Use of Chute Scoop for Spinnaker

[sailsquareboats]

Hello,

Does anyone know of anyone ever using a "chute scoop" with their spinnaker for class racing? We re a two person crew and one of us does not have spinnaker experience, so I thought the chute scoop would be a good idea.

I have read the class handbook and bylaws. I can't find any rule that would appear to prohibit use of the chute scoop. Does anyone know if this has come up in the class before?

Thanks,

Pete

Juan Fine Day, SJ 21 #1264

[Mojo899]

I believe Tim Lynch used one. Not sure if the boat is still racing.

The chute was custom built out of the front hatch.

I don't remember anyone complaining about the use of the Chute.

The biggest downside to a chute up front like that is if you get waves over your bow it will flood the boat.

However another option is to oversize your sheets a little and run the kite back to the cockpit. Kermit has a kite bag that gets pulled in to the companion way for launching and dousing.

Having a launch bag out of the companion way allows for you to do many different douse techniques depending on the situation. And you wouldn't need to be up on the fore deck for anything if you have long enough arms to control the pole from the companion way as well.

I will see about getting some pictures of this during western nationals in Chelan this week.

[sailsquareboats]

Thanks!

yeah, I don't want to launch from the front hatch. Would definitely launch from the cockpit/companionway.

[Mojo899]

Yeah, that would be fully legal to do. Just make sure to watch as the kite goes up that it doesn't catch on your stays.

[sailsquareboats]

Thanks for your help!

[Steve]

One boat in our Calgary fleet set up a launcher on the deck...basically a sausage bag. Not wanting others to feel that was cheating, he stopped using it. But it did work.

Perhaps we should ask the Class Measurer for a ruling on a scoop or other whatever method.

[Rob]

Hello ... it is that time of the year (snowing and 25 degrees) when I go wandering around sailing sites. I happened upon this thread and thought I would chime in. I did build a spinnaker chute on one of my San Juan 21's. As I remember ... it worked pretty well once I taught my crew how to use it. The one thing you have to remember with such a setup is to anticipate your next set and douse on that side. (setting to weather is a real hassle)

Looking at the pictures, I do remember there being some issues attaching an "umbilical" cord to the middle of the chute. I considered a system that involves two cords to enable a smaller under deck storage bag. With one cord you have to have a bag long enough for the distance between the middle of the chute and the head of the sail (in order to insure it is fully stored under the deck)

I had also rigged a spinnaker pole that stayed hooked up and lived on the boom when it was not deployed. All of this was standard stuff on 505's etc..

All that said ... I can remember some grumbling when I showed up at the north americans in Kansas with this rig. I would confirm (in writing) with the current class measurer that they approve.

All and all ... I think we decided it would be simpler to just get better at setting the chute out of the cabin companionway.

Attached are some photos of the unit ... hope they're helpful.

Best regards to the class ....

Rob Anderson
Moscow Idaho

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[Rob]

For some reason two additional photos didn't make it on the original post ....

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[Rob]

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[Gman377]

That is awesome! Did you build that out of fiberglass?