Spinnaker where to install? What is a spinnaker on a yacht?

In the social network "Odnoklassniki" the game "Vybirayka" is popular. There is a question with the answers to the question: "Where is the spinnaker installed: yacht, ice-hole?" The level of question 345 testifies to the authors' conviction that few people know the correct answer to it. Let's try to understand the essence of this term and related concepts.

Basic concepts

Before we find out what a spinnaker is, where it is installed and why it is needed, let's look at the definitions. From the free encyclopedia "Wikipedia" we find out that the spinnaker is an additional sail for a yacht or other swimming device that is made of light and strong fabric, the shape is convex and is applied on the principle of a parachute.

Spinnakers manned many yachts, especially racing cruising. Their use on sailing regattas beautifies the competition and gives them entertainment, as it is a beautiful, large and eye-catching view of the sail. It is not for nothing that advertising materials are usually placed on it.

Spinnaker where to install?

This light sail gives a good effect on the full course from fordevinda to galfvinda. When leaving the parking lot, only the main sails - mainsail and jibs - are used. The spinnaker, on the other hand, is placed in the majority of cases on the yacht's course to achieve the maximum speed when passing from an acute to a full course or already following the full course. The area of this sail is comparable or exceeds the measuring area of the regular sails of the yacht. Therefore, and due to the harsh conditions of its production at full speed, setting up the spinnaker is a risky business. It's not for nothing that a sailor who participates in this process should be dressed in a life jacket and be tied with a safety end.

Preparing the spinnaker for setting

For the successful setting of the spinnaker, it is necessary to carefully prepare it by laying it in a special way in a pre-prepared hard bag of waterproof fabric, an adapted package-box or plastic bucket. There are two main ways of laying.

In the first way, it starts from the middle of the lower part of the sail in such a way that the lower angles of the sail protrude from the package first, and the top angle of the sail from above. A sailor installing a spinnaker should not be mistaken when dismantling the corners and correctly lay down the halyard and the brass. Correctly packaged in the sail the spinnaker is placed easily and without delays. In the second method, the decomposed spinnaker is gradually assembled to the central seam with neat vertical folds in a long sausage, which is then stacked with a snake in a package according to the size of the package. This bag is placed in a bag, leaving two bottom corners protruding and one top corner from above. It is better to tie the package with a thin, but strong thread, under which the tench is laid. After lifting the spinnaker in a folded form for a fillet angle, pull the line, it breaks the thread - and the sail opens, filling with wind.

The first way of setting the spinnaker

So, where do they install the spinnaker? The first way is from the staff. First take out a bag with a folded sail on the tank in front of the staff and fix it on the deck. Then fasten the halyard, the brace and the sheet for the corresponding corners of the sail protruding from the bag. Keep these fasteners from getting tangled with other gear. One of the legs of the spinnaker boom is fixed to the yoke by means of the "beak" fender and shot from the windward side in front of the ropes. Another brace is attached to the brace or to the angle of the angular angle of the sail with the brace fixed in its beak. If there is a brace and a topen, then they are also attached to the spinnaker-boom. After this preparation, at the command "Put a spinnaker!" One sailor quickly selects and fastens the spinnaker-phal, the other sailor, being on the tank, keeps the sail on the rise, preventing its premature opening and dumping. At the same time, it spreads the lateral luff. After fully stretching the spinnaker-phal, set the spinnaker-boom horizontally, using a brace and a topant. Simultaneously choose a brace and a sheet, helping the sail to be filled with wind.

Another way

There is also a more convenient way to install a spinnaker. Where is it installed in this version? Answer: from the guys. For keel yachts, the spinnaker is placed at the leeward, for the dinghy - in the space between the windward guys and the mast. In this case, the presence of a sailor on the tank is required only for the installation of the spinnaker boom. Yes, and this operation can often be performed in advance. Convenience with this method is that early opening of the additional sail is prevented by the grotto covering it.

Walking under the spinnaker

It is impossible to find out what the spinnaker is on the yacht, without understanding how to wear it. And this is a rather difficult task. It is necessary to constantly adjust the sheet and the brace of this sail, then choosing, then potting them, so that it is filled with wind. Following the course of fordewind, it is necessary as much as possible to etch the board and choose a brace so that the spinnaker-boom is directed almost along the line with the direction of the main-boom. In this position, the spinnaker emerges from behind the grotto and works better. An indication of the good work of the sail is that it goes far ahead and becomes pot-bellied. In this position, the yacht is gaining a good speed. A sign that the brace can no longer be chosen is the flooding of the windward ladders of the spinnaker and the deterioration of its purulence. On the other hand, if the sheet is crossed, the leeward edge of the sail comes too close to the grotto, the air flowing from it interferes with the work of the mainsail, which is rinsed, which forces us to pick up the boom. As a result, the speed of the yacht is reduced.

Changing the tack

When the wind is weak, the spinnaker on the course of the fordewind may not be filled with wind and not stand. In these cases it is desirable to change the line. If this does not make the sail work, then you should take a buckhtag. The yacht's path lengthens, but the gain is possible due to the increased speed of the yacht, because in this course the spinnaker is less obstructed by the grotto and works even in a weak wind. On the course of the buckstarter, the adjustment of the brass and the chassis establishes the spinnaker-boom in a position intermediate between the windward guy and the staff.

The change of the tack during the carrying of the spinnaker is carried out by the method of fordewind. At the same time, clear coordinated actions of almost the whole team - the steering and the sailors controlling the spinnaker and the grotto - are needed. In this case, you can change the tack without jerking, without losing the fullness of the spinnaker wind and, therefore, without losing speed. But such a result is achievable only by repeated training of team members under the guidance of an experienced skipper.

The shift tack is not performed when carrying a spinnaker.

Removing the spinnaker

If necessary, change the course steeper than the buckhtag, and this is often during a competition, you have to clean the spinnaker. This is not an easy operation, especially with a strong wind. The sail is removed directly into the cockpit, quickly pouring the spinnaker-phal, while one sailor with the means of insurance must clean the flesh of the sail, not allowing it to re-fill with the wind. If the sailor does not keep up with the speed of etching the halyard, the sail will fall into the water. In this case, his impulse is possible, or he will drown. Raising the sail on the deck must be done only in one corner and quickly. Otherwise it will act as a floating anchor and the speed of the yacht will drop.

Species of spinnakers

In yachting practice, there are many different types of this sail, differing in form, cut, area and other characteristics. For the same yacht use different spinnakers with different wind strength. With a weak wind, use the most pot-bellied sail with a large area. In stormy weather, you can use a special storm spinnaker, the most flat and smallest in area. Also a flatter and smaller sail is used for the courses of the galfway, because in this case the usual spinnaker interferes with the work of the mainsail and brakes, clinging to the lower luff for the waves.

A similar sail

Along with the marked on the yachts, other additional sails are used. Similar in purpose are the genaker and spinnaker. The genaker is a sail of asymmetric shape, medium in size between the genoa sails and the spinnaker. By the way, the name "genaker" also came from a combination of these two words.

In comparison with the spinnaker, the gena-keeper has a number of advantages. Firstly, it leads to a smaller roll of the yacht with the same thrust (except for the course of fordewinds). Secondly, when carrying a genaker it is much easier and safer to operate a yacht in critical situations and corners. Thirdly, this sail can be used in a wider range of courses than the spinnaker.

The disadvantage is that when using a genaker with a weak wind on a course of fordewind, the boat goes worse than under the spinnaker.

Untwist spinnaker

The photos here and at the beginning of the article show that when carrying a spinnaker, especially in the course of competitions, with insufficient team experience, there are often funny cases of entanglement of the sail. This situation arises when, due to an error in the actions of the team, the spinnaker (or genaker) during the turn is overturned in the central part, hangs, sticks to the stalk and can not fill itself with the wind. As a result, the sail takes on a form similar to that of a known piece of lingerie. It requires intervention of two or three team members and the application of considerable efforts, so that wavy movements, holding the sail behind the lower part of the spinnaker-hal, make it unravel and unfold under the influence of the wind.

After reading this article, we hope that no one will doubt how to answer the question: "Where is the spinnaker installed: a yacht, an ice-hole?" Naturally, the first option.