Some thoughts about spinnaker hosting and dousing

Before leaving for MHOR2015 I was very excited to order an asymmetrical spinnaker with dousing sock. I had never used one and seemed like a great concept. While sailing on Miss Red we had a brand new Quantum asymmetrical with ATN sock and every time it was a challenge to pull the sock all the way up, particularly in moderate breeze (15kn). On several occasions it took two people to work the collar "halyard". Despite the convenience of hoisting the spinnaker in the sock and then retract the sock, the effort required greatly exceeded the convenience. The sock line has to be carefully tied down when the sock is all the way up or down, so it doesn't tangle with the rest of the rigging on the bow.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to try my new Hood spinnaker with dousing sock; I had secret hopes that it will be better, because the spinnaker itself was a little bit smaller but it was pretty much the same - it took 15 of pulling to get the sock up; dousing it was somewhat easier but I still found it to be cumbersome and hardly worth the effort. The sock did not give any advantage to short-handed sailing either. So, I ended up giving away the sock to a friend.

My preferred technique for hoisting and dousing asymmetrical spinnaker is behind the jib, when sailing short-handed (with two people crew) I use the autopilot to steer the boat while one person works foredeck, the other person handles the pit.

To hoist:

• Set a course on beam or broad reach
• Make sure you're in open area with sufficient room and depth, preferably with no wind shifts
• Clip the turtle to lifelines on leeward side
• Rig the tack line, sheets and halyard
• Hoist the halyard all the way to the top behind the genoa; at that point the foredeck person can go back to the pit to assist with furling and trimming
• Furl the genoa
• Trim the spinnaker and move on

To douse:

• Make sure you're in open area with sufficient room and depth, preferably with no wind shifts
• Unfurl the genoa
• Allow plenty of slack on the lazy sheet
• Get a hold of the spinnaker sheet; if needed, give it enough slack to be able to grab it and pull it down
• Stand or sit down on deck between the mast and the bow and start gathering the foot and the clew, while another person releases the halyard in controlled manner, so the spinnaker does not end up wet, until the entire spinnaker is doused on foredeck.
• Make sure the entire spinnaker is low on deck, you may use a shock cord to tie it down in stronger breeze
• Detach the halyard shackle and clip it where it belongs; pull the slack on the halyard
• Depending on circumstances the crew may bag it while it is on foredeck, or stuff it in the turtle and properly bag later in the pit or downstairs

The one device which makes handling asymmetrical spinnakers much easier is the continuous furler with torsion line but they come at significant cost ($2000-$4000).

I would also highly recommend 2:1 purchase on the tack line, whether it is for continuous furler or directly attached to the tack of the sail - makes adjusting the position of the tack much easier under load.