reacher or runner?

[Zogumwesterly]

I want your opinions on spinnikers. We race in the tampa bay area, where the wind is variable. I have a worn out reaching chute and a worn out runner. I've got another baby on the way so money is a little limited. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place on what to buy. any suggestions. We probably use the reacher more but we sail in alot more wind with the runner. Which one should I get, it's a true teaser.

[Zogumwesterly]

Any input would be great. Bump I suppose

[sailingdog]

What boat do you race on... more information, rather than less, will generally get you better answers.... Some boats are pretty good upwind, and don't need additional help in the form of a reaching chute...but may be lousy downwind, and need all the help they can get from a downwind chute, and so on... so it depends a lot on what boat you've got.

BTW, what other sails do you have. That also can affect what someone might recommend.

[Zogumwesterly]

Don't laugh, I have an old grampian 30. the boat was never intended to be a race boat, but in the mid 70s to early 80's the florida M.O.R.C.ers realized that the grampian 30 really excelled in florida. I inherited the boat from a boat yard that I worked in for a while. in heavy air (we see a bit of it in fall, winter, and spring) the boat does best sailing deep(runner). in lighter air the boat likes to be sailed a little bit higher(reacher). we have a decent 110,130,150 and a 170. properly sailed these boats perform a lot better than there ratings but I've found that this boat does not like to run with the reacher or visa~versa. and from what I can tell the a-sails either have a huge penalty or they just don't have the umph!