Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Moderator: GreenLake

Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby prochase » Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:17 pm

I am thinking about adding a asymmetrical spinnaker.

Does anyone have any recommended sources for the deck mounted retractable spinnaker pole? I have searched the net and only found one (Selden).

Thank you,

Eric
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby GreenLake » Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:42 pm

The sail that some people have installed is called a UPS. Look for discussions here under that keyword. Clever solutions for removable (not retractable) bowsprits can be found as well.

Well, looks like the forum search is hopeless, it gives you dozes of hits on "touch-ups" and similar words. As always, you need to search this site using an external search engine. Let me do that for you and post a link.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby GreenLake » Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:46 pm

There's a long running thread on the Doyle Universal Power Sail, which seems to be something in between and asym and a code zero genoa.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby prochase » Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:09 pm

Can anyone provide the specific Doyle loft that can produce the UPS?

Regards,

Eric
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby GreenLake » Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:51 pm

I can't, but I know that the loft is mentioned in some post here on the forum.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Alan » Thu Apr 09, 2020 1:58 pm

Oops, I posted on the wrong thread. Here's who I worked with:

Paul Beaudin
Senior Sail Consultant
Doyle Sailmakers
225 Fordham St City Island , NY 10464
800-237-4453 office 917-584-5194 cell

Email: paulbeaudin@doyleplochsails.com

Check out the latest news at doyleplochsails.com

I should note that this was several years ago, so I'm not sure how current the information is, but it's a start anyway.
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Alan » Thu Apr 09, 2020 2:31 pm

And following up: K.C. Walker had one, and so did JDoorly and CHrisB. All of us were happy with them.

I ordered mine sized like a big genoa and with a luff wire for roller furling, but if I had it to do over again I'd get one the same size as the standard jib and fly it without roller furling. Roller furling makes it easy to tack with a big foresail (you roll up the sail, then unroll it on the opposite side, so you don't have to drag it across the mast) but it's complicated and expensive.
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby AndrewB » Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:33 am

Is anyone comfortable sharing their cost estimates from Doyle? I received a quote a few weeks ago from Doyle Gulf Coast just over $1k. I'm confident that the sail is well-made and probably could be worth that, but I'm looking for champagne on a beer budget here. Would welcome the thoughts of some of the more seasoned sailors

Received a more reasonable quote from Precision (half the cost of Doyle), but they quoted two options (asymmetric and code 0) that both had a foot of just over 7' which really doesn't seem to give me that much more more sail area, just a different shape.

Looking for a more single-handed-friendly option for sailing on hot Texas days when light winds can make for unpleasant sailing with the family.
AB
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Alan » Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:40 am

A thousand bucks? Wow. I went back through my emails and found the invoice, from 2013. The sail was $358, plus $21.34 shipping and no sales tax. The foot on mine, according to an email from Paul Bloch, is about 10-1/2 feet. The luff is 16 feet, making the sail quite a bit bigger than the stock jib. It's very well made, but $1000 would have priced me out of the market.

Peak sails has a similar sail here:

https://www.peaksailsna.com/oday-day-sa ... rator.html

at $348 to $358, available in 150% and 160%, and they're having a spring sale of 10% off. I don't have any idea of the quality, but they were asked about on this board a number of years ago, so they've been in business for a while.

I'd say it's worth contacting them to ask some questions about how their sails are made.

Edited: Here's the discussion that I was remembering:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4549&start=15

Not sure how helpful it is and it isn't recent, so I'd still want to ask some questions.

I've also found some reviews online. I would include questions about where they're made, and about delivery. I still don't have any way to judge the quality.
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby tomodda » Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:43 pm

I'd avoid Peak Sails, look up their reviews....

What you are looking for is a fairly simple sail, in the old days we'd call it a drifter. 1.5 Oz nylon or lighter, crosscut if you're fancy or just one piece with some darts. Move the draft around using your halyard tension. If you're comfortable sewing it up yourself, then see what you can do with Sailrite - they'll make a custom kit for you. Otherwise, talk with some smaller sail makers and lofts around you. This is too small of a job for most of the "big boys," but try Hyde Sails (based in the UK) or UK Sails (based in NYC, go figure). They both specialize in dinghy sails.

Bottom line, you need a big jib (aka Genoa) and since it's for light airs you can get it in cheap nylon. Keep it simple. Your biggest problem is where to lead the sheet (suggest you lead it to corner of transom, like a spinnaker) and deciding whether or not to add hanks (I'd say no).

Check this out, just translate "masthead" to "fractional":
http://barnaclebillholcomb.blogspot.com/2011/04/drifter-jibs.html

Fair winds,

Tom
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Alan » Sat Apr 25, 2020 2:46 pm

After reading several dozen reviews for Peak sails, I can say with great confidence that they range from great to terrible, in roughly equal numbers, and therefore aren't of much help.

The only reviews I can find for Hyde sails are on Yelp, here:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/hyde-sails-dir ... km71xG2yjA

There are only three reviews, one 5-star and two 1-star. Again, not much help. (It's Yelp, so you need to read past reviews of unrelated businesses to find the three that actually apply to Hyde Sails.) I've always thought of Hyde Sails as a reputable supplier, so this leaves me wondering about the ratings as much as anything else.

Which brings me back to my previous suggestion of asking questions. Given the current unpleasantness, I'd insist on definite answers (from any sailmaker) about where the sails are made and how likely it is that they can be a) manufactured and b) shipped. I know from my job that parts of Malaysia, Singapore and mainland China are on lockdown, so if they're using an overseas manufacturing facility they may not be able to produce or ship sails right now.
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Alan » Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:03 pm

One last bit of info on the Doyle UPS: It was only about two weeks from order to shipment of a custom-made sail, and they were excellent about staying in contact. If I do order another UPS/drifter/code zero/asym/sail-in-the-front, it will probably be from Doyle, even if they do charge more.
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby Shagbark » Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:32 pm

Andrew and Prochase,

Did either of you purchase the UPS/Drifter/Asymmetrcial?
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby prochase » Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:58 pm

Yes,

I purchased an A-sail from Peak. For the price it is an excellent buy!

They had a 20% off at the time I ordered it in June. It took about 3 weeks to receive.

Eric
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Re: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Setup

Postby tomodda » Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:32 pm

Glad to hear (read) that you got your sail. How's it look? Quality?
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