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Post by hoppy on May 19, 2019 23:30:12 GMT
Did our first spinnaker race using the new Assy. It also happened to be the first time we sailed with the assy which was not ideal, but there were no major problems.
However I am disappointed by the "ergonomics" of the spinnaker setup with the 36i.
I was hoping that the spinnaker sheets could be lead to the cabin top winches, like I could with the SO40, but in the end we had to use the headsail winch, which means we had to have it rolled when deploying and dropping the assy.
We used the factory fitted pad eyes for the spinnaker blocks.
Anyone found a better setup?
Something kind of amusing was how confusing assy trim is for experienced sailors who only use symmetric spinnakers. When sailing deep and the sail collapses their natural reaction is to sheet in, but I had to teach our trimmer that we needed to ease out the sheet so that the sail would move more to the windward side and fill.
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Post by zaphod on May 21, 2019 1:16:22 GMT
Did our first spinnaker race using the new Assy. It also happened to be the first time we sailed with the assy which was not ideal, but there were no major problems. However I am disappointed by the "ergonomics" of the spinnaker setup with the 36i. I was hoping that the spinnaker sheets could be lead to the cabin top winches, like I could with the SO40, but in the end we had to use the headsail winch, which means we had to have it rolled when deploying and dropping the assy. We used the factory fitted pad eyes for the spinnaker blocks. Anyone found a better setup? Something kind of amusing was how confusing assy trim is for experienced sailors who only use symmetric spinnakers. When sailing deep and the sail collapses their natural reaction is to sheet in, but I had to teach our trimmer that we needed to ease out the sheet so that the sail would move more to the windward side and fill. Have you got pics of your sheeting setup? Are you using a ratchet block as well as the lead blocks? What is stopping you from going up to your cabin top winches? If you are forced to use your primary winches for your sheets, a simple solution would be to replace your Genoa cheek blocks with the locking type. Harken makes locking cheeks with the exact same footprint as the stock cheeks. (Assuming you have the same hardware as my 39i). That way you can lock your genny sheet, cast it off the winch and load the spin sheet. Not ideal, but it will work. We do that on the Olson 30 I race on because it only has 2 winches. You are right, there is definitely a learning curve when making the transition from symetric to A-kite, both for the trimmer and the helmsman. The trimmer needs to get used to moving a lot more sheet when making adjustments, and particularly in gybes. The helmsman needs to know when to heat up to keep the kite filled. The biggest mistake skippers make is trying to dig as deep as symetric boats are going. If you REALLY need to sail deep with an asym you can try to heel the boat to weather so the shoulder of the spinnaker will come out from behind the main. How successful that is depends on the cut of your sail. |
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Post by blade on May 22, 2019 17:46:43 GMT
Hi Hoppy,
I have the same boat which we regularly sail in local regattas and some slightly longer races. Had the same problem with changing from the genoa sheets to spi sheets. Looked at the Harken locking cheeks but they were around 160 Euros each side, so looked for an alternative solution. Eventually came up with some Wichard deck jammers but used loose, it is probably easier to see in the pictures how they are used. Basically as we approach the windward mark the genoa is eased a little, then some more as we round the mark, the jammer is then attached to the genoa sheet and allowed to stop against the cheek (important to position it horizontal, doesn't work vertical), the genoa sheet can then be taken off the winch and the spi sheet attached - this is while the spi is being hoisted. Once spi is hoisted and trimmed the genoa can be furled, there is now very little load on the genoa sheet so this can be pulled in slightly and the jammer knocked off allowing the genoa to be fully furled. The process is more or less reversed when reaching the leeward mark. The Wichard jammer have small vertical metal inserts to really bite onto the genoa sheet, I think other jammers might allow a heavily loaded genoa sheet to pull through. It's pretty crude but we have been racing with them for about 3-4 seasons now.
Now just got to find out how to insert pictures.
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Post by blade on May 23, 2019 7:04:10 GMT
Hopefully image shown below  At least that worked. Hoppy, how do you arrange the tack point for the assy, are you using a pole or some other arrangement. |
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Post by hoppy on May 23, 2019 12:43:36 GMT
interesting way to do it.
The boat actually has locking cheek blocks but the port side is used for the roller furler. Trying to convince the owner to fit a clutch for the roller to free up the locking cheek.
The assy flys from the bow roller. The sail is for deep downwind sailing so there is no problem with the pullpit seat.
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Post by zaphod on May 23, 2019 20:02:42 GMT
Hopefully image shown below At least that worked. Hoppy, how do you arrange the tack point for the assy, are you using a pole or some other arrangement. Wow! That is very strange to see a cam cleat mounted to a cheek block like that. Somebody got creative! That cleat would be no good for the Genoa sheet because it can't handle the sheet loads, and it would constantly be cleating itself making trim adjustments a royal PITA! If it were my boat I would put the furling line somewhere else and swap out the cheek blocks for locking ones. It's a nice boat, and worth spending some money to do it right. |
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Post by blade on May 24, 2019 7:27:52 GMT
Zaphod,
The cam cleat isn't mounted permanently on the cheek block, it has a cord attached to it and is only put in place when swopping over from the genoa sheet to the spi sheet. My post above describes how it is used, and for the short time it is in use it seems to be able to take the load.
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Post by zaphod on May 24, 2019 16:16:20 GMT
Zaphod, The cam cleat isn't mounted permanently on the cheek block, it has a cord attached to it and is only put in place when swopping over from the genoa sheet to the spi sheet. My post above describes how it is used, and for the short time it is in use it seems to be able to take the load. Sorry I should have read more carefully. It is certainly an interesting solution, I guess if it works it is an inexpensive way to do it that doesn't require pulling deck hardware off. In Hoppys case apparently they have the locking cheeks but the owner is using them for a furling line? It that case the solution is simple...put the furling line somewhere else and use the locking cheeks as intended. |
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Post by zaphod on Jun 25, 2019 16:45:53 GMT
We flew our asymetric on our 39i for the first time last weekend. I rigged the spinnaker blocks right back on the backstay chainplates, and then put ratchet blocks on the factory padeyes further forward. That seemed to work pretty well, and we had the option of sheeting to cabintop or primary winch. We did notice that the sheet got hooked around the end of the boom on gybes a couple of times, so that's something we will need to sort out.  |
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