Today was the West Harbour Winter series so a large fleet of yachts of all sizes assembled for the start only to be caught between breezes. After a long delay the starters called it a day so we decided to do some spinnaker drill. Our decision to stay on the water and practice was rewarded when the southerly winds prevailed and filled in across what would have been our course.
In very pleasant sunny conditions we practiced three hoists and drops of the spinnaker using the spinnaker sock or snuffer. We managed to stuff it down the front hatch and rehoist without any twists and at the end of the day I was able to fold the spinnaker inside the sock into the bag ready for relaunch. In the one day we doubled our experience with the spinnaker snuffer and found a few points we need to observe for effective operations.
In the very light breeze there was not enough wind to blow the snuffer mouth to leeward so we had to be careful it did not catch between the mast and the forestay. Also the friction between the genoa and the snuffer mouth is significant and we had to raise the sock with the sock aft of the genoa. A few simple things like these made light of the work and built our confidence for stronger winds.
In the relaxed non racing mode we tried different roles on the boat and enjoyed and early finish for the afternoon.
Practising hoisting the spinnaker snuffer
The speed generated by the spinnaker brought the apparent wind well forward
A close look at the big yellow spinnaker