Hobie Spinnaker on Close Reach in LIGHT Winds

I do not recommend that anyone do this unless they are willing to accept responsibility for damaging their own boat. Hobie does not support this. But.....

I have found that in light winds when my main and jib would not be enough sail to move the boat upwind, that the spinnaker pulled tight (main furled) moves the boat at a nice clip upwind. You have to use good judgment and suff it when the wind picks up to the point that the main can take over. This benefit may eliminate the need for the jib all together.

Here is a video clip of the boat on a close reach under spinnaker power only. Notice the wind direction indicator on the mast topper.

https://youtu.be/Fy4QdYKwfJw


P.S. Matt, please forgive me.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

Nice! I had a feeling someone would figure out how to get these spinnakers to go to wind in light air I might have to get the spinnaker kit after all! It looks like you're pointing pretty high.

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-- Chad | 2014 TI

I am able to point suprisingly high. At close hauled (pinching) the loose luff will tend to flip back and I have to ease back to a close reach. But as you can see, it points pretty high and your moving much faster than the main alone. In these winds you still feel in control of the boat. I understand that the mast supporting structures may not handle sideways tension well and accept any consequences that come my way. Still, the mast bending in theses lighter winds dosen't seem as much as a beam reach in moderate winds.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

I feel a ban comin on!



Looks fun though. Why no main?

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

No good reason for no main upwind, will have to play with that. Sometimes downwind the main just gets in the way blocking air to the spinnaker. I like using the main too when on a beam reacheck and really it should be idea when using the spinnaker upwind.

All this upwind talk you didn't hear from me.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

A main and jib combo (or in this case spinnaker) creates a flow acceleration on the main (thru the gap between them). This increases lift, so should increase speed.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

All that sail area shouldn't go to waste! I have added small ballbearing blocks at the aft end of my TI's akas, and at the outer ends of my hakas, while some Railblaza starports out there have "C" fittings added.

When trying to get closer to the wind, I noticed that the spinnaker clew gets quite close to the rear aka, with the potential to "choke" air flow. So I have the spinnaker sheet feeding directly to the aft block, then forward to the outer end of the aka and on to the normal spinnaker cleat. If I want to rein in the clew a bit, I can hook one (or both) of the spinnaker sheets into the "C" hook. I noticed that spook has a barber hauler, so he can apply downwards (and/or inwards) pressure on the clew, but so far I have avoided the temptation on the KISS principle.

Commonsense is obviously necessary, as the cut of the spinnaker (it is really more a reacher than a spinnaker) is too full for really close-hauled pointing, but in lighter winds, it certainly helps.

For those of you feeling daunted by the thought of adding complication to their Island during launch/retrievsal by adding the spinnaker, do not be concerned. I leave >everything< connected, simply moving the snuffer into the front cockpit with back end sitting on the seat. I take the mast-topper off and put in the rear cockpit, with the excess halyard/backstay bunched up next to it. Spinnaker sheets gets pulled tight and cleated, with excess coiled and dropped into the rear cockpit too. Everything else is standard Island rigging/derigging. Easy peasy

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Tony, what do you mean by C hook. Are you pulling the clew towards you or away from you when using it upwind. I've been pulling it more towards me- directly to the swivel cleat.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

I have Railblaza starports out towards the end of each rear aka. There is a Railblaza fitting which resembles the letter "C". I have these pointed outwards, mainly to take the mainsheet when travelling off the wind (rather than holding the clew of the mainsheet out with my notched paddle). It could also be used to bring the spinnaker sheet in and down if I lead the spinnaker sheet to the block at the rear of the ama and I want to use the spinnaker going to windward.

I see what you mean about going to windward, and the spinnaker clew would definitely need to come inboard if you are trying to point. I might see about setting up a barber hauler....

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

...as seen here by the outboard seating.



BTW, thanks for adding that to the HAKA thread Tony. It was a long time coming!

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

any chance of a few pictures (worth a 1,000 words) Tony?