Re: How to Rig and Fly a Spinnaker
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 11:07 pm
Hi RobH:
Let me try and answer piece by piece, and I'm sure GL can expand upon and correct me as necessary. But first, I'll admit having no dinghy-sailing spinnaker experience, only on J-24's and only as crew.
Yes, topping lift = uphaul, foreguy = downhaul, interchangeable terms, potato, potahtoe, at least on a DS. Personally, I stick with uphaul/downhaul as the job description is in the name.
As for bungee cord, it boils down to a way to simplify the rig. Think, what is the purpose of the uphaul and downhaul? We generally want to keep the pole parallel to the water, with the chute as spread out (full) as possible. If the wind picks up, we'll have to pull the pole down a bit (spinnaker is ballooning up and out), if it dies down, the spinnaker deflates and we need to hoist the pole up. As we head up into a broad reach (hotter angles), we want to tighten the luff by pulling the pole down. At a beam reach, almost to the deck which also helps us avoid banging into the forestay. So, we probably wind up adjusting the up/downhaul about as much as we'd adjust the barber haulers on the jib... not constantly, but bears keeping an eye on it.
But... we're not a BIG boat, and our pole weighs a whopping 2.2 pounds/1 kilo. So we can simplify, we don't need BOTH an uphaul and a downhaul, one can be replaced with a bungee and the other "haul" works against it. The bungie goes to a fixed point (eyestrap) on the mast instead of being routed to a cleat. The stretchiness of the bungie will work just fine against a kilo! So the question is, which do you replace? Again, I'm approaching this with no prior chute experience on dinghies (even a big one like the DS), but I like GL's approach - let the bungee/uphaul pull the pole up and control the process with a regular rope downhaul. After all, most of the time we're pulling the pole down because of a puff (remember, the chute will balloon up and out) so we want the control and non-sketchiness of the downhaul. When we get a lull, we can let the bungee do the work and pull the pole back up as we slacken the downhaul. On the other hand, you can go the other way and have a bungee downhaul and a rope uphaul. Not sure of the advantage but it does eliminate a cleat. Either way, the "bungie haul" is going to actually be a combo (bungie+line) as pure bungie would stretch too much. As GL noted, I'll have to figure out the ration by trial and error, so some fun to be had!
And on the OTHER other hand, Phil Root on Lollipop, says replace the downhaul with a bungie and rope combo, but have it pull forward to a hole in the fore edge of the cuddy, and then route to a cleat. His idea is to have the downhaul pull for'd as well - the true meaning of foreguy. That will keep the jaws snug up against the tack of the chute, since it can slip back down the guy in a puff. The bungee part is just to keep the geometry straight, otherwise the pole would go down as you pull for'd. Me? I'm not racing, I'm not the North American DS champion - Phil is! If the jaws slip then I'll haul in on the guy a bit, problem solved. And the great thing about the DS is that it's so easy to tweak the running rigging. Want to change your setup? Spend a few bucks, instead of hundreds, for a new hardware or lines, fill in some screw holes, make some new ones, and off you go!
P.S. As I've noted elsewhere, check these guys out for hardware: http://www.racelitehardware.com/ Apologies for the shameless plug, I love them and hope they stay in business in these current tough times. Great to speak with too, really helpful on the phone.
Fair winds,
Tom
Let me try and answer piece by piece, and I'm sure GL can expand upon and correct me as necessary. But first, I'll admit having no dinghy-sailing spinnaker experience, only on J-24's and only as crew.
Yes, topping lift = uphaul, foreguy = downhaul, interchangeable terms, potato, potahtoe, at least on a DS. Personally, I stick with uphaul/downhaul as the job description is in the name.
As for bungee cord, it boils down to a way to simplify the rig. Think, what is the purpose of the uphaul and downhaul? We generally want to keep the pole parallel to the water, with the chute as spread out (full) as possible. If the wind picks up, we'll have to pull the pole down a bit (spinnaker is ballooning up and out), if it dies down, the spinnaker deflates and we need to hoist the pole up. As we head up into a broad reach (hotter angles), we want to tighten the luff by pulling the pole down. At a beam reach, almost to the deck which also helps us avoid banging into the forestay. So, we probably wind up adjusting the up/downhaul about as much as we'd adjust the barber haulers on the jib... not constantly, but bears keeping an eye on it.
But... we're not a BIG boat, and our pole weighs a whopping 2.2 pounds/1 kilo. So we can simplify, we don't need BOTH an uphaul and a downhaul, one can be replaced with a bungee and the other "haul" works against it. The bungie goes to a fixed point (eyestrap) on the mast instead of being routed to a cleat. The stretchiness of the bungie will work just fine against a kilo! So the question is, which do you replace? Again, I'm approaching this with no prior chute experience on dinghies (even a big one like the DS), but I like GL's approach - let the bungee/uphaul pull the pole up and control the process with a regular rope downhaul. After all, most of the time we're pulling the pole down because of a puff (remember, the chute will balloon up and out) so we want the control and non-sketchiness of the downhaul. When we get a lull, we can let the bungee do the work and pull the pole back up as we slacken the downhaul. On the other hand, you can go the other way and have a bungee downhaul and a rope uphaul. Not sure of the advantage but it does eliminate a cleat. Either way, the "bungie haul" is going to actually be a combo (bungie+line) as pure bungie would stretch too much. As GL noted, I'll have to figure out the ration by trial and error, so some fun to be had!
And on the OTHER other hand, Phil Root on Lollipop, says replace the downhaul with a bungie and rope combo, but have it pull forward to a hole in the fore edge of the cuddy, and then route to a cleat. His idea is to have the downhaul pull for'd as well - the true meaning of foreguy. That will keep the jaws snug up against the tack of the chute, since it can slip back down the guy in a puff. The bungee part is just to keep the geometry straight, otherwise the pole would go down as you pull for'd. Me? I'm not racing, I'm not the North American DS champion - Phil is! If the jaws slip then I'll haul in on the guy a bit, problem solved. And the great thing about the DS is that it's so easy to tweak the running rigging. Want to change your setup? Spend a few bucks, instead of hundreds, for a new hardware or lines, fill in some screw holes, make some new ones, and off you go!
P.S. As I've noted elsewhere, check these guys out for hardware: http://www.racelitehardware.com/ Apologies for the shameless plug, I love them and hope they stay in business in these current tough times. Great to speak with too, really helpful on the phone.
Fair winds,
Tom