Spinnaker furling

[leelocke]

Does anyone have experience with roller furling assymetrical spinnakers? What would you choose for offshore? A sock, roller-furler, or nothing?

[Jeff_H]

I would probably choose nothing for offshore. Spinackers cut for furlers are usually cut very flat and are inteded for higher speed boats (offshore racers and performance multi-hulls) where the apparent wind is generally forward of abeam even when they are deep reaching. Reaching and running spinackers need to be quite light and full sectioned and so are hard to furl reliably.

I know that a lot of people like socks but my experience with socks is that they can pretty easily hang up in the partially furled condition.

I would prefer to use no sock or furler, instead doing a ''flag'' drop, especially on a symetrical chute, just because the drop can be done more reliably and quickly when things turn dicey.

Jeff

[Silmaril]

Roller furling would require a sail cut for that purpose, and will result in a less than ideal shape.

Sock''s are great until the wind picks up and makes pulling down the sock difficult without luffing the sail, and in high winds, when you need it the most, may not work at all.

Old racer trick that works great for cruising: Attach a belly line. Put a reinforced patch in the center of the sail with a grommet in it. Before you raise the sail, put a light, say 1/4", line through the patch and dead end with a figure eight. Leave the tail so that it will hang on the outside of the sail, then back to the lee rail to a block. Length will be determined by the size of the sail. You have to move it from side to side as you jibe, so a snatch block is best. When getting ready to douse, come up on the wind to luff the sail, trim the sheet snugly, pull in on the belly line, and lower the sail. Most of the sail will now be on deck and managable. Stuff into your turtle (sail bag designed specifically for spinnakers) and you are all set.

Not a bad way to do it. And you can easily handle it with two crew, and even one, if you are nimble enough.

[Denr]

I don''t know if I''ve ever heard of a asymmetrical spinnaker attached as a roller furled sail. A few months ago, Practical Sailor magazine did a comparison of the three companies (North, ATN and Chutescoop) that build socks. They rated the unit built by North as the best of the three. I understand that "Sailrite" has a kit available for those that have nothing better to do.

[leelocke]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I had my own idea that no furling technique would really work well offshore (especially if a breeze kicks up). Yes, there are roller furling systems for cruising chutes. Some require specially cut sails with a wire in the luff. But there are now some that say they can furl any assymetrical spinnaker. Hallberg-Rassy is promoting one from their sailmaker (Elvström-Sobstad). And since HR builds offhsore boats, I was just wondering if anyone had tried these things out.

I''ve had experience with socks and figure you have to go out on the bow to deal with them anyway. So why have one?

Thanks everybody.

[Denr]

Cruising spinnakers are normally flown in relatively benign conditions so going forward should not be an issue even off-shore, stop being a weenie and buy the damn sock!