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Spinnaker tips sought! |
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WJRyan 
Commodore 
Joined: 12 February 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Status: Offline Points: 230 |
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 Topic: Spinnaker tips sought!Posted: 05 August 2011 at 12:29pm |
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Greetings everyone! I am looking for go fast tips going downwind... one of the boats I race against is a Hunter 34 and I am finally going upwind nicely and faster than he is but he is catching me and passing me going downwind and I think it must be me so I seek the wisdom of those who know the boat better than I - please help me beat this guy! :)bill #155
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Chris Ross
Skipper 
Joined: 16 November 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 70 |
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Posted: 06 August 2011 at 1:14pm |
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Jibe early, don't let him run you down.
Check the boats polars... do you have a copy of them? how old is your spinnaker? what are the wind conditions? specific tips will come once the sailing conditions are known... |
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Chris Ross
Skipper
Joined: 16 November 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 70 |
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Posted: 06 August 2011 at 1:19pm |
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until then take a look at the pictures of the lasers with the spinnakers up. Does your chute look like that? Personally I go for the spinnaker shape seen in pictures I posted in the topic about the laser 28 with the sprit. However, the guys here in the forum that have been racing one design for decades know what they are doing... so take a look at the shapes of the sails, the pole position, twings, ect... and think about what your sail looks like...
Twings are important is heavy air to keep the chute in front of the boat. Is your chute the correct size? is your pole the correct size? |
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WJRyan
Commodore
Joined: 12 February 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Status: Offline Points: 230 |
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Posted: 08 August 2011 at 7:47am |
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Great questions Chris, I do have the polars however I truly do not know how to read them - is there a "Dummy's" book available? I don't know how old the spinnaker is however it is still "crinkly" and looks good. Wind has been ~8-10 and the runs have been mostly straight downwind. I beleive my pole is the right length, it is long. Twings are tight to the spin pole and loose to keep the sheet straight back to the winch.Here is a pic from last season that shows the spinnaker, it is more "oval" than the other one that came with the boat that is more "triangular".
 however I do not have measured the dimensions of this one.
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Bill Ryan,
Room4Crew, #155 |
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fatjohnz
Commodore
Joined: 05 August 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 304 |
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Posted: 08 August 2011 at 9:19am |
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A lot has to do with the feel you get and depends on the wind and wave conditions. The polars will tell you that in lighter wind you sail hotter angles and in heavier winds you can sail more down wind.
With flat water and a steady breeze, we get the pole tip up and back and give her all the sheet she will take. We look for the vertical center seam of the spin to be a bit windward of the pullpit and 'chase' the seam. If you're too hot in this configuration, you'll have to overtrim to hold the spin and if you are too DDW, the spin will start to float out to windward. If you are sailing in some chop or the winds are light, we tend to run with the pole tip down and forward. Then we bring on the main to get it working with the spin as we sail a hotter angle. In both cases, I try to work her as deep as I can until she starts to fell like she's wallowing; then I know I'm too deep. Then I heat it up until I feel her accelerate and and get some power locked in. Just as she locks in some power, we give her all the sheet she'll take and try to hold that angle. Probably not textbook but that's the feel that I shoot for. JS |
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WarBird
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Joined: 25 January 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 92 |
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Posted: 19 August 2011 at 11:54pm |
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I think the polars say 145-155 in 8-10. That is true so apparent ends up being a bit aft of that. That would be the windex back almost lined up with the tab, maybe just a little outside. Pointing up from there just a few, 3-7 degrees will kick your speed up, take the speed a drive down a bit to your old heading. Look-up polars on other boats and notice they are in graph form. Compare and understand the chart form that Laser 28 polars are available in.
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charlesadan
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Joined: 10 September 2012 Location: Camden, ME Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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Posted: 10 September 2012 at 5:47pm |
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Does anyone rig a mast-head spinnaker, or is it always fractional? I am new to the fleet and have several sizes of spinnaker, but currently only one fraction rig spin halyard.
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fatjohnz
Commodore
Joined: 05 August 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 304 |
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Posted: 10 September 2012 at 6:27pm |
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Fractional rig is the design.
My spin is 33ft tall and 20.5ft at the shoulders. I get a -6 on phrf (it is considered oversize i guess) |
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