Spinnaker experience
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:03 pm
Well, I got my gunmount spinnaker all rigged up and ready fo the race to Hawaii. I practiced with it a couple of times and figured I would only set it only in relatively light air. Plenty of time to re-enforce my practice while on a 2200 mile race to Kauai. Once well offshore and as the wind moved East I was able to execute my first set. The kite went up just like a pro was sailing the boat. However, within thirty minutes the boat rolled a bit, the sail luffed a little and when it filled and snapped back it pretty much exploded. Drat!! i got the sail nown and dragged it out of the water. I found much of the white sailcloth had pretty much rotted. It looked OK but I could tear it with just a little pressure. So much for that. I shoukd have replaced the sail before the race. But By God she moved well during that short time I had the sail working.
As it turns out the whole gunmount thing was far from a waste of time. When you use the gunmount you quickly realize there is no rush pulling the pole in. It sits out there like a yardarm quite comfortably on any point of sail. It seems to have minimal impact on boat performance just remaining fully deployed, even when beating to weather.
So I was in no rush to stow the pole. As I pondered things going forward I realized, gee wiz, that deployed pole would make a great wisker pole for the camber spar albiet the pole would be behind the sail instead of in front of it. I attached the spinnaker clew to the jib sheet fitting on the end of the camberspar and voila! I had a beautiful way to manage the jib downwind. Not only that, all lnes led to the cockpit so no fussing with a wisker pole on the foredeck. Initially I used stbd clew to pole the jib out a port clew for a preventer on the main. I eventally became concerned about the potential forces applied to the pole by the main preventer and dropped that configuration. I then attached the port AND starboard clews to the camberspar which allowed me to tack the jib if and when necessary. This was fantastic and way way better than my previous attempts at jib management during the 2016 race. I am convinced it had a lot to do with my much better performance this time around.
I am now in the market for a new spinnaker so I can get back to trying the gunmount system for its intended purpose.
As it turns out the whole gunmount thing was far from a waste of time. When you use the gunmount you quickly realize there is no rush pulling the pole in. It sits out there like a yardarm quite comfortably on any point of sail. It seems to have minimal impact on boat performance just remaining fully deployed, even when beating to weather.
So I was in no rush to stow the pole. As I pondered things going forward I realized, gee wiz, that deployed pole would make a great wisker pole for the camber spar albiet the pole would be behind the sail instead of in front of it. I attached the spinnaker clew to the jib sheet fitting on the end of the camberspar and voila! I had a beautiful way to manage the jib downwind. Not only that, all lnes led to the cockpit so no fussing with a wisker pole on the foredeck. Initially I used stbd clew to pole the jib out a port clew for a preventer on the main. I eventally became concerned about the potential forces applied to the pole by the main preventer and dropped that configuration. I then attached the port AND starboard clews to the camberspar which allowed me to tack the jib if and when necessary. This was fantastic and way way better than my previous attempts at jib management during the 2016 race. I am convinced it had a lot to do with my much better performance this time around.
I am now in the market for a new spinnaker so I can get back to trying the gunmount system for its intended purpose.