Spinnaker in strong winds, no more fears! The four tips for not making mistakes

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Le Coq Hardy’s strap-on. Borlenghi Studio Photos

During the winter months up and down the boot dozens of Winter Championships are held in which crews of all levels participate. High wind days are not uncommon, and at the windward mark the inexperienced ask the fateful question: do we hoist the spinnaker or not? So let’s review some general rules for safely conducting the boat under spinnaker and avoiding the two bogeymen of the stern in high winds: the straorza and strapoggia. Of course, these tips apply as long as we hoist a sail of appropriate sail weight for conditions that we imagine to be at least 18-20 knots and up and in good conditions. A light-weight sail or one that is too old is likely to fail in strong winds even if it is driven to its best.

1 – WE DON’T START OUT TOO HEMMED IN

By the time we start the hoisting, the boat should already be positioned at deep leeward. The sail will thus go up protected by the mainsail and under the genoa and will only inflate when it has reached the masthead. If the boat were more hemmed in it would risk catching wind sooner and swelling violently we would immediately risk straining. Better to start from a slower gait; in strong winds, it will not be necessary to heave it up.

2 – THE HALYARD ALWAYS IN THE CLEAR

The first rule is for the halyardist: the spinnaker/gennaker halyard, once the sail is hoisted, must always be in the clear, ready to be “fired” if the boat overhangs or overhangs. In fact, in that case if the boat is completely “stretched out” and with the rudder we can no longer get back on course the only way to get back on course is to let go of the halyard. It will be critical to have it ready and in the clear for the lowering.

2 – THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SHEETS

If we sail with a tangon and spinnaker we will square the sail not too much. If there are more than 18-20 knots and we do not have too experienced a crew, we will not square the sail as we would with 12-15 knots, but will keep it slightly less exposed and therefore less “powerful.” With a little less surface area exposed upwind, the risk of overhang decreases.

When the boat begins to “pendulum” upwind, the trimmer will cock the sheet a bit and whoever is in charge of the boom will give a small forestay, so the sail is slightly depowered (putting it a bit more into mainsail cover) and the boat will quickly return to trim. We can then return to let off some of the sheet by also taking back those inches of arm dropped earlier. And we will continue in this way playing on the gusts and waves, always avoiding getting caught with too much canvas exposed upwind.

4 – THE HELMSMAN

Violent rudder excursions prohibited. The helmsman will sail in “low,” leaning mode, but not as he would in, for example, 15 knots. In this case given the intensity of the wind a slightly more heeled gait, just a couple of degrees, will be helpful in keeping the boat more stable and the sail will also be a little easier to adjust. The right angle in this case changes depending on the type of boat (narrow boats are more difficult) or the type of sail. With the gennaker, it will be a little easier to find the ideal angle because the sail has a shape that in itself does not allow us to sail too leaned over, but rather we will have to watch out for overstretch by not sailing too “high.”

 

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