Yachts & Yachting — March 2018

PAUL WYETH

KEELBOAT PLAYBOOK: PART 3

SPINNAKER

RUPERT HOLMES talks essential techniques for getting the spinnaker

down and shows how to pull off the perfect keelboat leeward drop

T

here’s plenty of scope for

things to go wrong when

getting the spinnaker down,

even with the basic, leeward

drop we will look at here.

We’ve all seen plenty of photos of boats

rounding the mark wide and continuing

upthebeatwiththeheadofthesailstill

threemetresabovethedeck–notfast!

So what constitutes a good spinnaker

drop?Thekitedown,andeveryone

readytosheetinandmovetotherail

threesecondsbeforetheboatreaches

thebottommarkisatargetformany

successful teams. Completing the drop

earlymeansasmallsnagwon’tcreate

a crisis. For less well-drilled teams it

wouldbewisetoerrtowardsgetting

thesaildownearlier–atleastfiveto

10 seconds before the mark, gradually

reducing as crew work becomes slicker.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Misjudging the timing of when to

startthemanoeuvreisbyfarthemost

frequent cause of problems, yet it’s

easy to get this right. Although using

thevisualdistancetothemarkto

judgewhentostartthemanoeuvre

is the only option for many smaller

keelboats and sportsboats that aren’t

allowed GPS, the situation is more

complex for bigger boats, which makes

relying on judgement more haphazard.

Usingdistancetothemarktotimethe

manoeuvreinastiffbreezeandwitha

fair tide will always lead to a late drop,

or an early drop when against the tide in

light airs. Starting the manoeuvre a bit

earlier or a bit later than usual to allow

for wind and tide is next to impossible

for anyone but the most experienced

professional sailors to judge accurately.

Instead of thinking in terms

of distance to the mark, use the

Above

Mid-drop on Pace,

Fast 40+ series

champion 2017

Facing page

If broaching, let

60 per cent of

the halyard go

before retrieving

68 Yachts & Yachting March 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk