS1 the seat bench ends about a foot aft of the cuddy opening. That provides the perfect spot for a bucket.
• When not in use, the bucket is shoved forward a bit to be out of the way.
• My boat doesn't have dedicated turning blocks/cleats for the sheet/guy, so they are not included in this summary.
• The tails are lead forward, under the jib sheet and hooked around the ends of the wooden coamings to secure them. On a boat with forward blocks/cleats the tails would be snugged up and cleated.

[GreenLake]

Here are some diagram I drew for the benefit of a new crew. They are schematic and represent my setup, and not necessarily an ideal setup.

Downwind:

Running Downwind Under Spinnaker

Spinnaker-Downwind.gif (23.86 KiB) Viewed 3451 times

Notes:

• The wind is not shown from directly aft to be able to distinguish a windward and leeward side.
• Mainsheet and jibsheets are not shown to reduce clutter.

Broad Reach:

Broad Reaching Under Spinnaker

Spinnaker-Broad-Reach.gif (21.63 KiB) Viewed 3437 times

Notes:

• The apparent wind is from the side.
• The pole is forward and low. The Spinnaker acts almost like another headsail.
• The main may be trimmed a bit further back than when running.
• The jib may be out of the shadow of the main enough to be trimmed.