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Furling reacher

6K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  grossifs 
#1 ·
Hi I ve finally purchased a new gennaker for my bavaria 40 NC Farr and it is an A0 (seems to be a furling reacher) I bought second hand is a 80 square meter... I wish to have some feeds about the way to use it how yo jibe when 2 use it (is a 9 oz) on wich range of TWA and TWS

Inviato dal mio ASUS_X013D utilizzando Tapatalk
 
#2 ·
A0 = code 0 I think. This means you've got a roller on a flexible rope or cable to furl, and the whole thing will pack up like a snake in a spinnaker bag because of the "soft foil" rather than big extrusion used for roller jibs.

You raise this thing like an asym in a sock. Tighten the halyard...roller works best tight. Run the sheets back, get the furling line setup, and unfurl it like a big roller furling jib. Since it is sitting right in front of your rolled up jib or jib forestay if you're hanked-on, there is a very tiny slot between the 2 which does not allow for normal tacking. This leaves 2 choices. Either roll it up every time you want to change tacks, or alternatively you can jibe it by running the sheets all in front, and letting the thing flag out in front of the boat as you jibe.

We've got one and really enjoy it. In the old days we would have called it a reacher-drifter, and we bring it out in light wind, and we'd have to pack it by hand rather than roll it. It works in a surprising range of wind angles. Be careful, most of these are built with light fabric an optimized for light wind. Carry it too far and end up with a pile of ribbons. Real easy to use.

Great fun.
 
#6 · (Edited)
It all depends on the configuration/position of your mast exit sheaves for genoa(s) or spinnaker halyard(s).

If you have a spinn halyard mast exit sheave or double jib mast exit sheave 'below' the forestay attachment you can gybe the spinn 'inside the foretriangle' in the same manner as a jib/genoa.
If the spinn. halyard mast exit sheaves are only 'above' the forestay connection (AND you have a 'mast crane' which holds the top of the spinn well away from the (spinnaker hungry) furler's top swivel) ... then an 'out and around 'everything'' gybe will be needed, and for upwind tacking/high reaching you'll need to gybe through ~270°.

;-)
 
#13 ·
Grossifs
What you got there is a a0 or code zero you can tell by how the luff is nice and straight with an aggressive hollow a full head and flat foot.
Screechers tend to have real large feet and a hollowed leech.
Generally they are made of 1.5 to 2.5 oz material so I think you might be mistaken on the weight maybe .9oz, 9oz would weigh a ton!
Now as far as gybing or tacking it, think about it... you have a sail designed to sail at 60 to 110 that means its a "i'm going somewhere sail" and would just use it for that condition and either change sail if the wind went deeper (spinnaker) or higher a jib. But if you do find the need gybe or tack that 120+º just roll it in and out.

Now if you don't have a spinnaker and you're using it as your down wind sail. The way to use it is pick the favored gybe sail that course until you run out of room then sail dead downwind and gybe the main and wing on wing it until you get room again and gybe the main back.
 
#15 ·
A Code 0 sail is generaly very flat in shape and the halyard is tighten very hard to get as little curvature as possible on the line in the Luff of the sail. The only Code 0 i have seen have been in laminated materials.
The sail is used like a genua in light air (less than 5 M/s) when sailing close hauled. In stronger winds (7-8 M/s) can work well in beam reach but likely other sails will be a better choice, depends on the situation. Code 0 have a narrow area where they work well.

Tacking is easy with a roller furling system just roll it in and let it out on the other side.

The sail in the photo looks more like assymetric Spinnaker or Gennaker since the Luff is curved to leeward and the leech is hooked to windward. Or could be that the halyard is not tightend enough? Is there a Dynema or similar line in the Luff of the sail? My guess is that it is a A0 / G0 and not a C0. :)

Down wind sails usualy go from low numbers for light wind to high numbers for high winds.
 
#20 · (Edited)
The odd/even just rotates generally reaching/running but only for spinnakers (except for Code sails) and you have to add the A1.5 because the original numbering system didn't include a light air runner. And the bigger the number does not mean the sails get smaller, it has to do with wind speed, so the reacher is generally a smaller sail than the runner at the same windspeed, so by size it generally would go...

A1.5>a1>a0>a4>a3>a6>a5

Now technically a Code 0 measures in as a spinnaker, but cruiser C0's are smaller and better shaped than a racing Code0 because of mid-girth and leech length requirements on the racing Codes to measure in as a spinnaker and foot length limits on jib... so the Codes gets all kinda stupid depending on if you are sticking to racing sails or a cruiser with more design freedom.

So dispensing with that nonsense...

The important thing is just to know the windspeed and angle you want a sail for, a good sail maker will come back and tell you what you need for those conditions. Getting tied up in terminology is only important if you are carrying a selection of spinnakers and need to communicate what sail to put up.
 
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