Spinnaker Hijinx
Last week was the first day I flew a spinnaker on my S22. I had crewed once on another boat, but was not in charge of the chute except to paw it into the cabin. I've been picking up bits and pieces wherever I could on the cheap. Found an ebay spinnaker for $124 described as a "trainer" and it fit within the class requirements. I had to do a little sewing to redo a couple of poor patches, but the sail was good to go.
The spinnaker halyard was in place (see last post) and I had the pole rigged, though I will revisit this.
we went out on a unstable day, the forecast was kind of all over the place. Since we had my nephew along as well, we were hoping for a calmer day. As seems to be my luck, the wind picked up and stayed there for the afternoon. We ran reefed until I decided we had enough room to try a downwind run toward the 92 bridge.
So, not ideal, the wind anywhere from 15 to 25 mph and my first run at launching a chute. First time, I rigged it in such a way as the clews remained together, then a twist. Finally I got it up and we sheeted in. Then we discovered that the fairleads were to far aft, impossible to adjust with the sail up and loaded. We were really tearing along, never had the boat move along like that. Learned the importance of loosing the sheets before dropping the halyard to take load off etc. Glad I had my gloves on, it was amazing how much load the halyard was under when I decided it wiser to drop the sail.
I have to say we breathed a sigh of relief when it was down and stowed. Then we had to beat our way back to CP. Just another day of lessons learned in
The spinnaker halyard was in place (see last post) and I had the pole rigged, though I will revisit this.
we went out on a unstable day, the forecast was kind of all over the place. Since we had my nephew along as well, we were hoping for a calmer day. As seems to be my luck, the wind picked up and stayed there for the afternoon. We ran reefed until I decided we had enough room to try a downwind run toward the 92 bridge.
So, not ideal, the wind anywhere from 15 to 25 mph and my first run at launching a chute. First time, I rigged it in such a way as the clews remained together, then a twist. Finally I got it up and we sheeted in. Then we discovered that the fairleads were to far aft, impossible to adjust with the sail up and loaded. We were really tearing along, never had the boat move along like that. Learned the importance of loosing the sheets before dropping the halyard to take load off etc. Glad I had my gloves on, it was amazing how much load the halyard was under when I decided it wiser to drop the sail.
I have to say we breathed a sigh of relief when it was down and stowed. Then we had to beat our way back to CP. Just another day of lessons learned in
Comments
Thanks,
Morgan W.
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