fusioneng wrote:
My first spinnakers were all what looks like the G2 asymmetric spinnakers in the pic (135 sq ft) that I would keep in a sail bag and hoist when on downwind. I ran that sail for 3yrs but seldom put it out unless it was a long downwind run (note: those things are giant (bigger than a car) and difficult to handle). To put them away you grab the clew (which is behind you) and start pulling it in bundling it up and stuffing into the bag. This is all well and fine in very low winds but deadly dangerous in 15-20 mph plus winds (good way to lose a finger), I also tried several snuffer designs, none worked worth a crap. The halyard ran back to the back of the boat around a pully then tied off in the cockpit (exactly the same way Hobie is doing it). The halyard line doubles as a rear stay (has to be done this way because of the little stud). They have a rotating mast topper similar to mine, with one exception, they didn't extend the rear part of the mast topper far enough (you need 2ft) and the rear stay line keeps getting tangled in the back of the main (a very dangerous situation). I explained the problem as I saw it to Jim at the EC, and gave him some suggestions to solve it. I'm pretty confident in Hobies Engineering, and they will have the issues resolve by the time they release it to market. With that sail I achieved some of my fastest sustained speeds (20mph plus), however all the other speed related design issues began to creep their ugly head. The nylon aka brace bolts began breaking while just sailing whenever you hit a wave or boat wake or bury your ama at speed). The other major issue is without adding a bow sprit and angling the fore sail so it provides lift to lift the bow out of the water the bow of the boat simply submerges and goes into submarine mode (it doesnt slow the boat down much, but boy do you get wet. Before adding the bow sprit and figuring out I could use the spinnaker cut to lift the bow, I could only run the spinnaker with my hydrofoils installed. The other problem on the TI is the mast is so close to the bow there isn't enough room for the big foresail (you can't get enough air in there). Also keep in mind that huge sail in 20 mph wind is generating in excess of 50 horespower. With out the bow being braced it just waves the front of the bow around like a rag doll and will fold on you at the hatch opening (you can watch it waving around about 5-6 inches (if you not too busy hanging on for dear life). Also you have a huge risk of pitch pole diving the TI, I pitch poled mine a couple times hitting big boat wakes at speed, your flying along at 18-20 mph the bow dives straight down and the tail come up about 6 ft (20 mph to zero in about 1 second. Both times this happened to me my rear stay line snapped bending the mast forward and flinging the mast topper off the top of the mast. Now with the spinnaker laying on the water you promptly run over the spinnaker (a very shameful and embarrasing thing to do), It's a really bad thing to run over your own sails (lol). The other weakness creeps it's ugly head if you want to do a suicide jibe while at speed, if you crank the rudder hard it simply snaps off and flies into the air (oops). I kind of had to stop using my hydrofoils until I can get that problem solved.
The main reason I converted to a furling spinnaker is if the wind is blowing hard and you throw that spinnaker out from a dead stop, it opens like a parachute (huge jerk) which either blows it out, snaps your rear stay line, breaks that little 1/4" stud, or heaven forbid shears your mast off (oops), plus its near impossible to bring back in. With the furler you get up to speed as fast as you can with the main and jib, once your up to speed you unfurl the spinnaker (it's your turbo booster). When ready to jibe or switch to upwind I have to furl it while at speed switch tacks then unfurl to the other side once I'm settled and to speed on the other tack. It only takes a second or two to furl in or out, usually once its out, I furl the jib in because it shadows the spinnaker (very seldom can you run both at the same time). Once you add all this stuff the boat becomes a complex boat similar to the windrider 17 or the Weta with about the same sail area. This is way way beyond where 99% of the TI owners want to go (most prefer simple and easy/fast to rig). Also keep in mind where I mostly sail (off shore in the keys where the distances are great). Now comes the most important point, your upwind performance needs to match your downwind performance or you can have a blast doing a huge downwind run (like us chasing the Marquisa down outrunning her south of key west, then turn around 4 miles south of key west unable to get back up wind (pretty stupid move), that's why the wing sail was added so I can sail up to 2x upwind in low winds (true story). My latest spinnaker cut is similar to a code zero (furling), but has a soft wing on the leading edge so I can use it like you would a Genoa, but when relaxed it still acts like a G2 downwind (not the best design, I plan to re-design someday if I ever get the ambition, 'probably not', moving forward I only plan to use only wing sails).
Actually once I added the wing jib, it's became awkward to use the spinnaker ( I have to furl and drop the wing), with just the main and wing jib my downwind performance is more than acceptable (to me anyway (at times up to 2x windspeed in low winds) so I hardly ever take the spinnaker along anymore except when we are in Key West (nice trade winds), I'll sometimes use it just for the fun and raw thrill of it (there is nothing more fun and exciting in sailing than a giant spinnaker). (FYI Wings are very boring and predictable LOL)
I'm not recommending anyone do what I have done (way too much risk unless you really know your stuff), if you want to go fast get an H16.....or a Weta, or wait for Hobies Super TI, which I hope they are working on......with Mirage drives it's would be awesome and unequaled by anything out there or on anyone's drawing boards (if they don't do it soon somebody else will, and play on Hobies TI's huge following).
Just my opinions obviously....
Bob
OK, Bob. You win!
Seriously, though. You do need to know the "fuse" when you do modifications on boats. The "fuse" is "what is going to break first". I do like your description of upwind vs. downwind performance. I completely agree that the boat should not spend more than 2/3 of the time on the water going to weather. Even that is a little excessive. And there is the fun factor. I enjoy making the boat better for me; but I do not enjoy taking more time after each sail to fix things than I spent on the water to break them. YMMV.
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