[NewportNewbie]

Can or should this be done? I have a big old unused Symmetric spinnaker and because I want more ease of use, I am planning on getting an Asymmetric Spinnaker. Can I have my regular spinnaker recut or is that just not feasible?

 

[jsaronson]

I would use it without recutting it.

 

[Multihullgirl]

No, you can't recut it. The panel shapes are very different. You can, sometimes, carry a symmetric chute on some fairly high angles, if the wind is rather light.

 

[PaulinVictoria]

Depends on the particular spinnaker, a good sailmaker can recut it into something that'll be fine for pottering about, not going to be as good as a proper asym, and of course you'll lose the DDW capabilities of the symmetrical as well.
You can always fly it as-is like an asym, going to be lousy sail shape but in light air it'll be better than nothing.

 

[SchockT]

Can or should this be done? I have a big old unused Symmetric spinnaker and because I want more ease of use, I am planning on getting an Asymmetric Spinnaker. Can I have my regular spinnaker recut or is that just not feasible?

It can be done, but results will vary with the cut of the original sail, and the skill of the sailmaker. If the spinnaker is is reasonable shape you may be better off selling the symetric and putting the money towards a proper asymetric.

 

[Alex W]

I'd try it as a sym spinnaker first. It isn't that much more complicated and it sounds like your boat is already rigged for it. The symmetric spinnaker will let you sail deeper. Asym spinnakers are more of a reaching sail and really depend on a bowsprit for the best performance.

I carry a sym and asym spinnaker onboard and end up flying both of them off of the pole (instead of using the asym attached to the bow) because it gives me so much more control and ability to sail deeper. I don't have a bow sprit, so the pole does the same job of letting me get the asym farther forward over the bow. I mostly use the asym when sailing solo because it has a sock and my sym one does not. I sock the sail to jybe it when cruising singlehanded.

I did about 7 hours of singlehanded sailing under the spinnaker this weekend. Today it allowed me to sail when the main and jib only would not have. On Friday under 11 knots of true wind speed it gave me another knot and a half of speed and made my day hours shorter.

 

[imiloa]

There is a device made by ATN called the Tacker that lets you fly a symmetric kite like an asymmetric. I have one and use it with my symmetric and it works fine. Not as good as a pole but much easier to handle. (I have no association with ATN.) ATN Sailing Equipment | The Tacker | No Boom Spinnaker Handler