If the sprit can be about 10% of "J" or more

Posted By: Doug King, Santana 23 & Sundowner 36
Date: 3/28/08 10:18a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: I am (was?) planning same, deck mounted 'sprit (Gary, Santana 2023A, Milwaukee)

then it is DEFINITELY worth including as you gain many benefits. Obviously the boat will be faster because the A-sail can be BIGGER, but it also benefit from more seperation from the main... more airflow, like a bigger throat on a carburetor (showing my age here). Due to the increased seperation, it will also fly better at lower angles relative to the wind. A-sails don't like running close to DDW but the further out in front the luff is, the deeper angles it can fly. The vertical angle of the luff changes too, and will lift the bow more.... which means of course that it needs to be stronger. Figure that the boat will basically be lifted by the spinnaker pole and build it accordingly (that's why carbon fiber is so popular for the things). If you go beyond about 20% of "J" then some serious attention needs to be paid to structural issues. It also helps with helm... the leverage changes from a tendency to round up or broach to a tendency to pull the nose down, if the sail plan is designed right then the boat will accelerate & depower very smoothly in gusts, the A-sail can be flown with ease in winds that make a conventional spinnaker squirrely & scary. If the pole can't be long enough to gain some of the benefits, you might as well not bother... just fly it like a regular cruising spinnaker. But the improvement can be huge and IMHO well worth it. Fresh Breezes- Doug King