17
JIBING AND DOUSING THE SPINNAKER
DOWNWIND SAIL TRIM SETTINGS
BACKSTAY
ADJUSTMENT
DESCRIPTION
CUNNINGHAM
VANG
Completely off, allowing mast to go forward. Sighting along upper shrouds, straight mast is ideal. Take
the genoa halyard forward and clip it to the tack bar and tighten to bring the mast all the way forward.
Off. If the mainsail still has a ridge running vertically directly behind the mast, ease the main halyard 3”.
Play vang, keeping telltales near top batten flying on both sides of mainsail. Do not stall upper
leech. The top batten should be parallel to the boom.
HEEL
In light air, position half the crew to leeward, half to windward and forward. Crew should be seated
on the deck instead of the cabin. As wind builds and apparent wind angle exceeds 90°, boat should
be heeled to weather. This increases luff projection and effectively raises spinnaker area into more
wind velocity aloft. It also decreases pressure on the helm for best VMG.
Jibing
1.
Foredeck crew takes lazy guy to the
bow, facing aft. As pole is tripped
by the mast person, the pit crew
eases the pole down. Foredeck
crew shouts “MADE”,as soon as
the guy is fixed at the pole end. The
mast person assists the pit to raise
the pole on the opposite gybe.
2.
The sheet trimmer releases the old
sheet, allowing the new guy to be
pulled around on the other side.
While the pole is being tripped, it is
O.K. to free-fly the chute through
the gybe. In heavy air, the trimmer
should judge on the side of over-
trim to keep the boat under con-
trol. The guy trimmer should square
the pole to the wind, bringing it aft
as the boat turns downwind.
3.
The mainsail trimmer should bring
the main to centerline. As the pole
goes up on the new gybe, the sail is
eased and trimmed for speed.
4.
The driver should make sure the
spinnaker is full and drawing, steer-
ing the boat slowly and smoothly
through the gybe. It is better to
take a few seconds to complete a
clean jibe than to rush and be
faced with a tangled, contorted
spinnaker. Not to mention the
screaming and shouting, while the
speedo plummets.
5.
The remaining crew should move
across quickly to keep the boat bal-
anced and up to speed.
6.
Helmsman and new trimmer fine-
tune trim for new jibe and course.
Leeward Takedown
The difference between a great
takedown and a mess is coordination,
communication, and practice. Each
person should have a clear under-
standing of his own tasks. A “heads-
up” approach to understanding the
overall sequence in the takedown also
provides each crewmember the neces-
sary time to react in case of a fire drill
- there could be a crowd at the mark
forcing a late gybe, boats rounding
the mark can tack unexpectedly, etc.
When the takedown is a well-timed,
effortless maneuver, it can mean big
speed gains at the leeward mark.
Each crewmember can focus on the
next leg more quickly and move on to
the rail for the upwind leg.
1.
The bowperson opens the forward
hatch and with the lazy guy in
hand led under the headsail foot
and over the lifelines, pulls the sail
down when the halyard is released.
The mast person hoists the genoa,
tightens the outhaul, cunningham,
and assists in the takedown to be
sure the headsail is clear to tack.
2.
As the genoa is hoisted, the trim-
mer should not trim the sail before
the spinnaker is released – this will
cause the spinnaker to collapse. The
mast and pit crew work together to
hoist the genoa, release the spin-
naker halyard and lower the top-
ping lift/spinnaker pole once the
guy trimmer eases the pole for-
ward. If the competition is hot on
your tail, you may want to get the
boat up to speed before doing the
clean-up.
J/35
Tuning Guide
