Looking forward to sailing Cinquante in the Sydney 38 Australian championships at the Festival of Sails in Geelong. The crew will be made up of junior and youth dinghy sailors with me taking it easy at back.

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Spiinaker Drops Part 2

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Add caption Last edition we spoke about the need to have a default program to dropping our spinnaker. Develop this and practise it.  As the competence level increases so does our ability to incorporate more complicated manoeuvres into our spinnaker dropping techniques. The first variation is the Port side windward drop discoursed last time which enhances the boats tactical options and reduces the need for a lot of the spinnaker packing/ tidying up around the boat. It is really refreshing as part of an afterguard to have a crew that can respond quickly to a simple call from the back when approaching the mark. If they can respond to a change of mind at the last minute it is even better. Regular enthusiastic crew and practise is needed to reach this level. So let’s have a look at a few more variations The Kiwi Drop Mostly used on asymmetric spinnaker boats. Called a Mexican drop in the northern hemisphere, it is a procedure where the spinnaker is dropped as the boat is gybed.
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