7.0 Dropping the spinnaker, Leeward Mark Rounding.
Before
you drop the spinnaker, in consultation with your helm take a look at
the beat and decide if the wind is even on the beat, ie which side of
the beat has more/less wind. Which side of the beat payed on the first
beat/ previous races. Whats the tide doing?
Most importantly, make sure you drop the spinnaker on time.
To
drop a spinnaker, take the pole down. In light/medium winds it should
still be possible for the helm to fly the kite while the pole is being
removed. Stow the pole. Gather the foot of the spinnaker (tack and
clew), indicate to your helm, ‘wait, wait, ok, drop’, and bring the
spinnaker into the boat in front of the windward jib sheet. If the
spinnaker gets stuck never pull hard on the spinnaker as this will
stretch the leech and will ruin the sail.
The spinnaker generally gets caught in one of two places when dropping;
1) The halyard ends up in a ball at the cleat
or
2) The halyard gets caught on the shackle at the top of the jib. |
Sometimes
the leeward spinnaker sheet will go under the boat. If you put the
centreboard down before dropping the spinnaker the sheet generally
can’t get back past a full centreboard, and can then be retrieved by
going to the front of the boat and bringing the sheet back up over the
front.
If this happens and the sheet is gone right under, the
fastest way to solve it is to untie the spinnaker sheet from the sail,
and pull it in. If there is another spinny leg to be sailed in the race
you’ll need to re-rig the spinnaker on the beat, so you will need to be
able to tie a bowline under pressue.
Prevention better than cure!!
You
can get plastic stops to help prevent this. Also by taking the slack
off the leeward spinnaker sheet as you drop the spinnaker will prevent
this happening.
Flick halyard.
Put down centreboard.
Check
list:
As you round the leeward mark, the sails should be sheeted in gently, the main sail sheeted in before the jib.
Allow
the compass to settle for a couple of seconds and take a reading. Are
you sailing on a head or a lift? If your on a head, tack. If your on a
lift, is your air clear, if not tack. In any event you should be
prepared to tack immediately after the leeward mark.
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Mullingar Sailing Club