... The floater works well because you can pull the sail aft
without much risk of it going in the water.


Nav wrote:
I've never done a drop like this single handed.

I have.


... I'm not sure how well it
would work.

It works great if 1- you can keep the sail floating (ie filled instead
of drooping into the water) and 2- can keep control of the halyard so
that it comes down only slightly faster than you can gather

... I always thought that for a floater drop you over trim with
a tight foot gathing the leech and don't release the pole until it
is well on board.

You can do it that way if you can grab the sheet singlehanded and bring
it aft to the point where you're going to gather and stuff.

This can result in the spinnaker getting all snarled up in the bag and
making your next set a nightmare. I like to set it up (if possible) so
that the first thing you stuff into the bag is going to be the last
thing you drag out on the next set.

... The pole stops it dropping in the water... Doug,
is this really a good method for a single handed crew? How big is this
spinnaker?

Well, I've done it on a couple of times on a ~40 footer... didn't work
perfectly every time but worked better than some other methods I tried.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

DSK wrote:

... The floater works well because you can pull the sail aft without
much risk of it going in the water.



Nav wrote:

I've never done a drop like this single handed.


I have.


... I'm not sure how well it would work.


It works great if 1- you can keep the sail floating (ie filled instead
of drooping into the water) and 2- can keep control of the halyard so
that it comes down only slightly faster than you can gather

... I always thought that for a floater drop you over trim with a
tight foot gathing the leech and don't release the pole until it
is well on board.


You can do it that way if you can grab the sheet singlehanded and bring
it aft to the point where you're going to gather and stuff.

This can result in the spinnaker getting all snarled up in the bag and
making your next set a nightmare. I like to set it up (if possible) so
that the first thing you stuff into the bag is going to be the last
thing you drag out on the next set.

... The pole stops it dropping in the water... Doug, is this really a
good method for a single handed crew? How big is this spinnaker?


Well, I've done it on a couple of times on a ~40 footer... didn't work
perfectly every time but worked better than some other methods I tried.



Must have been (very) light airs -single handed windward drop on a 40'
boat with no pole attached -that I'd like to see!

Cheers

gf,

Most of what has been posted here isn't really suit to short handed
Chute work.

I've flown mine single hander for years. Not to win races but to get
drive as the wind gets lighter. I have mine in a sleeve (or Sock) now
and it does make it easier BUT I did it often before the "Sock"

Before the Sock, I used rubber bands to make a Sausage. I cut the bottom
out of a plastic bucket and put cheap rubber bands around the out side.
Then I started the chute thru the bucket, head first. about every five
to six feet I'd slip a rubber band off around the spinnaker. I'd do this
until I got down near the foot of the sail and leave enough to hook the
tack and the sheet corner. Then I would bag it like a turtle (A real
turtle is great but not necessary) You just have to have the three
corner accessible.

Now, to fly it. Get on a run and work in the shadow of the Main. Hook
the halyard to the peak, the tack to the pole and the sheet to the Clew
(Very loosely, no tension. Hoist the Chute. Stay in the wind shadow of
the main, You should be able to get it up still wrapped tight. Now, you
can start tensioning your guy to the wind. The pole should be 90 digress
to the wind, take up on your sheet and as the wind get the sail the
rubber bands will pop and you're off the the races,

To take it Down, I would drop back into a full run, shadowing the Chute
and ease the halyard until the sail goes limp by easing the guy. Open
the foreward hatch . Ease the sheet, unclip the tack and the stuff the
whole damn thing into the V-berth easing the halyard and the sheet

Before you bag it, get your plastic bucket and give it the rubber band
treatment again

Ole Thom

Thom Stewart wrote:
Before the Sock, I used rubber bands to make a Sausage. I cut the bottom
out of a plastic bucket and put cheap rubber bands around the out side.
Then I started the chute thru the bucket, head first. about every five
to six feet I'd slip a rubber band off around the spinnaker. I'd do this
until I got down near the foot of the sail and leave enough to hook the
tack and the sheet corner. Then I would bag it like a turtle (A real
turtle is great but not necessary) You just have to have the three
corner accessible.

Did you forget about running the tapes before doing this?

How often did you get hourglasses?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Well, I've done it on a couple of times on a ~40 footer... didn't work
perfectly every time but worked better than some other methods I tried.


Nav wrote:
Must have been (very) light airs

Why? Did it several times in 12 ~ 15 knots which isn't heavy weather but
not what I call light either. Really light air is a PITA for the
spinnaker, it just hangs all over everything and snags every two
minutes. As conditions build, footing gets to be a bigger problem.

Perhaps you're forgetting that when a boat is going downwind, it's speed
subtracts from the apparent wind. Keep the boat moving well, things will
go easier ;)


... -single handed windward drop on a 40'
boat with no pole attached -that I'd like to see!

It was more fun to do than watch. A spinnaker ddrop is always a little
bit hectic.

DSK

again, thanks to all that responded.
i think i'll do a couple of practice eruns with someone that has done it
before.
gf.

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
gf,

Most of what has been posted here isn't really suit to short handed
Chute work.

I've flown mine single hander for years. Not to win races but to get
drive as the wind gets lighter. I have mine in a sleeve (or Sock) now
and it does make it easier BUT I did it often before the "Sock"

Before the Sock, I used rubber bands to make a Sausage. I cut the bottom
out of a plastic bucket and put cheap rubber bands around the out side.
Then I started the chute thru the bucket, head first. about every five
to six feet I'd slip a rubber band off around the spinnaker. I'd do this
until I got down near the foot of the sail and leave enough to hook the
tack and the sheet corner. Then I would bag it like a turtle (A real
turtle is great but not necessary) You just have to have the three
corner accessible.

Now, to fly it. Get on a run and work in the shadow of the Main. Hook
the halyard to the peak, the tack to the pole and the sheet to the Clew
(Very loosely, no tension. Hoist the Chute. Stay in the wind shadow of
the main, You should be able to get it up still wrapped tight. Now, you
can start tensioning your guy to the wind. The pole should be 90 digress
to the wind, take up on your sheet and as the wind get the sail the
rubber bands will pop and you're off the the races,

To take it Down, I would drop back into a full run, shadowing the Chute
and ease the halyard until the sail goes limp by easing the guy. Open
the foreward hatch . Ease the sheet, unclip the tack and the stuff the
whole damn thing into the V-berth easing the halyard and the sheet

Before you bag it, get your plastic bucket and give it the rubber band
treatment again

Ole Thom

OzOne wrote:
Hourglass?
You gone teetotal on us now?

Not that I recall...

DSK

Doug,

I got Hourglasses but that was before the the rubber bands. In fact,
that was the reason for the sausage, to get the chute out past the
forestay before letting the wind blow it into the stay

Ole Thom

Thom Stewart scribbled thusly:
I got Hourglasses but that was before the the rubber bands. In fact,
that was the reason for the sausage, to get the chute out past the
forestay before letting the wind blow it into the stay



If the tapes are run and the sail doesn't twist as it's being hoisted,
the rubber band trick works well... that's how the America's Cup boys do
it (with slight variation).



OzOne wrote:
Wineglass Thom....Wineglass!

I like that term... learn something new every day.

I don't know what went wrong, but I've still seen spinnakers do a
wineglass after hoisting in stops or even using a snuffer.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King