By Dick - 17 May 2024
Written for another venue, but thought it might be of interest
Hi all
A couple of thoughts on spinnaker/asym use.
The only time I have gotten headsail wraps were in light air and swells/wakes. The swell/wake gets the boat rolling and the asym collapses around the headstay (the light air keeps the asym from being well behaved). The continued rolling serves to tighten and extend the wrap: a real mess.
A friend suggested what he called a “poor man’s spinnaker net” and it is simple and easy.
I unroll the jib 6-8 feet and sheet it hard amidships (more effective with a higher clewed jib topsail than a low clewed genoa): a poor and lazy man’s spinnaker net. The extended sail and the sheets interfere, not so much in getting the wrap but in keeping the wrap from becoming tightly wound around the rolled-up jib. If the wrap occurs, the wrap is far easier to loosen: and, one can roll in or out the jib a bit to ease tightness and facilitate loosening and freeing the wrap.
The other “hack” is to have high modulus sheets: not so much for their strength than for their not soaking up water and becoming quite heavy. In light air, the sheets will occasionally dip into the water. Dacron sheets soak up water like a sponge and will become heavy enough to drag the sail out of shape in light air.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
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