Conference unifix::sailing

    How much time do you need to set the mainsail again on the next boye?
    And esspecially your light boat is rocking and rolling when you raise
    it again?
    
    Peter (sailing in Switzerland too, and hate these "Swiss light wind 
    conditions")
    
    PL

    I agree - the main does very little to drive the boat downwind in 
    very light air. But lowering anf then raising the main would bounce
    the boat around too much to make it pay off.
    
    Along the same lines: in light air I pull the boom to center line
    early, I gybe, and then hold it there for awhile afterwards until 
    the boat settles down. I really helps to keep the chute full through 
    the gybe. 

    A cautionary note: I once flew a chute on a downwind run without a
    mainsail because the mainsail halyard was jammed.  What started as
    light wind became moderate with some significant gusts.  What I learned
    that day was that it is very difficult to *drop* the spinnaker in
    moderate wind when you don't have anything to deflect the wind - no
    matter how inconsequential the main may seem at driving the boat.  
    
    We must have run an additional 30-40 minutes trying to drop the chute
    but the traditional methods just weren't working: every time we'd let
    out the halyard and let out the pole, the chute would just climb a
    little higher until it was significantly higher than the mast.  What was
    initially amusing became kind of scary as we were approaching the U.S
    Lexington aircraft carrier in Pensacola, FL.  Flying a spinnaker this
    high gave me a new appreciation of the term "planing".  This boat was
    literally flying.
    
    Eventually, part of the foot hit the water, dragged the CAL-24 to an
    abrupt halt, and we got the wet chute in without any damage - except
    that we went significantly out of our way.  The Navy people also
    jeered. Perhaps this is just bad seamanship due to inexperience (I was
    17), but it was the ultimate sleigh ride...  I leave my main up today.
    
    Bob

    I cannot belive that a fractional rig boat would perform better without
    a main, in any conditions.
    
    I have heard that masthead rigs can fly bloopers ( big-boys, big banana
    shaped sails flown on the same side as, and outside, the main ) better in
    light airs, with no main, but as they are very unusual these days, I 
    have never seen it done.
    
    Chris
    

    RE .3
    
    In a situation such as you describe the solution is to release the
    spinnaker from the guy altogether as you are starting the takedown. 
    It cannot fly that way, as the chute is only connected at two points
    (the sheet and halyard), and you can haul it in by the sheet as you
    lower the halyard.
    
    If you can't free the guy from the chute (pole's riding too high or you
    are not using snap-shackles) just let the guy fly free.  It's messier,
    but it still works.
    
    RE .4
    
    We've used this tactic during races on both Wags (a fractional rig) and
    Bodacious (a masthead).  In either case you only do this when the air
    is so light you are having trouble keeping your chute full.  It's
    marginally helpful, but if it means the difference between moving at .2
    knots and stopping altogether then it's worth it. 
    
    ... Bob
    

    I have found that releasing the guy is the preferred way to take down a
    spinaker.  We always did it that way racing.  Granted, we were nearly
    always taking it down when we were rounding a mark, but we found it the
    fastest and most effective in nearly every condition.  The key to
    making this work fast is to have someone standing in the companionway
    with one hand on the spinaker sheet ready to start hauling in.  As soon
    as the guy is released( and I mean really let it fly), you also want to
    drop the halyard a few feat to give more slack to the person hauling in
    the spinaker.  You then have that person simply pull it right down into
    the cabin.  You will, as soon as the person in the companionway has
    taken in all the slack they can, have to then lower the halyard the
    rest of the way while they pull it in.
    
    Another way we used a lot less often was when we had the shoot up but
    had to gain some distance to windward (like clearing a mark on some
    point of land).  Then you can (with the jib up) pull the sheat in tight
    while releasing the guy.  If you get the spinaker behind the jib and
    pulled up tight against it, a vaccum will form sucking the spinaker
    against the back side of the jib.  You can then pull it down under the
    jib.  It will simply slide down adhering to the jib.  Then when you are
    to the point where you can fall of again, you can actually raise it
    back the same way(everything is still rigged the right way.
    

    We also never have dropped the main while the chute is up.  We have
    sheeted the main in tighter to decrease any shadowing effect of the
    main on the spinnaker.  I have seen this done on two boats I raced on. 
    
    To digress slightly, flying a blooper is fun but can only be done with
    the wind on the quarter or aft and only under 10-12 knots.  We gain a
    significant advantage downwind this way since few boats have them
    aboard on Champlain, almost no one in our fleet.  Funny thing is that
    we apparently are not penalized for the additional and significant
    amount of extra sail area.  On a 30 mile downwind leg, this can amount
    to a lot of ground made up.  They do take two people to fly effectively 
    as the sheet and halyard must be played to maintain trim.  Even with a
    blooper, we still do not drop the main.  
    
    Brian 

Light air and running don't mix.  In a desperation drifter, it's almost 
impossible.  The boat's own motion will swing the apparent wind forward and 
plaster the chute against the forestay and spreaders.  If there's any wave 
motion at all, the whipping of the mast will knock all the air out of the 
chute.

While it may be possible to enhance the flyability of the chute by dousing 
the main, it'll still be working in its most inefficient mode and the area 
of the main won't be working at all.  The better choice is to head up to 
get what little wind there is coming over the beam.  That way, neither sail 
blankets the other and they both work with the wind flow in attached mode.

Knowing where the wind is when it's light isn't easy.  Magtape telltales 
are a must.  If there's any wave motion, both the telltales and windex will 
occillate all over the place.  One must interpolate between the extremes of 
the oscillations to find the mean wind direction and maneuver the boat 
carefully to get that direction over the beam.

Wind won't follow a deep curve in light air so it's necessary to pull the 
outhaul tight on the main.  Believe it or not it'll work better.  Put the 
pole right on the forestay and have the trimmer hang off the leeward shroud 
with the chute clew in his hand so the chute won't have to support the 
weight of the sheet.  If that's not enough, gather some of the material 
near the clew in your hand to make the chute smaller and flatter.

It'll be necessary to jibe downwind and this is harder to do in a super 
drifter than in a gale.  Once the boat bears off, the apparent wind will 
exceed the true wind and the chute will collapse.  The foredeck person has 
to gather the chute and walk it around the front of forestay.  Then the 
trimmer will have to whip the pole back and forth a few times to fan some 
air into it.

If the chute won't stay up even on a beam reach, drop it.  Set a small jib 
and hold it out to catch the wind as indicated by the shroud telltale.  
Believe whatever the telltale says.  You can't feel the wind when it's that 
light.  Keep the main boom way out and lined up with the shroud telltales so 
whatever wind there is stays attached.

In a region where light air is endemic, a .5 ounce flat chute or a light 
staysail can be useful, albeit exquisitely expensive and distressingly
prone to catastrophic destruction if the wind picks up.

- gene              

    Re: -.1
    
    Agree with a few exceptions in larger boat circumstances.
    
    First, go to light spin sheets and take off the lazy guy.  Using your
    Daisy Staysail as a drifter when the chute won't fill is a good idea.
    
    Second, jibing in light air.  The idea is to keep the chute full and
    spin the boat underneath it.  the trimmer controls both sheets.  the
    helmsman violently turns the boat so it makes little movement forward,
    but changes direction.  Done properly, the chute will not "know" that
    the boat has changed direction.  The trimmer must move sheets quickly
    to erase the movement of the boat to the chute.
    
    Third, if you live in an area of consistent light air, I don't
    recommend spending money on a light air chute.  Spend a little more
    money and MOVE!!! ;^)
    
    Dave

    
    	I don't think PHRF allows bloopers. Forget the wording, something
    	like if there's not a luff connected, ther'd better be a pole on
    	it... and no poles allowed on the same side as the boom.
    	As in Dave's reply, staysails are the toy of choice for broad
    	reaching under chute. They're pretty easy to trim, once the
    	deck hardware's debugged. Now if I can fit it in the budget...
    
    	Capt. Clewless
    
    

    >    	I don't think PHRF allows bloopers. 
    
    IMS doesn't either.
    
    Personally, I think they are rather silly,and difficult to use
    effectively, but the psychological advantage of a masthead kite plus
    blooper over a fractional rig is considerable !
    
    Chris