spinnaker question for ranger 26

rgberry53 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

hello everyone,

just a newbie with a couple of ???s

i have a spinnaker pole with a wire bridle and a homemade rope one.

1st question is which way does the hook go when attaching to mast?
ive been told one way by one person and the other way by another.

2nd is where and how does the downhaul attach to the foredeck?

im assuming it works like a boomjack to keep the pole 90 degrees to the mast in all positions.......

any help would be greatly appreciated.

pics of a ranger spinnaker would be awesome.

best regards to all

Jeff_H · #2 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

The open spinnaker pole jaw faces upward. On boats that size the pole downhaul typically attaches to the base of the mast. The control line for the pole downhaul is often led back to the cockpit, but may also dead end at the mast.

The height of the end of the tack end of the pole should be adjusted so that the tack is approximately the same height as the clew. If you have a track on the mast, then the inboard end of the pole should be adjusted so that the pole is approximately level and so it has the maximum projection.

Jeff

rgberry53 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

thanks

Faster · #4 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

Certainly second the notion that the pole should hang on the pins.. ie jaws up.

You'll also find a lot of boats with the downhaul led to a point near mid foredeck.. a couple of things then:

The 'downhaul' then has a forward component in it's pull that tends to help keep the pole close to the spinnaker tack (btw be sure to clip the pole where it can slide on the guy, not to the cringle in the sail or the shackle)

As a result, though, every adjustment to the guy is going to need an adjustment to the downhaul... ease the guy forward and the downhaul relaxes and the pole will want to rise, try to pull the guy back and you'll need to ease the downhaul. This is pretty standard practice for most of us.

The Laser 28 was one of the boats that always had the downhaul led to the base of the mast.. this allowed freedom of positioning the guy without necessarily having to fuss with the downhaul each time. But without twingers on we found the pole had to be "helped" - ie; pushed - ahead to the tack.

Like so many things in sailing, there's the trade-off...

rgberry53 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

thanks faster,

btw i lived in seattle since 1985 and recently moved to san diego (to be a grandfather) sure wish i had the kindof sailing down here as up there. you live in a beautiful part of the world for sure. although its not beautiful enough without my kids and grandkids close by.

many thanks and i wish you a merry christmas and safe sailing.

puddinlegs · #6 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

Sounds like you might need spinnaker trim and rigging 101. Looking at how a symmetrical spinnaker on nearly any boat of your relative size and vintage will help you get things sorted out. Matter of fact, if you know anyone with a boat, or even a friend without that has experience with spinnakers, have them look things over and give you a hand. On the North Sails website, you can enter the following in their search box:

North U Racing TRIM Coursebook

This is probably more info than you need, but is a good resource. There are also a ton of other basic sailing books that will explain what's happening with the mechanics of trim.

Note 1, replace all the wire bits on your spin pole with amsteel or similar. One meathook is all it will take to tear up your spinnaker.

Note 2: the pole down haul does nothing to hold the tack to the end of the clew. It only adjusts the height of the tack assuming the spinnaker guy is pulling the tack properly to the end of the pole.

Note 3 (and less germane to the discussion given the level of experience, but

On smaller boats like the Ranger 26, you can even get rid of the downhaul and use twing lines only to control pole height. I've seen it done on a number of smaller boats, but still don't really like it as the pole with still bounce around too much IMHO.

Faster · #7 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgberry53

thanks faster,

btw i lived in seattle since 1985 and recently moved to san diego (to be a grandfather) sure wish i had the kindof sailing down here as up there. you live in a beautiful part of the world for sure. although its not beautiful enough without my kids and grandkids close by.

many thanks and i wish you a merry christmas and safe sailing.

Back at you... and I TOTALLY get the moving to be near your grandkids.. ours is a 20 minute drive away and I couldn't imagine any further...

You can always pop back up here with them one day and charter!