Franco Pivoli’s tips for an easy (and happy) cruise / 1

Back by popular demand are the practical tips of Franco Pivoli (among the founders of the Caprera Sailing Center, he was an Olympian in Montreal 1976 in the Tornadoes): some little jobs to do on the boat to make it easy and comfortable to cruise. What better time than now, with the season just around the corner and wind and sun beginning to call us back to the water? You asked us to take a closer look at the practical implementation of some tips that struck you in the issue a few months ago, and here you are! The advice of Franco Pivoli, who, we recall, sails the length and breadth of the Mediterranean for at least four months of the year aboard a 1992 Grand Soleil 45, is “geek jobs”: where spending little gets ingenious results. Achievements that facilitate life on board in small crew and streamline maneuvering and consumption. In this first installment, we discuss gennaker…

GENNAKER: FIVE MOVES TO MAKE IT EASY
The gennaker topic was one that triggered the most inquiries.

1. The system of the two parallel cables made by Veleria Viganò is simple, efficient, inexpensive, and above all without residual volume: it means that when the sail is rolled up, it can be easily folded.

2. Another point is the application of a foam (foam) made from one of those cylindrical pool life jackets that you put under your armpits. By cutting it lengthwise, slices are made which are then glued with “number fabric” to the top of the gennaker (infieritura), so that when you roll it up , since you wrap from the bottom first, this swelling allows you to recover more fabric at the top.

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3. Another finesse is the creation of a custom-built Pvc mesh bag for the pulpit with a series of ties. This allows the entire sail to be stowed in the bow, after it has been rolled up, without having to detach it from the halyard. One big advantage: by putting it in the bag, it protects it from UV rays that would destroy the fabric within a month.

4. Another suggestion is to spray the underside of the gennnaker with a silicone spray to prevent the fabric from sticking to itself when you leave it rolled up.

5. Mounting a choker toward the stern on the gennaker’s mainsail luff is a move that helps you prevent the sail from unfurling as you lower it if for some reason you have to stop the maneuver. Here the splice on the control cable is done by joining only the stocking, and eliminating the core for the overlap piece: this is the only system that allows for no bulges at the splice point, more complicated to explain than to do!