CaptnChaos wrote:
... you're certifiably insane for going out and testing a spinnaker in 40 mph winds PLUS you were disappointed that you weren't able to tangle in those conditions.
It wasn't quite that bad. ..... Never even *thought* about deploying the spinnaker. .... My problems have always arisen with the spinnaker snuffed (although, come to think of it, there seems to be no reason why they should not occur with it deployed)..... So my testing that day was around reefing/unreefing the main sail with the spinnaker snuffed.
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...No matter what configuration or tautness of the halyard, I experienced tangling of the lines and the mainsail...
That makes me feel better about my own experience. .... On one hand, I figured Hobie must have tested this thing extensively and it must be User Error on my part... but, on the other hand, I kept having the problem.
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I think this may primarily pertain to the new AI's as the new AI's #1 sail baton makes the sail bow outward at the top of the mast when furled. It acts like a hand to grab the halyard line when furling.
One more point of agreement.... And I think the added centrifugal force when the sail is furled rapidly aggravates the problem - making the batten stick out more.
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Snuffing is a pain also. Sometimes it snuffs, often it snags.
I am
still trying to figure out what the guy in the demo vid was doing to make it look so trouble-free. ..... To-date, I have never, ever, not even once - had the sail go into the snuffer bag without the two patches having to be pushed through the entrance or some *major* pulling (as in gloves and a solid stance required) on the halyard. .... And I am coming from a windsurfing background - so it's not like my hands/arms are weak..... When I quit last year, I had a grip like a silverback gorilla...
The fix options there would seem fairly straightforward: Reduce the diameter of the re-enforecment patches on the sail, enlarge the diameter of the plastic throat on the snuffer bag, and/or supply larger-diameter halyard line.
But, as above, I am still experiencing a degree of cognitive dissonance over why you and I are experiencing these problems and Hobie apparently did not during their testing.....
and ... why this forum is not flooded with people telling similar stories.
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