Used Spars? Adonde?

[akoutdoors1]

I have been having great fun on my Nordica 20. What a great little boat. Ghosts along well, handles gusty wind with style. Super little boat.
Here's the issue: No spinaker, no spinnaler pole, no boom vang or preventer.
Where does one find or how does one construct these for a reasonable price?
Also, what is a fair price for having my main recut?
Cheers,

[sailingdog]

The boom vang can be made up of two fiddle blocks a couple of padeyes and some line. A preventer can be made up of a block, a snap shackle and some line.

The spinnaker and spinnaker pole are bit more difficult to jury rig. Does your boat have a ring or track on the front of the mast for a spinnaker pole?? If not, you'll have to fit one or the other to use a spinnaker pole.

[Faster]

The vang is pretty easy to set up... as SD suggests.

For the trip you're planning, I'd be tempted to avoid a symmetrical spinnaker, find a cruising chute and avoid all the pole hardware altogether.

Recutting the main should only run a couple of hundred dollars, but that does depend on what's really needed.

[Sailormann]

You could probably use the spinnaker and pole from just about any 16 to 20' boat if you stick with a regular radial head spinnaker. If you don't aready have the blocks for it on the boat - you'll need to mount them.

http://www.yachtracersonline.com/spin.htm

[akoutdoors1]

I have a ring on the mast for the pole. The boat had one previously. As per the comment on using one from another boat- evidently that's what the last owner did.
Where can I find out more about cruising spinnakers? No poles sound like more deck room and less to lose in rough seas.
I really like the idea of running twin headsails too, in lieu of a spinnaker. I'd be interested if anyone wants to weigh in on that.

[sailingdog]

Is the boat equipped with a roller furler or hanked on headsails. If it is hanked on headsails, then using twin headsails isn't too difficult to setup. You need a second jib that has its hanks slightly offset from the first one. To use...drop the jib... hank the second one on...and hoist both. You can probably use a single halyard and single tack hook or shackle to hold both sails.

As for an asym... you'll probably want to get one that is cut a bit flatter so it will be more versatile and can be used for light air upwind as well as down. You'll also want something like the ATN Tacker for the tack of the asym, which allows you to treat it very similarly to a oversized genoa...except that you tack or gybe it around the front of the headstay.

BTW, if you don't have a roller furling headsail, you'll need something a bit different than an ATN Tacker, but that serves the same purpose.

[Sailormann]

Where can I find out more about cruising spinnakers? No poles sound like more deck room and less to lose in rough seas.

Read SailingDog's post and then Google 'Assymetrical Spinnaker' , 'Gennaker' , 'Flasher'.

I really like the idea of running twin headsails too, in lieu of a spinnaker. I'd be interested if anyone wants to weigh in on that.

I'm thinking that's a little too ambitious for your boat. Better to spend the money on a bigger genoa and fly it on it's own. Your mast is not high enough to gain any real benefit from two headsails...

[akoutdoors1]

I have a 120%(ish) genoa at present, and no rollerfurling. Not enough budget to have an extensive sail inventory. That is part of the reason for the interest in the twin hdsls. In all likelihood I'll travel with my recut (reefable)main, (and possibly a spare main), a 100% jib, a 120% and one other (yet to be determined) sail. Sailormann, at 30 ft above the waterline, why do you think that my mast height is not sufficient? I get a little touchy when people pick on my mast height.

[sailingdog]

AK-

It isn't the size of the mast...it's how you use it...