LESSONS LEARNED WHILE CRUISING Jamie & Behan Gifford
Niall on the bow, broad reaching with general purpose asymmetric.
cruising spinnakers were fussy, only flying well in a small range of apparent wind angles (AWA). Put another way, they performed brilliantly so long as they were on a broad reach in a steady wind with a talented person steering a laser straight course. Today asymmetrics are a different
beast all together. While they can still be plenty full in shape, the shape is more genoa-like, being fuller in the front and flatter in the back. Thanks to big budget sailboat racing, asymmetric sails have gone through countless shape and sailcloth refinements. Now these sails are easier to fly and work over a broader range of wind angles. A well designed, general purpose
The Mutt – A New Breed of Sail Cruising plans change frequently
enough to appear as though there are really no plans. So, on Totem we have intentions instead. My intention was to write about teachable moments on board, those wonderful situations when learning and teaching seem effortless. Instead, I’ve been diverted by soon-to-be-cruisers with questions about downwind sails. There was a time when sailing off-
the-wind was easy – and slow – and annoying – as the headsail collapsed and refilled with a bang! Flying spinnakers was for crazy people; wing and wing sailing was the dream. Now the annoying part is confusion over the variety of names and designs. It was painful enough listening to two cruising sailors debate which was better, an asymmetric or gennaker. 48° NORTH, APRIL 2011 PAGE 38
Then a third person proclaimed her newly purchased MPS is best. That’s like arguing what’s best on the barbie (BBQ): sausage, snag, or banger? They’re all the same sail type -
asymmetric. This naming disorder stems largely from the interchange of slang names, sailmakers brand names, racing “code” sails and sail types. An asymmetric is a mixture of spinnaker- like and genoa-like features, making it something of a mutt. This mutt has evolved. Early cruising spinnakers were
asymmetric in geometric shape, but still had the uniform balloon-like aerodynamic shape of a spinnaker. The intent was to eliminate the spinnaker pole by making the luff longer and attaching the tack to the bow via a “tack line”. The downside was that
asymmetric works well from roughly 100° to 150° AWA (close reach to broad reach). It’s not quite the full spectrum that spinnakers can cover (90° to 180° AWA), but much easier to manage. If you need to run at a deep angle and have a spinnaker pole, fly the asymmetric like a spinnaker from that pole. We’ve done this on several occasions with good results. Similarly, catamaran cruisers can fly the tack from the windward hull. With the original goal being
downwind performance with simplicity, using a “dousing sock” is the answer. The sail remains contained inside this lightweight sock, even when hoisted. Control lines enable you to slide the sock up above the flying asymmetric. Douse simply by sliding the sock down over the sail, thereby collapsing and containing it again. This control definitely reduces the fear some people associate with anything spinnaker related. In addition, a general purpose asymmetric for cruising is smaller than a spinnaker by around 25%.
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