Flying the Gennaker

[Merit25lovers]

Does anyone out there fly a Gennaker? We typically sail our Merit 25 with a crew of 2, and sometimes my 9 year old son in addition, so the Spinnaker is not something I am ready to risk .

Problem is, every time we have tried to fly the Gennaker, it gets wrapped around the forestay, and is impossible to untangle without taking it all the way down!

It is necessary to pull it out of the sleeve to extreme starboard or port? Is boat angle to the wind critical?

Any tips would be much appreciated!

[SchockT]

If you are sailing too deep and the sail is blanketed by the main it is more likely to wrap around the forestay. If you heat up onto a reach before deploying it will fill to leeward.

[bacampbe]

Is it wrapping _every_ time, as in, it's never worked? If so, are you sure you are rigged correctly, as in tack, halyard, and sheet(s) outside of everything else?

We're still getting used to our assymetric, and I still find it hard to visualize where all the lines need to go prior to raising it. It's particularly hard if we rig it while the genoa is flying.

[jackdale]

Fill the gennaker somewhere between a beam reach and broad reach depending on wind strength. That should give it lots of air.

When you gybe make sure the sail is powered up; I may head up slightly in light air. Center the main. Do the gybe quickly and let the lazy sheet go while hardening the new working sheet as quickly as possible. Once the gennaker is flying, ease out the main. Check that lazy sheet is over the pulpit, not under the boat.

If the gennaker starts to collapse head up a bit and harden the sheet. After it fills, bear away slowly while easing out the sheet until it curls at the shoulder, then harden it slightly.

Two should be able to fly it.

[Alex W]

I found it easier to learn how to fly our gennaker by doing it with no other sails (we launched it while the motor was running, then killed the motor). Then we mixed in the main. We've never run it with the genoa at the same time since the boat doesn't have enough cockpit winches.

[jackdale]

I will not fly the gennaker (or spinnaker) without the main. If the wind picks up, the best way to get it doused is to blanket it with the main. In really light air, centre the main to get more air to it.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I will not fly the gennaker (or spinnaker) without the main. If the wind picks up, the best way to get it doused is to blanket it with the main. In really light air, centre the main to get more air to it.

Ditto....

[Alex W]

I was doing this in light air on a small lake in light air in summer when the wind doesn't suddenly change that dramatically around here. The asym also had a sock, which made it easy to douse. Sorry about not including all of that information and I do take your warnings to heart in more dynamic weather.

We ran without the main a couple of times because it made it easier to see the whole sail and to learn how to trim and gybe it. Once we became comfortable with those operations without a main we started to fly it with the main.

[zz4gta]

Outside or inside gybes?
Make sure it's rigged right for the one you're doing.
If you go up on the port halyard it has to come down on starboard gybe.
Go up on starboard halyard, it comes down on port gybe.

With a gennaker, you need to smoke the old sheet and trim like mad on the new one for outside gybes, HUGE amounts of easing and trimming. For inside, there's less sheet to deal with, but go through the turn at a good pace and then heat it up. Should push the sail through the triangle.

Merits don't have a halyard above the forestay. Just two sheaves just below the forestay.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by zz4gta

Outside or inside gybes?
Make sure it's rigged right for the one you're doing.
If you go up on the port halyard it has to come down on starboard gybe.
Go up on starboard halyard, it comes down on port gybe.

If the block is above the forestay it does not matter which tack you raise on. I would prefer to use you method if there are two spin halyards.

However, if you douse on the opposite tack to the one on which you raise, you must move the dousing line around the forestay to get the bag down.