[jameyemail]

I recently bought a Tanzer 22...hadnt sailed in 30+ years....we primarily sail on the Columbia River in Or/Wa. I have gotten the mainsail/jib stuff down...but I have never sailed with a spinnaker...never rigged one, etc.
Ithas a pole....sail, etc. CAN SOMEONE HELP!!!
ps....as far as the "sailing lingo" goes...Im just learning...."old dog-new tricks" thing.

 

[nolatom]

Take a spinny veteran with you, in a nice 8-knot breeze. You'll need a halyard, two sheets for the spin, and a topping lift and downhaul for the pole.

Raise it on a broad reach, with the main blanketing it. Then pull the pole aft and once the sail gets out into the wind, it'll fill and off you go. Keep easing it until the windward edge just begins to curl inward, then trim in just enough to make the curl go away.

The pole should be roughly at right angles to the wind. Stick to a broad reach at first.

There are lots of tutorials, take a look at one, but trust your friend and you'll like it.

Lingo--the sheet on the pole corner is called the guy. The other, is the sheet. So not that much lingo.

Don't complicate it too much in your mind, just do it and then "the book will make sense".

 

[grampianvoyager]

Take a spinny veteran with you, in a nice 8-knot breeze. You'll need a halyard, two sheets for the spin, and a topping lift and downhaul for the pole.

Raise it on a broad reach, with the main blanketing it. Then pull the pole aft and once the sail gets out into the wind, it'll fill and off you go. Keep easing it until the windward edge just begins to curl inward, then trim in just enough to make the curl go away.

The pole should be roughly at right angles to the wind. Stick to a broad reach at first.

There are lots of tutorials, take a look at one, but trust your friend and you'll like it.

Lingo--the sheet on the pole corner is called the guy. The other, is the sheet. So not that much lingo.

Don't complicate it too much in your mind, just do it and then "the book will make sense".

"So not that much lingo" Arghhhhh

 

[aelkin]

Grampian;
Don't worry too much about it...I was in the same boat as you 3 years ago. Literally. (Tanzer 22, never flown spinnaker)

So - first thing, congrats on a great boat. T22's are an absolutely dynamite boat to learn on.

Next - make sure you have all the stuff you need to do this:
Spinnaker, Spinnaker pole (long aluminum pole with jaws and spring pins on each end.), a halyard that you are not using to hoist either main or jib, and 2 long lines, preferably with snap-shackles. You should also have a 'pole up' and pole down' line rigged on your boat. do you? if not, it's not too hard.

if you have all of that, you're good to move on to the next step. Grab the spinnaker pole, and figure out how to hook it to the mast. There should be a hoop there. Hook up your pole up and down lines, and then go back to the cockpit (do all of this at the dock, or while drifting in no wind.) and play around with the controls - raise and lower the pole a few times.

If all of this is OK with you, it's time to make the big leap.
Go to You-tube and search for spinnaker sailing. You will find a bunch of yahoos and horrible videos about crazy winds. Don't watch those - you'll scare yourself silly.
You should also find a couple of North Sails spinnaker tutorials - one by a guy named Tom Whidden. They are made in the 80's, but don't let that bother you - super instructions.
They should answer most any questions you have.
watch them. then watch them again.

Now - go try for yourself. do it on a light wind day, and you won't hurt your boat, or yourself.

Enjoy!!

Andy

 

[jameyemail]

Thanks for the replies....
So...on the pole itself...it has two hooks...one at each end, a very small cable rigged in a loop. where does the other end of the pole hook to? And the small cable?

 

[GeorgeB]

Jamey, you will probably want to look into getting a book with illustrations. One side of the pole clips into the mast on the spinnaker ring. The other end clips to the "guy" (short for "afterguy"), which is the line attached to the windward clew on the sail. the cable between the two ends of the pole is the "yoke" or harness. The topping lift connects to it (there should be a ring) and supports the weight of the pole. On your boat most likely, there will be a second cable connected to both ends of the pole. This will be connected to your foreguy. The two guys and topping lift act as a tripod to stablize and position the end of the pole. Most of the power from the spinnaker is concentrated at the end of the pole so it is very important that you get this right.

 

[theonecalledtom]

Hey Jamey - there are a bunch of videos on youtube, check out the links I've been collecting here.

If people have other good material let me know.

 

[Sabreman]

This is gonna get too complicated too fast if we keep using words. Let's assume for now that you are talking about a symmetrical spinnaker. If so, then the following is a great link from Selden. Take a look and then post questions. Flying a spinnaker is a blast but can be complicated with all the strings laying about.

http://www.seldenmast.com/files/595-560-E.pdf