Spinnaker

Some dictionaries suggest that the origin of the word could be traced to the first boat to commonly fly a spinnaker, a yacht called Sphinx, mispronounced as Spinx.

[1] Sphinx first set her spinnaker in the Solent in 1865, and the first recorded use of the word was in 1866 in the August edition of Yachting Calendar and Review (p. 84).

[citation needed] Another suggestion is that the idea for the sail was conceived in 1865 by William Gordon, owner of the racing yacht Niobe.

It has thus been suggested that the term could be "connected with the obsolete word spoon, meaning to run before the wind (cf.

[4] According to Merriam Webster's dictionary, however, spindrift derives from a local Scottish pronunciation of speen (not spoon), meaning "to drive before a strong wind.

[6] There are two main categories of spinnakers, symmetric and asymmetric depending on whether a plane of symmetry exists for that particular sail.

The windward line, or guy, is attached to the corner called the tack of the sail, and is stabilized by a spinnaker pole.

[7] Symmetric spinnakers when sailing across the wind (reaching) develop most of their lift on the forward quarter, where the airflow remains attached.

When reaching, the sail camber allows only some attached flow over the leeward side of the spinnaker.

[7] A Parasailor is a symmetrical spinnaker with a paraglider wing inserted into a gap in the sail approximately mid-way up.

This technique had developed to the extent that in bar conversation at the end of one season Andrew Buckland observed that the 18s had sailed all season without pulling the spinnaker pole back from the forestay and that all the systems could be simplified by eliminating the pole and setting the spinnaker from a fixed (but often retractable) bowsprit.

[10] The asymmetric is very easy to gybe since it only requires releasing one sheet and pulling in the other one, passing the sail in front of the forestay.

An asymmetric spinnaker is particularly effective on fast planing dinghies as their speed generates an apparent wind on the bow allowing them to sail more directly downwind.

Typically the symmetric spinnaker is packed in its own bag, called a turtle, with the three corners on top for ready access.

Generally on smaller boats, an end-for-end jibe is accomplished by disconnecting the pole at the mast-end and connecting the mast end to the opposite side of the sail.

This prevents the pole from getting loose during the procedure and allows the use of only two control lines that alternate as sheet and guy (more on this below).

Having 2 sets of lines will makes the jibe easier as the kite is flown by the two sheets while the crew at the bow and at the mast are removing one guy from the pole and attaching it to the other with no tension on them.

The halyard is then lowered, and a crew member gathers the sail and stuffs it carefully into the turtle, corners out, and ready for the next deployment.

[14] On racing boats, the tack of the asymmetric is often rigged to a retractable bowsprit, which increases the foretriangle area and prevents interference with the jib.

[editorializing][citation needed][15] Jibing with the asymmetric is much less complex than the symmetric, due to the lack of the spinnaker pole.

[editorializing][citation needed] Much like a jib, all that is required is to change sheets; however, since the asymmetric still flies in front of the forestay, the operation is reversed.

[16] As of 2006, there were a variety of means to aid the launching (hoisting) and dousing (taking down) of a spinnaker—a sail which, in lacking luff support, is "more unstable and more difficult" to handle in these and related situations.

[17] One system focuses on the launching of the spinnaker, only, and it makes use of special sail-packing and a funnel system that places breakable elastic bands as the sail is launched, bands that break as sheet and guy of the filled spinnaker are trimmed.

Found most commonly on modern dinghy designs[19] and updated older classes, it often consists of a tube or an aperture mounted on the deck close to the forestay.

[20] A masthead, symmetrical spinnaker is occasionally used for entertainment at anchor to loft a person hanging beneath it above the water.

To work, the vessel must be anchored stern to the wind to allow the sail to extend out over the bow.