J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Spinnaker Guy

Hi I have just competed in the annual Fairly Yacht club new year race with Judicious which we finished in third place not bad for the first race however we had to use snatch blocks for the spinnaker guys which would have been difficult to use if we had had to gybe as there was 20 - 25 knots of breeze.How do you set the boat up for barber haulers on you're boats as I cannot see how John and Lillie did it when they had Judicious.

Jim - we use "Twings" on Rhapsody. The spinnaker leads run through blocks that are left slack on the sheet side and pulled in on the guy side. There is a picture below taken when we were doing a leisurely sail around Aquidneck Island. You'll see the twings pass through the eye in the base of the stanchion and have cam cleats close to the port & stbd chain plates.

We find that during a gybe, the old sheet (new guy) twing gets pulled so the block is at the top lifeline. This is pulled to the deck after the pole is made on the mast after the gybe. The old pole side (new sheet) twing can be let loose as soon at the pole jaws are tripped. Youy'll also find that the foreguy works best when the block is placed close to the mast. Some boats have the block further forward, but it means you have to play with both topping lift and foreguy when the pole moves for and aft.

It goes without saying that there needs to be good communications between the crew flying the spinnaker and the mast person during the gybe.

Thank's Bill that's just what I was looking for.

I use a similar setup, but have some of the lightweight snatchblocks on the twinges so we can pull 'em off (or put them on) easily depending on wind conditions. If my wife and I are doublehanding for fun, it makes it easier to fly the 'chute without the pole, too.