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Gybing Symmetric spinnakers

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It is believed that the first recorded use of the word spinnaker was in 1866, it was a reference to a downwind sail specially built for the yacht “Sphinx” in 1865. Being a very large lightweight sail it was referred to by the yachts owner Herbert Maudslay as “Sphinx’s half acre”; which soon became abbreviated to spinnaker. Other possible origins could be a derivative of the obsolete word spoon or speen which meant to run before the wind (as in spindrift). Also a small fore and aft sail on the mizzen mast of a tall ship was called a Spanker and could possibly be a source Regardless of the starting point the word spinnaker has become a large part of the yachting vernacular and probably that one word is the cause of the most angst amongst club level and beginning sailors. We have all seen a myriad of pictures and videos of yachts wiping out in sensational style and the most common feature of these is they are nearly all under spinnaker when it happens. All yachties have a vast recollectio...
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Turbo sailing, using your staysail

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More and more on the race course we are seeing staysails becoming increasingly prevalent again. Once upon a time the staysail was a very popular sail. In the days of the RORC rule in the late 60’s it was commonplace for every serious racer to have a reaching rig of overlapping staysail and a series of yankee’s for different wind conditions. In the IOR days that followed there spawned a whole range of “under the spinnaker” style staysails, mostly sporting ridiculous names; Tall Boys, Lazy Boy’s, Golden Dazy Staysails and even the ubiquitous Blooper and numerous others as all sorts of combinations and rigs were tried. As the IMS and later the IRC rules came along, the staysails narrowed down to two main groups, sensibly called the Spinnaker Staysail for off wind work and the Genoa Staysail as the name implies for closer to the wind. The use of these sails requires a lot of thought and attention, if not used correctly they can slow a boat down drastically, but when used ac...
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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 gy...
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