I have a nylon 170 drifter for my Catalina 22.
Catalina 22 Drifter

It's big enough that it doesn't sheet well through the jib cars, so I run it to the spinnaker blocks on the stern of the boat. I bought some lightweight line for sheets to help out even more.


One of my favorite things is going out on a super light wind day and putting the drifter up. It'll catch even a tiny breeze and keep you silently ghosting along.

What is the range of wind angle for that drifter

So 11 replies and still no response from the OP.

I haven't measure it in degrees.

It doesn't point quite as high as a standard jib, but higher than a close reach.



Good question though. I should measure it this summer once I get the boat in.

Small thing about keeping sails full:
Sometimes it will help to use painfully thin lightweight sheets, instead of ones that are comfortable to handle. The extra weight can pull down on a sail, so "light air" sheets might be worth considering.

Yes but can be a prob for ST winches

In those light airs the winches probably aren't necessary.

We have a nylon gennaker, as seen in the thumbnail, that is fairly straightforward to deploy. There is no sprit at all and a whisker or spinnaker pole is not usually needed. Having furled the genoa, you attach the gennaker tack to the forestay via a strap, with a downhaul led through a snatch block at the stem fitting and back through fairleads (visible along the starboard side of the cabin) to a jam cleat at the cockpit. The gennaker sheet attached to the clew and is brought to the stern, where is does a u-turn via another snatch block secured to a padeye and on to the genoa winch. There is a separate spinnaker halyard and an ATN snuffer to corral the beast when things get unruly.

The photo was taken about 2 years ago off the RI shore when the wind was about 7 kts out of the SW as we were heading East, enroute to an overnight stop in the Pt Judith Harbor of Refuge. If we did not have this sail, we would have been motoring. We get nervous when the wind is over 12 kts with this lightweight sail and, so far, this 1990 sail remains in virtually new condition, but that is partially due to the fact that we don't use it--or need to--very often in our sailing area.

Attached Thumbnails

 

We use a gennaker also but it does not allow a very tight reach.

Here's what I use with my drifter:
Samson Ropes Ultra Lite Line
Diameter 3/16 in

I don't winch it, although do I run the line around a winch to give me a better angle.

Here I am. I think I was in the middle of a tack.