BC23 SPINNAKER ARRANGEMENT

[Gavin Y]

Hi All,

Does anyone have any phots of a rigged spinnaker that they can share please? I'm primarily interested in the lead of the tack line back into the cockpit please. I've just had spinnaker retro fitted and the equipment and diagram don't seem to align -  there is a bobstay in the diagram, but no bobstay nor any fittings to attach it to the bowsprit so I assume something has changed in the design. Thanks.

[Philip L]

Hi Gavin,
You are correct, there is now no bobstay, The spinnaker just flies from the spinnaker boom which bends up slightly under halyard tension - the same pushing the boom back into the fitting.  A word of caution on halyard tension - it is possible to pull a knot through the block at the top of the mast leaving you with the spinnaker jammed up.  It may be safer to fix the head of the spinnaker using a halyard ball stopper as is done on the mainsail halyard.
I run the furling gear down the starboard side and tie the tail attached to the jamming cleat to the aft mooring cleat but not 100% sure if this is how others do it.  So far, furling has seem to work best when pulling furiously in the direction of the arrow on the jamming cleat but would be interested in how other advise to furl.
I have tended to lead the sheets just around the jib stay and jibe by furling and then unfurling.  The sheets didn't seem long enough to to run around the fore of the spinnaker furler to be able to jibe the sail.
For the first time, I waited for a very calm day before launching the spinnaker for the first time.  Still managed to get it well tangled at last years Mylor raid.  If you watch the video on the SY you tube, Matt comments about not known why someone was flying their spinnaker while tied up alongside in Restronguet creek - it was me trying to untangle everything!

[Nicky R]

This photo shows it, although not very well, for our non-furling spinnaker. It’s the white rope with blue flecks that you can see coming out of the spinnaker bag in the photo. (I’m not sure why it’s in the spinnaker bag - it doesn’t need to be.)

We rig the tack line on the starboard side. The tack line isn’t tricky to set up. One end ties onto the tack of the spinnaker, with a ball to stop the knot vanishing into the bowsprit. It then feeds through the bowsprit, tube over foredeck and cabin roof, through the turning block and into the clutches.

The metal you can see on the cabin roof is a stainless steel chafe guard to stop the tack line wearing away the cabin roof. Some people use a fair lead there. We have more chafe guards on the side of the cockpit where the spinnaker sheets rub.

Ignore the yellow ropes in the photo - they attach the spinnaker bag to the grab handles so we don’t loose the bag over the side!

[Gavin Y]

Thanks Phillip and Nicky for the phots - really useful. I'm going to experiment with a snuffer to see if that makes the whole experience a bit less prone to issues. Will report back when I have had a play.