The Spinnaker Douse

[Justin Scott]

We have had some good exchanges of emails swapping ideas about techniques for spinnaker douses . Here is my 2 cents

Set Up

1.Most sails come with a single lower grommet and a pair of upper grommets. The Hyde chute comes with lower grommet and the upper grommet on a webbing tab. In either case either attach the retrieval line to the upper grommet using a bowline with a large loop (approximately 12 -18inches) or tie a knot in the retrieval line 12 inches below the upper grommet..  When retrieving the chute, the knot between the upper and lower grommets will snag the lower grommet and start pulling the lower part of the sail into the throat before it becomes bunched up with the the upper part of the sail.

2. You can set the retrieval line so that it either goes under the foot of the sail for windward take downs and mexican take downs, or set it up to go under the foot in leeward take downs (Leeward take downs are quite an artform and rarely used).  For the formet, the retrieval line goes from inside (starboard) side of sail, through lower grommet, up to upper grommets (or tab) on outside of sail. Tie off with large loop on bowline or small knot and another knot approximately 12 inches lower . The distance between the upper grommet and the knot (or the size of the bowline loop) is a judgement call. Lomger makes the sail less bunched on the takedown  but not too long or the lower grommet will reach the end of the bag in the cockpit before the spinnaker is fully dowsed in the throat at the bow. Experiment, it varies depending on where your sailmaker has placed the grommets.

3. Single line halyard/ Retrieval line makes judging speed of descent easier (the halyard will only come down as fast as you are retrieving- so you just blow the halyard). Most every top boat has converted to the single line system now.   

Take Down

The only two take downs I would use if I was a newcomer to the fleet are (and I still use them 97.5% of the time):-.
1. The standard windward dowse.
(i) Approach on port gybe.
(ii) HELM BEARS AWAY- if you are pointing downhill it is all a lot easier,  ease spin sheet,  take in slack of lazy sheet (and in my boat passes it to the helm).
(iii) Take in all slack of retrieval line, so it is bar tight running up out of the throat. THIS IS KEY.
(v) Helm pays attention to the angle of the retrieval line. It should be running straight up from the throat up to the sail. If it is angled to starboard/leeward too much, bear away some more and pull some of the sail round to windward with the lazy sheet.The more downwind you are the easier the dowse.
(vi) Blow the sheet, some tension on the lazy sheet. Chute goes forward and then....
(vii) Blow the halyard (really blow it.. do not feed it slowly). Middle (or helm) hauls like heck arm over arm on the retreival line. The quicker the better.
(viii) 2/3rds way down, blow the pole. (Not too early or the tack line will get wrapped on the pole)
If you are downwind, if the retreival line was at the right angle, bar tight and you have pulled part of the sail to windward, she will fall into and get sucked down the throat very quickly and easily.
This is the most reliable dowse.

2.Mexican     
(i) Approach on Starboard
(ii) Pull the slack out of the Retreival line
(iii) Mexican Gybe! - Gybe the jib but not the spinnaker
                            - Come out of the gybe deep, do not head up.
                            - sheet in the jib tight (so there is no space for the spinnaker to slide under the jib). The jib, almost forms a chute for the spin to slide down)
(iv) The chute is now on the windward side, set up for a windward take down. I would advise not oversheeting the spinnaker because it needs to be forward near the bow
(v) Haul in the retrieval line and blow the halyard.
Note, if the chute is too far aft as you do a Mexican, it will get bunched up and jam around the port corner of the throat roller, so I like to float it forward a bit while still keeping it to windward.
The dowse should happen immediately on the gybe. It is one manoeuvure.
This is probably the quickest dowse.

The leeward dowse is tricky.....more on that later.
Practise the Windward and the Mexican and they will become second nature.

KEY.......You need a layline that takes you in high of the mark, so you can bear away for the dowse. (Practise sailing on Tacticat with the skiffs.....it is very realistic in this regard)

It gets really interesting when Kay Van V or Rob Gorman pins you beyond the layline and you come in hot, fast and surfing on port. We will talk about the "Oh Shit" dowse in part 2.

Also.......newer spin shapes ( eg Hyde ), have shorter foot and higher shoulder and are faster and easier to dowse.

[Jay Harrell]

Sally and I discovered that the very best way to improve you spinnaker douse is to go to the St Pete NOOD and have Kay sail with you for a day.  Worked wonders for us.

[Justin Scott]

The three most important ingredients to a fast and succesful dowse:-

1. The Retrieval line must be bar tight running in a straight line up from the throat. Do not blow the halyard until you see this.
THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT

2. Bear away. Whether, Mexican or Windward take down.....the chute should be floating somewhere near the bow.
3. Blow the halyard (dont feed it out), and retriever hauls like crazy.


Additional tips:-
-Unless you have practised it many times, do not try and take the chute down to leeward underneath the jib. Do a Mexican instead.
-Do not release the pole until spin is 2/3rds of the way down (look for some tension on the front of the foot), this stops the tack line twisting round the pole.
- If the spinaker jams on the way down, look and see where the chute is strapped. It is usually because someone is standing on a spin sheet or the pole has not been released or the halyard caught in the cleat.
- Remember to tie a knot in the retrieval line 2 feet below the upper grommet in the sail. Thus the retrieval line starts puling in the lower half of the chute before it becomes all bunched up with the upper half of the sail.
-If you have not converted to the single line continuos halyard/retrieval line, then you have to be particularly careful that the halyard does not cleat itself during the dowse (run the halyard up and over the boom-between the boom and the foot of the main, so it is feeding down).
- Try and avoid coming into the leeward mark "hot".   

[Chris Shaughnessy]

Regarding your tip running the Spin halyard over the boom / under the main foot.

For an alternative (and maybe a little cleaner ?) setup, check out a Melges 24 - standard setup is to lash a carabiner under the boom (I think about a foot back from the goosneck), just before dousing you clip the halyard tail in it.

[Justin Scott]

Regarding your tip running the Spin halyard over the boom / under the main foot.

For an alternative (and maybe a little cleaner ?) setup, check out a Melges 24 - standard setup is to lash a carabiner under the boom (I think about a foot back from the goosneck), just before dousing you clip the halyard tail in it.

Nice idea......Nothing beats the one line spin/retrieval line set up

[Dan Tucker]

If only the pole launcher was integrated into the spin halyard, like the SKUD...

[Justin Scott]

If only the pole launcher was integrated into the spin halyard, like the SKUD...

No we deliberately decided against this on the advice of several hi-perf riggers and Rondar. The integrated systems do go wrong. Seperate line for the pole means that if the pole gets jammed (and who hasn't got their paddle wedged in the wrong place at least once?), then at least the halyard is separate and the spinnaker still comes down.

Research has shown that the boat goes better upwind with the pole stuck in the "extended" postion than it does with the spinnaker stuck in the "up" position.

[Alan#38]

Hey Justin - How long is your single spin. halyard/retrieval line?  This would be tough to measure without having the boat rigged and too much slack would kind of defeat the purpose.

[Justin Scott]

I'll measure down in St Pete and post.

Better to start too long and gradualy shorten rather than the other way around. Spin halyard/retrieval line is relatively inexpensive compared to main and jib halyard.

PS....Hold off on your Gnav idea. The consensus is to try and have identical one design...so we are trying to come up with a standard retrofit. For sure, it will incorporate your idea of a strap around the mast. But we want everyone to have the same purchase in the same place. 

[Jay Harrell]

I started with about 100 feet of line and worked down from there when I rerigged #19.  I think about ten feet came off right away, and it's still a bit too long, so you would probably be safe starting at 90 feet.

Hey Justin - How long is your single spin. halyard/retrieval line?  This would be tough to measure without having the boat rigged and too much slack would kind of defeat the purpose.

[Alan#38]

Thanks you guys - this will save me a little money (having a good starting point in terms of line length).  I'll go with 90 ft.

PS (On the GNAV set up) - I'm a gonna start buying, drilling and fitting by the middle of March!  Racing starts in April around here.  Yee Haw!

[Alan#38]

I see that it's much better to dowse when you're going deep downwind and the retreival line is going straight up.  But what to do if you have to dowse sailing high?  I race in a ditch (columbia river).  Sometimes the committee can't (or won't) set up a windward/leeward.  In this situation you can get trapped with no way to take it down for the dowse with leeward traffic.

I had this happen twice - Beat up a couple of Melges on the downwind leg only to have them pass me on the dowse while my crew is trying to pull my spin out of the water.  In 12 knots of wind on a tight reach we're much faster than the melges, but only if we don't drop a great big sea anchor into the water at the end of the leg.

[Justin Scott]

The windward dowse can be done on a reach.......and as I found on St Pete it is much easier with the new Hyde chutes and spin blocks on the gunwhales. Just whale in hard on the retrieval line until it is tight, blow the sheet, then dowse. Pole in at last possible moment.

If you are coming in tight on starboard then it is probably best to do a Mexican at the mark.

If you are coming in tight on Starboard and a RC has set a Starboard rounding....then ah , um, then...ah......I'll get back to you on that one.

[Justin Scott]

From Erik Eaves

We finally got out on the water this last weekend and were practicing the spinnaker.  I have a few questions.

1.       In the viper forums, I interpret the way its written is that the retrieval line goes out of the sock to the inside of the spin (starboard side of sail or windward side of the sail on a starboard tack) through the grommet.  Then the line goes through the lower grommet and is on the outside (port side) of the sail to the upper grommet where the loop/knot goes.  After looking at some videos/pictures of some of the recent races if appears (could be wrong) some boats have the retrieval line going from the sock to the outside (port side) of the sail to the first grommet.  I think this is how we had the boat setup last fall and had very little trouble.  Yesterday, we had it fed from sock to inside of the sail lower grommet yesterday and had extreme trouble dousing.  I think we win the award for the most keel raps in a day.

2.       Our spinnaker launches went well yesterday.  One question though.  On the launch when do you extend the pole?  We seem to have trouble extending the pole until some spinnaker is launched.  Seems to work ok for us.

[Justin Scott]

From Erik Eaves

We finally got out on the water this last weekend and were practicing the spinnaker.  I have a few questions.

1.       In the viper forums, I interpret the way its written is that the retrieval line goes out of the sock to the inside of the spin (starboard side of sail or windward side of the sail on a starboard tack) through the grommet.   After looking at some videos/pictures of some of the recent races if appears  some boats have the retrieval line going from the sock to the outside (port side) of the sail to the first grommet. 

2.       Our spinnaker launches went well yesterday.  One question though.  On the launch when do you extend the pole?  We seem to have trouble extending the pole until some spinnaker is launched.  Seems to work ok for us.

1. (A) It can run either way. The retrieval line can either go inside the spin (stbd side) to the first grommet or under the foot and up the outside (port side) of the spinnaker to the first grommet.
The advocates of inside say that it is less likely to catch around the bow prior to a windward dowse. The advocates of outside say that it lifts the foot out of the water on a leeward take down.
In reality, it does not matter as long as you have the retrieval line bar tight, with the line running verticaly up out of the throat prior to blowing the halyard . A well executed dowse and the spin will just be sucked down the throat. (If the retrieval line is angled to stbd around your headstay, you need to ease the stbd sheet, maybe bear away, maybe pull on the windward sheet.. If the retrieval line is angled to port and aft, then ease the port sheet.)
   (B) The new shorter footed spinnakers with the blocks on the gunwales are much easier and faster to dowse. Don't feed out the halyard....just blow it...you will retrieve it as fast as it falls down the mast.
    (C) On some chutes, you dont have any choice in how you run the retrieval line. On the Hyde, it goes outside (port side) to 1st and 2nd grommets because they are on tabs sown onto the port side of the sail.


(2) Extend the pole when the spin is about 1/4 way up. You cannot extend it early because the spin has to be clear of the jib tack.

(3) Remember on dowsing on Bennet boats, do not retract pole until spin is about 1/2 way down. The shock cord on the pole will pull in the pole faster than the tension gets taken up on the tack line, leaving a lose curve of tack line to get caught around the pole. (FYI This doesnt happen on the Rondar boat because the pole is pulled in by the tension on the tack rather than shock cord.)