[abrahamx]

Second year with the boat (Tartan 30) and have never flew my asymetrical spinniker yet. How many people will need to put it up and take it down? Tried Yahooing it but did not find much on the matter.

 

[christian.hess]

youtube, put in tartan 30 asymetrical Im sure youll get bites

many fly asyms solo, but for starters 1 or 2 friends sounds dandy

do you have a chute sock for it? that will save you some manpower too

good luck!

 

[weinie]

1 person if you have an autopilot.
A sock helps too. I've been flying alot this summer on my catalina 27. It's about 10 minutes to set up and a little less to take down when everything is smooth.
Gybing is do-able just by pulling the sock down and swinging it over the forestay and pulling it up again. Or you can attempt it the old fashioned way, either outside or inside. If s*$t hits the fan, you can always pull it down with one hand on the halyard and one hand pulling the sail down onto the deck. Of course in high winds, it's easier said than done!

I was racing on a J105 last weekend and had a major wrap in 15-20 knots of breeze that I couldn't get out while working the bow. Wrestling with it and then finally opting to bring it down completely straighten it out it in the forward cabin really required 2 people to keep it out of the water, not to mention someone capable to keep the boat ddw.

Don't ask me about wraps around the forestay though. I hear horror stories about that

 

[abrahamx]

no sock no auto pilot. Tiller steer. I was thinking two to pull down and one to drive at the least. Just wanted to hear from someone who already did it.

 

[SVAuspicious]

If s*$t hits the fan, you can always pull it down with one hand on the halyard and one hand pulling the sail down onto the deck. Of course in high winds, it's easier said than done!

I pop the tack and sit on the foredeck with the halyard running under my behind and a foot on the tail. That gives me two hands to pull the sail down and stuff it into a hatch. It isn't elegant but it works.

I bought a sock a couple of years ago. The sock slows everything down and in some instances is more work, but it greatly reduces the chances of something going pear-shaped.

 

[abrahamx]

Also next to impossible to find much info or vids etc... on tartan 30's. I think there three or four but if they are out there I have seen them.

 

[christian.hess]

you have the older tartan 30 right not the ten?

honestly to start flying spinnakers or asyms or whatever a sock will make it really easy for you...at least to start

you can also make your own sock with a bucket...

if you dont just start with 2 people to help and just look for general vids of setting and dousing spinnakers.

the basics apply to all boats

 

[abrahamx]

I only have two winches on board. Do I really need a second set to fly the spin?

 

[weinie]

I pop the tack and sit on the foredeck with the halyard running under my behind and a foot on the tail. That gives me two hands to pull the sail down and stuff it into a hatch. It isn't elegant but it works.

I bought a sock a couple of years ago. The sock slows everything down and in some instances is more work, but it greatly reduces the chances of something going pear-shaped.

In a stiff breeze, I would definitely have the halyard with one turn around a mast cleat rather than rely on my butt!

 

[killarney_sailor]

He has a particularly talented butt so cut him some slack, the halyard sometimes does.

A couple of thoughts from our perspective - very large A-symmetric on our boat.
- a sleeve is a great plus for sure. We have one that came with the sail from North and it works well, as long as you are careful getting the lines right.
- if you only have jib winches you will need to take the jib in before hoisting the spin. This is probably a good idea in any case
- first time out a total of three people is a good idea, one on the helm and two forward; we do it with two people and an autopilot quite comfortably; two w/o the autopilot is doable but not as relaxed until you get the sail up and pulling.
- look for 8 to 12 knots to experiment in; with our boat we are looking to take the sail down before we get to 20 for sure; even with the snuffer it can be 'interesting'; we had ours up along the north coast of Puerto Rico when the winds came up to 20 to 24 and we lost control of the snuffer lines - they were blowing out of reach to leeward while the harbour we wanted was very rapidly approaching, could have been in the Dominican a lot sooner than planned
- hiding the sail behind the main on the hoist and takedown can help, just need to coordinate between the foredeck guys and the driver about when to turn

 

[knuterikt]

I only have two winches on board. Do I really need a second set to fly the spin?

You don't need extra winches (depending on where your current winches is situated).
If you furl take down the head sail before setting the asymmetric you free up the winches.

Article with illustration
Rigging the Asymmetrical Spinnaker

Some useful Google searches
rigging asymmetric spinnaker
https://www.google.no/webhp?sourcei...spv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=rigging asymmetric spinnaker

sailing with asymmetrical spinnaker
https://www.google.no/webhp?sourcei...e=UTF-8#q=sailing with asymmetrical spinnaker

You need one spinnaker sheet block on each side - placed far aft on both sides, hopefully you get a fair lead to the existing winches.

I prefer adjustable tack attachment, but it will also work with a fixed tack.

You should be able to do this with a two persons on the boat
helm & foredeck

The trick with setting is to make 110% sure that everything is set correct before hoist.
-Sail stuffed in the bag with all corners available, no twist in the sail
-All lines lead correctly
-Always have the main set, you use it to blanket the asymetric.

1. Attach and adjust tack
2. Attach hakyard and sheet's
3. Steer with the wind on the opposite side to what you are hoisting relative 140/160 degrees
4. Helm put the sheet on the winch ready to haul in
5. Ready to hoist
6. Foredeck hoist the sail (don't sheet in before it is all up)
7. Sail set, sheet in
8. Helm haul in on the sheet until the sail is catching the wind
9. Foredeck take the sheet.

Taking it down,
There are several ways to do it, if you have a loose footed main the letter box drop is good (if not take under the boom)

1. Take the lazy sheet between the boom and the sail.
2. Steer a course where the main blanket the asymetric
3. Let go the tack (blow the tack)
4. Start pulling the lazy sheet and pull the sail through the letter box opening, stuff the sail down the main hatch.
5. Let the hallyard go out fast, make sure the end is secured, keep pulling the sail down.

 

[knuterikt]

This sailor is using an asymmetric on a long spinnaker pole.
Note three lines at the tack of the sail (tack and starboard/port guy).

This video show a letterbox drop, note the trick with the halyard trailing in the water to control the decent of the sail.

 

[Alex W]

The first time that I flew an asymmetrical spinnaker we had 2 people and a sock.

The first time that I flew a symmetrical spinnaker without a sock we had 3 people.

Both were on light wind days, which probably matters more than the number of people.

 

[SchockT]

My wife and I fly the a-kite on our boat with no hesitation, although I do make sure my son is on deck to pitch in if the breeze is building. Obviously you should practice in lighter wind. I use an adjustable tack line with a quick release shackle on my boat, that way if things get hairy I can go to the bow and blow the shackle. once one corner of the sail is released the sail cannot create any power, it will just stream out like a flag. then you just have to grab the clew and gather the foot up. Once you have the foot gathered call for the halyard to be released. Make sure the person on the halyard controls the drop so the sail doesn't end up in the water!

Once you have practiced a bit you can try doing it single handed as well. Just have your crew stand by in case you get into trouble.

I originally intended to use a snuffer on my spinnaker, but I never got around to buying one. I would love to get a furler for it, but it just isn't in the budget!

 

[Don L]

Second year with the boat (Tartan 30) and have never flew my asymetrical spinniker yet. How many people will need to put it up and take it down? Tried Yahooing it but did not find much on the matter.

Real hard to do with less than 1 person. Is normally is easy to put up with 1, but taking down with 0 is a problem.

My wife and I manage to fly our asym and sym by ourselves without a problem and we are old and fat. But we take it down early.

 

[weinie]

Flying the kite solo yesterday in about 10 knots.

 

[abrahamx]

I'm in lake st clair and it is very shallow. How does one steer while putting up the kite. I never even do he main when my myself as it is not lead to the cockpit and I could not imagine pulling it down while making sure my boat did not wipe out or turn in a bad direction. My tartan 30 does track pretty well with a tad weather helm but with no auto steer I never trust it for more than a few seconds.

 

[GeorgeB]

I spliced a Harken ratchet block with a snap shackle to the snuffer control line. Now I can shackle the block to a padeye on the forepeak and pull “up” on the control line to pull down the sock. The ratchet keeps the sock from “zippering up” if we catch a puff while I’m trying to douse.

 

[Sabreman]

You can do it easily with 2 people. My wife and I did it without a sock on our 28 for 15 years. A sock is easier, but not at all mandatory. We set our aspin on the 38 with the two of us using a sock but only because we have it. I'd still do it with the 2 of us without one. It's not hard or much different than hoisting a jib, only the luff isn't attached. That's it....

Make sure the sail is packed correctly (a different topic).
Set the tack line and sheets
Set the aspin on the leeward side about 3' aft of the bow. Clip bag to lifelines.
Driver sails 140-160 degrees to the wind (almost never dead downwind)
Second person takes down or rolls the jib.
Second person hoists the sail
Driver concurrently over-trims the sail
Second person comes aft and eases the sail until it's drawing (actually luffs slightly, then trims till it's not luffing).

That's it. 1-2 minutes from start of hoist till you're done.

 

[jameswilson29]

I launch and retrieve both symmetrical and asymmetrical solo from the cockpit/companionway area. For launch, the sail is hoisted from the crotch of the jib, outside the jib, running nearly downwind. The tack/guy is pre-fed. Leave sheet loose, with 10' extra length. Sail is raised in wind shadow of main/jib. Head up/pull pole back to fill sail, trim sheet, then decide if you wish to leave jib up fully or partially, or drop it completely.

My spinnakers launch out of laundry baskets on the sidedeck secured to the handholds with bungee cords at the aft end of the cabintop. Of course, you must learn how to properly pack the spinnaker for a good launch. The laundry baskets also allow the sails to dry out while stored in the cabin in the event of any inadvertent drop in the drink in the launch or retrieval.

Reverse sequence to douse sail. Raise jib. Head downwind at deeper angle so sail collapses behind wind shadow of main/jib. Grab sheet from cockpit/companionway area. Release guy/tack. Release halyard and you gather sail under boom and drop in cabin.

Easy peasy. Now, jibing the symmetrical in heavier air is the difficult part...