come chit-chat on SPINNAKERS.....
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:27 pm.
..from an initial comment after the last event......an interesting note on spinnakers---I have 2 identical chutes from 49ers--one is stock,,1 is shortened 3' with a chop from the centre...the fullsize in theory is the 'right' size,,,,but in reality only performs well in 6-8kts DDW.....the larger chute is much harder to keep flowing when one runs ahead of a puff,,,,much more restricted to deep angles,,,and has people ,boats fall all over themselves a lot more when it's breeze-ON!.....if anyone cares,,I could share some measurments
....some further investigation shows.......Luff......mid girth,,,,,,,,,,,foot
.......Melges chute(cutdown)...............28'10''......15'9''...............18'
.......49er(stock)..............................31'6''.......14'2''...............14'5''
.......49er-shortened.........................30'9''.......14'2''...............14'5''..........important note on heights below***
....Height....after extensive use in multiple races,,in various conditions,,with some changes of chutes between races,,my preference is the cut-down 49er chute !!....I'm amazed to realize the difference of only ~9'' is even noticeable(!!),,,but indeed,,I changed back and forth between these sails 4x during last weekend's event!
....in light winds ,the extra luff-length makes it harder to re-fill the kite when the boat out-speeds the wind,,,,in stronger than 10 kts,,,the stock size chute has a lot less flexibility to side-angles,,reaching------only is a benefit in steady winds in the 6-10knot range DDW.
...GIRTH.....more interesting discoveries---I had long ago dropped using the melges kite,,noting the 49er chute filled,,drew nicely,,,,and I -never- had boatspeed or angle issues downwind with other boats with MUCH bigger kites.........many times sailing a much lowerangle,,keep moving better inlight winds,,,,or passing boats who've 'tripped-up' in the stronger breeze
....CONCLUSION.....after a fair bit of empirical research,,,,I'm coming to the conclusion that even though 550 kites are virtually unrestricted in size,,,sometimes....BIGGER AIN'T BETTER!!
.........***...NOTE!....other measuring shows my mast to be 11'' short of the rule(!) ,,and my spin-pole is deck mounted,,,so with a lower pole and full-height mast,,the magic #for spin luff(for me) would seem to be close to 32'
..from an initial comment after the last event......an interesting note on spinnakers---I have 2 identical chutes from 49ers--one is stock,,1 is shortened 3' with a chop from the centre...the fullsize in theory is the 'right' size,,,,but in reality only performs well in 6-8kts DDW.....the larger chute is much harder to keep flowing when one runs ahead of a puff,,,,much more restricted to deep angles,,,and has people ,boats fall all over themselves a lot more when it's breeze-ON!.....if anyone cares,,I could share some measurments
....some further investigation shows.......Luff......mid girth,,,,,,,,,,,foot
.......Melges chute(cutdown)...............28'10''......15'9''...............18'
.......49er(stock)..............................31'6''.......14'2''...............14'5''
.......49er-shortened.........................30'9''.......14'2''...............14'5''..........important note on heights below***
....Height....after extensive use in multiple races,,in various conditions,,with some changes of chutes between races,,my preference is the cut-down 49er chute !!....I'm amazed to realize the difference of only ~9'' is even noticeable(!!),,,but indeed,,I changed back and forth between these sails 4x during last weekend's event!
....in light winds ,the extra luff-length makes it harder to re-fill the kite when the boat out-speeds the wind,,,,in stronger than 10 kts,,,the stock size chute has a lot less flexibility to side-angles,,reaching------only is a benefit in steady winds in the 6-10knot range DDW.
...GIRTH.....more interesting discoveries---I had long ago dropped using the melges kite,,noting the 49er chute filled,,drew nicely,,,,and I -never- had boatspeed or angle issues downwind with other boats with MUCH bigger kites.........many times sailing a much lowerangle,,keep moving better inlight winds,,,,or passing boats who've 'tripped-up' in the stronger breeze
....CONCLUSION.....after a fair bit of empirical research,,,,I'm coming to the conclusion that even though 550 kites are virtually unrestricted in size,,,sometimes....BIGGER AIN'T BETTER!!
.........***...NOTE!....other measuring shows my mast to be 11'' short of the rule(!) ,,and my spin-pole is deck mounted,,,so with a lower pole and full-height mast,,the magic #for spin luff(for me) would seem to be close to 32'