gonefishiing wrote:
any sage advice on flying the chute and flying it shorthanded

Sure.


the spinni bag is on deck

Might be easier to launch from the companionway if there's no snags waiting.

probably on the windward side.

IMHO it's much better to hoist in the lee of the mainsail

sheet and guy are run outside everything

Check

the pole is attached at the mast and at the sail.

Do you mean that the guy (windward spinnaker sheet) is run through the
pole end?

the boat is just slightly to windward of dead down wind (10 degrees)

Sounds good.

and the sail is ready to be hoisted.

Does that mean that you've already set the tack?

depending on conditions, i also imagine the jib should already be down
giving me one less thing to deal with until i have some more experience.

I dunno, if dropping the jib is that easy, it may be better to leave the
jib up. It keeps the spinny from wrapping itself around the headstay and
all else being equal, if the boat is moving faster it's easier to handle.


what next?

with the jib, usually when i singlehand, i'll set the helm, go forward to
raise the jib after "presetting" the jib sheets for the point of sail and
the wind conditions.

I'd do it with the sheet pre-set but eased a bit.

is this possible with a spinnaker?

No. You want the sheet to run free. The guy will need to be pulled out
to prevent the sail from hourglassing, in other words the two bottom
corners of the spinnaker need to be kept apart before hoisting. So
you'll have most of the bottom of the spinnaker pulled out, now you're
committed to hoist quickly. When hoisted, pull the guy back some more to
get the pole square to the wind, *then* haul in on the sheet.

i imagine the guy is preset before hoisting and the sheet can err on the
slack side for a brief time.

Yep, pretty much. Unless you can pull the bottom of the spinnaker around
the bow with the sail down, though, you'll want to leave the pole almost
at the forestay then trim the guy after the hoist.

Timing is important. Once you start the bottom of the sail out to the
pole, you're committed to finish the hoist or stop everything and pull
it back, usually a mess.


dropping the jib is cake walk.

Heck, leave it up. Just don't pull it in real tight and choke off the
air flow to the spinnaker.


how do you drop the spinnaker so it lands on deck and not in the water or
around the headstay?

How should I know

here i think i need two crew?

It'd help. One thing you can do is either a slow "floater" douse or a
gybe douse (at one time called the "mexican takedown"). The floater is
probably a bit easier. Put the boat slightly by the lee, pull the pole
back all the way, get the sail flying & stable. Then unclip the guy from
the pole and start hauling it in. The sail should fly out to the side
and stay mostly filled, ie "floating." When you've gathered in a good
bit of the foot, start dropping the halyard and bundle the sail into the
cockpit as it falls. Don't step on it, spinnaker sailcloth is slippery!
The floater works well because you can pull the sail aft without much
risk of it going in the water. This is also the basis of several types
of windward take downs.

The mexican take down starts out from a reach, maybe a broad reach, but
the spinnaker has to be mostly on the lee side. Swing the boat around in
a fairly quick gybe, leaving the spinnaker sheet & guy as they are... if
anything, start hauling *in* on the sheet. When the boat gybes, the
spinnaker is now on the windward side but instead of floating, it is in
tight to the boat and can be lowered either to the foredeck or companionway.

The key to a spinnaker takedown is to control the halyard. Let the first
1/4 of it run quickly, takes the pressure off the sail and gets a big
bundle of sail out of the wind. Then brake the halyard a bit, maybe a
wrap or two on the winch... sometimes I stand on the line and control
the speed pressing down or letting up with my foot.

Hope this helps.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King