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What size spinnaker should I get?

rgraham

Member II
Hello I have an E 36 (RH) and would like to know what size spinnaker and or asymmetric spinnaker I should get. I would like to buy a cheap used one to start with but don’t know what size. As an example here is an ebay add for an asymmetric measuring (Luff 41' 4", Leech 37' 1", Foot 19' 4'' ) here is another "Symmetrical Light Spinnaker. It measures 61 feet 8 inches on the luff edges and 33ft and 5 inches on the foot", what dimensions (or range) am I looking for ? The I = 47.75, P = 42, J = 14.50 and E = 12.00
 
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Cory B

Sustaining Member
Finding old symetrical chutes isn't too hard, but finding used asymetrical ones is. Unlike jibs or mains, I'd consider using a cheap overseas loft for a chute. If you are not racing you probably won't ever notice the difference in shape. With mains and jibs you might as a poorly cut sail can be hard to get working properly upwind.
 

Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
size wise for the asym, I'd go with "I" dimension or close (a little shorter will be better than longer) for the luff- the foot & girth should fall into place pretty well with that dimension. So I'd look for something in the 48ft range and see what comes up. Bacons often has asyms with socks for decent prices.
Chris
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Chris is right. Try to find an A sail with the luff close to your I and the foot should be about 180% of the J. Shorter on the foot will get your a flatter sail while longer will be fuller and better for deeper angles, withing reason.
 

Mike.Gritten

Member III
Just beware if you are going to be using a snuffer sock on your assymetrical. The rigging for the sock at the head of the sail adds a couple or 3 feet to the luff dimension. For our 35 we bought an assymetrical with a luff of 44 ft (our I~42.5 ft) but the additional luff length created by the sock rigging makes close reaching very sketchy. It works great for beam reaching and broad reaching though! I am going to see if there is anyway I can shorten the snuffer rigging to facilitate better upwind performance.
 

Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
Just beware if you are going to be using a snuffer sock on your assymetrical. The rigging for the sock at the head of the sail adds a couple or 3 feet to the luff dimension. For our 35 we bought an assymetrical with a luff of 44 ft (our I~42.5 ft) but the additional luff length created by the sock rigging makes close reaching very sketchy. It works great for beam reaching and broad reaching though! I am going to see if there is anyway I can shorten the snuffer rigging to facilitate better upwind performance.

good point, ours adds almost 2 ft.
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Size matters

All of the answers are right, as usual, and as was noted the PHRF guide will tell you formulas for calculating the maximum "legal" luff, foot and girth for kites-sym and asym. The ballpark is that the max length is very close to I, and the max girth is 1.8 X J for sym kites, asyms have a slightly different formula.

The point is these are the maximum sizes.
I would stay with a luff length not less than 85% of I, and a foot/girth of not less than 1.6 or 1.7 X J.

Put differently, don't go less than 70-75%%& of max allowable size, or the utility loss is not worth the price.

Good luck!
S
 

rgraham

Member II
I don't care about racing...

I just wanted to know what would work for sailing, I don't intend to meet any racing rules. I wouldn't know a racing rule if it bit me. I just want to try flying a spinniker or an a-sail.
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
That's fine

The point of all that was to give you an idea of reasonable sizes, and the reasons why.

Bigger than max size will be harder to manage with no real benefits except in the lightest of breezes, and it will be worth nothing to the next owner.

The idea is find something between 75% of full size and full size-this gets you utility and something that adds value to the boat.

We talked about max sizes, so....
Ideally, I would look for an a-sail with a luff of 46-48, and a foot of 22-25', and a sym kite with luff 47-48, and foot 24-26.
Sorry for the extra info,
S
 
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