87' E28 spinnaker drops

[geckler3]

I race in Long Beach on a E28 and have recently taken over the fore deck position to better or performance. Last race I made a change to our windward rounding set procedures. I have everything set up on the pole under the jib while on a port tack with the spin halyard slack and whipped around the shrouds and already hooked up to the bag/head. This allows me to quickly follow the jib once we tack onto the lay-line. This leaves room for the helm to make a decision late or be more aggressive without having to worry about having enough time to set up.

The next improvement I want to make is on our leeward mark rounding douse. The skipper has told me that the deck hatch is too small to safely squirrel the symmetrical, I would ideally like to be able to Mexican/kiwi drop. My question for other E28 racers is what has worked consistently? My initial thought was a retrieval line and patch on the symmetrical.

Letterbox is what has worked on the boat in the past with fill in crew and is safest, but I'd like to speed things up and make a change.

Appreciate considered input from other racers.

 

[jkfuller10]

it really depends on your approach angle into the leeward mark AND how much turn the boat will be making (towards the next mark). The spin on that boat looks rather manageable. No pole (Mexican) is best when the boat is making a considerable turn into the wind. Letter box is probably safest most of the time when making little or no turn (finishing). Keep prating both drop and maybe add in the "no-pole / weather strip" into you bag of tricks....

 

[geckler3]

it really depends on your approach angle into the leeward mark AND how much turn the boat will be making (towards the next mark). The spin on that boat looks rather manageable. No pole (Mexican) is best when the boat is making a considerable turn into the wind. Letter box is probably safest most of the time when making little or no turn (finishing). Keep prating both drop and maybe add in the "no-pole / weather strip" into you bag of tricks....

Nearly all of our douses are mark roundings heading up greater than 150 degrees. We have letter boxed almost every time and it's entirely too slow. Curious if other 28s have bigger forward hatches or anyone has rigged a retrieval line. I'd like to get our drop around 30 seconds.

 

[Loren Beach]

Found a link for the "letterbox" takedown -- great UKSails video.

Letterbox Takedown video - UK Sailmakers

The letterbox takedown is the safest spinnaker drop when sailing offshore or in heavy seas. By taking a spinnaker down over the boom and below the foot of the

www.uksailmakers.com

The narrator points out that it is not optimal for buoy racing, and I can see why. OTOH, I really like the way it keeps the chute out of the water. That's no small thing.
I do not race anymore, but always did our drops from lee side over the lifeline and down the main hatch. Sometimes, if we were not quick enough, part of the chute would get wet.

Nowadays I have an ATN sock on the tri-radial. Life in the slow lane, as it were.....

 

[geckler3]

Found a link for the "letterbox" takedown -- great UKSails video.

Letterbox Takedown video - UK Sailmakers

The letterbox takedown is the safest spinnaker drop when sailing offshore or in heavy seas. By taking a spinnaker down over the boom and below the foot of the

www.uksailmakers.com

The narrator points out that it is not optimal for buoy racing, and I can see why. OTOH, I really like the way it keeps the chute out of the water. That's no small thing.
I do not race anymore, but always did our drops from lee side over the lifeline and down the main hatch. Sometimes, if we were not quick enough, part of the chute would get wet.

Nowadays I have an ATN sock on the tri-radial. Life in the slow lane, as it were.....

Can I asked you if you raced a E28? I typically Mexican/kiwi drop on most other boats, but the issue here is apparently the forward hatch is too small or does not articulate all the way back to fit the symmetrical without risk of tearing something. I'm wondering if this is a Ericsson issue or simply a replacement. I assume this is an aftermarket forward hatch?

 

[Loren Beach]

Can I asked you if you raced a E28?

No, but I used to race our Niagara 26, and it had a big fractional rig, like the "+" models of the Ericson's.