Sock vs Top Down for Assymetric

[Na Mara]

My experience is that so long as you obey 4 cardinal rules, using a asymmetric sail in a sock is child's play.

Rule 1. Never fly the asymmetric without the mainsail.
Rule 2. Never allow the asymmetric to get backed. A difficult error to achieve to be sure but one that can absolutely ruin your day.
Rule 3. Have a maximum true gusting windspeed for flying the sail that you are comfortable with and douse the sail immediately this is breached or looks likely to be breached.
Rule 4. Have some means of blowing the tack so the sail can be let fly in extremis and subsequently hauled down and in under the boom like a regular spinnaker.

So far, obeying these rules I have never even felt the slightest anxiety in flying the asymmetric on my 43fter, though I do use it conservatively and change to white sails as soon as I can make cruising speed under these.

The sock works great. It helps that we have a bowsprit and semi-fractional rig that allows for easy inside gibing without the sock getting hung up or the sail wrapping over itself too much.

I had a furling code sail on a previous boat and liked that too, but that boat was smaller and didn't require a 2:1 purchase on the halyard to get proper tension on the furling rope. Having had an exciting episode up a 22m mast at sea untangling a 2:1 halyard for a code sail, I am never going to have one of those aboard any boat I own!

[nfbr]

Originally Posted by Na Mara

My experience is that so long as you obey 4 cardinal rules, using a asymmetric sail in a sock is child's play.

Rule 1. Never fly the asymmetric without the mainsail.
Rule 2. Never allow the asymmetric to get backed. A difficult error to achieve to be sure but one that can absolutely ruin your day.
Rule 3. Have a maximum true gusting windspeed for flying the sail that you are comfortable with and douse the sail immediately this is breached or looks likely to be breached.
Rule 4. Have some means of blowing the tack so the sail can be let fly in extremis and subsequently hauled down and in under the boom like a regular spinnaker.

So far, obeying these rules I have never even felt the slightest anxiety in flying the asymmetric on my 43fter, though I do use it conservatively and change to white sails as soon as I can make cruising speed under these.

The sock works great. It helps that we have a bowsprit and semi-fractional rig that allows for easy inside gibing without the sock getting hung up or the sail wrapping over itself too much.

I had a furling code sail on a previous boat and liked that too, but that boat was smaller and didn't require a 2:1 purchase on the halyard to get proper tension on the furling rope. Having had an exciting episode up a 22m mast at sea untangling a 2:1 halyard for a code sail, I am never going to have one of those aboard any boat I own!

I'm not sure these rules work on a cat.

Re. 1 The mainsail just spoils the airflow when deep unless on 2nd or 3rd reef. I generally have that, but just so I dont have to hoist it, not to help the spinnaker.

Re. 4 No way under the boom on a cat. All on the foredeck / trampolines.

The top down's are supposed to not need the 2:1 tension and be easier for that.

[wingssail]

Neither. Without either a sock or a furler it is quicker and simpler and we've been doing it for 38 years (long before assyms were popular we did back then and still can fly a symmetrical that way too). We are in our 70's.

On our 43' monohull we launch the spinnaker out of its turtle clipped to the foredeck.

To hoist: Preset the sheets, then one person rapidly overhauls the halyard while the other person pulls the tail and steers. As soon as it is two-blocked at the masthead, trim in and go.

To dowse: Turn the boat downwind to get the sail collapsed behind the main. One person pulls the sail down onto the foredeck into the foredeck hatch while the other eases the halyard and steers. Steering to keep the sail on the foredeck is important.

Yes, it is a two person job.

We do this the same way with assyms or symmetrical, and the same way (or a variation) with a racing crew on board.

Our rule (now moderated a bit): "Don't hoist if the wind is over 20, take it down when it gets over 25".