J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Spinnaker sheet lengths and type

The "shakedown" cruise for my J30 this past weekend (Marina del Rey to Catalina, 36 nautical miles) revealed that the Spinnaker sheet lines are way too short. What is the optimum length and thickness? Also, I had a J24 owner/racer on the boat with me, and he recommended replacing the spin sheets with Maffioli Swiftcord. He claims that the Swiftcord doesn't kink as easily. Any input on length, gauge, brand would be appreciated.

I had spinnaker sheets made from 8mm New England Ropes Endura Braid 70 feet long with the cover stripped back 23 feet. The stripped end has a luggage tag eye splice so I can either use Wichard 2373 swivel snap shackles, or take them off and loop the eye directly in the spinnaker clew grommets for light air. These work as both light and heavy air sheets. One is red, the other is green. Endura Braid has a Dynema core and a nice doublebraid polyester cover. You could probably lift your boat with it, and it is very light.

Call Henry Mallard at Layline and he can provide some recommendations.

Paul.... the length is 1.5 the boat...according to published info. I find if I do 50 feet then the starboard sheet is long enough to not give a headache to your bow person. Light is good, especially in MDR... think about those plastic snap shackles... and a luggage tag is always preferred. Which boat did you buy? Do we now have 3 J30s in MDR???? Grand! I will be out in June...give me a call, we can cocktail and check out your boat!
the Redhead. 888 927 4099

I should add the the routing on Rhapsody is spin, through twings, back to turning block near stern on either side, forward to turning block on stanchion base just forward of primary winch, then enough line so someone flying the spinnaker in light air can stand by the shrowds and look up at the shoot to fly it.

Hey Cyn - Paul bought hull #219 in CT and shipped it West. He now has an old Rhapsody spinnaker.

Same line 8mm Endura white w/red and white w/blue (no green available). Bought 65' each, enough to splice it myself which was a real pain, since the cover is very tight. Probably would've been easier to strip cover and splice just the core as Rhapsody did, but I was worried about wear from the pole. That said Endura cover texture is easier to hold than other Dyneema cored lines like Warp Speed. Chose new Tylaska TY5SB standard bail shackle. Though the old side open ones rarely popped open, it happened one time too many for me. Still going strong after four years though my splices don't look so hot.

Yes, there are now three J30s in Marina del Rey. However, it will be a little while before I'm configured properly for racing. A crew, new sails, bottom work, and a few pieces of running rigging are needed before I'll be competitive. When will you be out in June? It would be great to meet you and have you give the boat a once over - I'm actively soliciting all of the expert advice I can get my hands on.

Hi Bill, thanks for the input. By the way, your old Spinnaker flew with no problems. Huge thanks to Laura for lugging it out West with her! I'm puzzled (as was the J24 guy with me) as to why the former owner had such short spin sheets... They're under 50 feet.