Wayne.B wrote:
....
Flying a spinnaker at night with only one person on deck is not a good
idea. Wing and wing with the jib poled out and the boom prevented is
one traditional solution of course, and it works pretty well. The
*really* serious downwind cruisers have always favored a double head
sail rig with twin poles, and the main down.

Keeping the main strapped down hard, dead downwind in a decent breeze
and large swells is a recipe for disaster. The only time I'd do that
even temporarily is jibing the spinnaker short handed.

The other solution is the one I originally proposed: reaching up high
enough that the jib is full, thus minimizing the chances of an
accidental. That does require an occasional jibe to stay on course
but that's easily managed with an auto pilot at the helm.


My previous boat was a Nonsuch 30, which loved to run dead downwind, but
the long boom was at risk of dipping into the water. The trick I
learned to eliminate the risk of dipping or jibing was to haul up on the
topping lift to create a lot of twist. The boom was raised a foot or
more and the twist prevented jibes. Admittedly, this can't be done on
all rigs, but its easy with a stayless rig.