Snuffers


maggiesnuffers 3snuffers 2suffer

This is about Centaur Project, Dylan Winter's Blog, Sailing around Britain.

6 Responses to “Snuffers”

  1. 3 March, 2015 at 6:57 pmEuan Mckenzie says:

    Don’t have one and have never used one

    Agree if its light enough to fly the kite you should be able to get it down

    I just release the guy and pull it into the cockpit under the boom using the sheet and controlled dropping of the halyard

  2. 3 March, 2015 at 8:57 pmRalph says:

    My friend has an Islander 36 with 2 spinnakers: one with a snuffer and one without.

    When it is blowing and there is just the 2 of us the snuffer is nice to have when it comes time to dowse! But they are more work and they take a little different technique to use.

    When it is blowing 3 kts we use the spinnaker off a Cal 40 (w/o snuffer) with no problems. But 1 person trying to bring in the Cal 40 spinnaker if we get a gust is a real adventure. That’s when I wish there was a snuffer.

    Ralph

  3. 3 March, 2015 at 9:03 pmdylan winter says:

    I guess the Centaur spinnaker is a lot smaller than your spinnakers

    the trouble with the snuffer is that it bunches the head so the cleanish air over the top of the sail can’t hold the top open

    never flown anything bigger than this

    D

  4. 4 March, 2015 at 12:29 amRalph says:

    Yes, our spinnakers are much larger then yours. And both are much fuller cut then yours appears to be.

    Do you tie the control line that pulls the snuffer up to something? On our snuffer the up line keeps the snuffer pulled up as far as it will go when tied-off and doesn’t seem to interfere with the head of the spinnaker. Also our snuffer has a stainless steel rod between the halyard and the head to help to keep the snuffer from interfering with the spinnaker.

    Next time we use it I will take a close look. Usually after hoisting I just take a quick glance to make sure everything looks normal.

    Ralph

  5. 4 March, 2015 at 9:24 amEuan Mckenzie says:

    Size is obviously everything…my kite is an old fashion cut with narrow shoulders and my mast is only circa 11m tall. Getting it down is still more about technique than size but it is still manageable with two able bodies on board

  6. 7 March, 2015 at 7:27 pmDave Barker says:

    An “old salt” I sailed with once said “Don’t like spinnakers, dangerous things”. I’ve used snuffers on two different Wharram catamarans and think they’re great for dealing with these (potentially) dangerous sails when sailing short-handed. I never had a problem with them interfering with the head of the spinnaker (actually cruising chutes in my case) so perhaps it’s something to do with the way your snuffer is set up. I have to admit that dealing with chutes on a Wharram cat is relatively easy anyway, nice wide deck area and no pole – the chute is simply tacked down to the windward stem and sheeted to leeward etc. Anyway, ‘snuff from me…

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