I race with a local yacht club and am one of maybe 2 boats with no spinnaker on the windward leeward races. If my crew and I had a spinnaker would we shave seconds off our race or minutes? On the leeward leg, we go ddw sailing wing on wing. We do better timewise when there’s 20 knots of wind but most races are light wind so we seem to be the last one in with the “B” class boats which consists mostly of Santa Cruz 27s.
I have a Freedom 36 that has a 14 ft carbon fibre pole and the gunmount system. I flew a spinnaker once and drove wife crazy as I had only read about using. I got it to work but was a mess. Will do better next time. I have not used the gunmount system. How do the work compared to conventional poled spinnaker. It sounds practical and easier to use, and at my age I like the self-tacking jib!!! I can envision how to use the gunmount system, does the pole ride centered in the gunmount or does one end stick out further than the other? My pole has two padded areas on it, each about 12 inches in length, at equal distance from the ends, is that where the pole rides? Would appreciate any advice.
The boat was originally rigged in CA (I am in TX) and I have two fractional spinnakers, two for gunmount, and a mast head spinnaker used with adjustable back stays but have not used them either.
Regards, Ed
grayfoxrunpa@valornet.com
To hoist the spinnaker you will want to be going almost straight down wind as if you were going to run wing-on-wing but keep your booms on the same side.
Then CENTER the yard in the gun-mount (the gun-mount allows you to retract the yard along the deck when not in use) and swing it perpendicular to the deck.
Once that is done hoist the spinnaker and then immediately pull BOTH spinnaker out-hauls Your spinnaker should fill immediately
Trimming the spin is SO EASY, just steer the sail like you would a horse (use the reigns).
Jibing is as easy as putting the helm over and then just keeping the spinnaker filled by adjusting the trim of the sail (there is no need to go forward and shift a spinnaker pole from one side to another).
Here is a YouTube video of the gun-mount spinnaker being used on an F21:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx7bMnQgRoY
Here is a photo of me sailng my F21 with the spinnaker. The tiller is between my knees and I have the spinnaker reigns in my hands:
Your Freedom may be bigger than mine but the principal remains the same.
Fair Winds to you!
Thanks very much, that will make my wife happy!!! the other way was not good!!!
Clark, Just looked at Video, thanks. They mentioned some sort of a sock for the chute, and it looked like it might have been at the foot of the sail. Any info on how the sock works with the gun mount, or don’t you need it? It mentioned also some sort of line to douse the sail into that sock, is that what the downhaul could be used for?
Thanks Ed
Ed,
The sock or sleeve is essential to using the gun-mount from the cockpit. If you contact Harrstick Sails they can make you one out of sunbrella (the original ones were nylon and tended to rot out after a couple of years). Here is how I attach mine…
As you can see I have lashed snap shackles to my pulpit to hold the mouth of the sleeve. I have sinced changed links with a screw closure as the snap shackles can and have snag my spinnaker and cause a rip. New links take a few more minutes to rig the bag at the pier before departure but save $$$ in the long run.
The retrieval line is attached to a patch in the center of the spinnaker and pulls the chute back into the sleeve. In this photo you can just make out the retrieval line on the inside of the spinnaker.