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Spinnaker Sailing
 

Spinnaker Sailing Is the Ultimate Tight Rope Walk On The Water!

Kites, chutes or spinnaker sailing. Tend to be asymmetric in shape. The three points on which are tied the halyard and two guys are designed to bring the tension into the middle of the triangle, so filling it.

Yarns are made from variants of nylon, woven between layers of laminate on either side. Depending on the size of your vessel, your chute maybe made from Twaron, Vectran or more common Dacron. The modern day fibers offer the sail better durability and helps maintain the shape.

In order to set the kite correctly a few points must be born in mind.

* A starboard set means the kite bag will be clipped to the shrouds on port

* Set the pole up prior to launch - after the skipper has determined tack.

* Make sure the halyard and guys are outside everything.

Launch

Depending on your level of comfort, you can either drop the headsail before launching the spinnaker sailing or keep it going until the launch has been completed. Which ever method you choose, the launch needs to go smoothly, otherwise you could wrap the fabric around the propeller. The same goes for bringing it down.

Trim

So the chute is up. Now you need to get the pole at the correct 90 degree angle to the wind. The clews need to be level too. The pole can be adjusted to the horizontal. Trimming is key. Play the kite so the clews are level and the belly full of shape, but when the sail has too much shape it will collapse, watch the leach of the sail for flapping. In the same way restricting the sail will also lead to collapse. Having the helm steering a straight course is helpful!

Gybe

Gybing pole to pole is easiest. Allow the helm to bring the boat downwind and main position to bring the main to the middle. Then as the direction of the bow changes, unclip the end of the pole attached to the clew. Now the trimmer is singlehandedly flying the kite. Unclip the pole from the mast, so it is suspended on by the topping lift. Now clip the pole to the other clew, then the mast. Helm can now bring the boat onto course.

Drop

Bring the boat onto a broad reach, so the mainsail acts as a barrier to the chute. Grasp the sheet close to the clew, release the afterguy, which was attached through the pole. then bring the fabric down in big armfuls, with the help of a help of a steady lowering if the halyard. The objective is not to get the fabric wet!

Packing

Just set up the bag in the cabin. Then position the halyard clew forward and hook it to something. Then hook the other clews port and starboard. Now bunch the chute into the bag. eventually you'll have three clews outside the bag ready to be ties of using the ties attached to the bag. Job done!

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