I was walking on the seafront at Southsea today, and my attention was drawn to a yacht race. They were on a run and appeared to be headed for a finish line between a committee boat and a buoy. But what really got my attention was one yacht who suddenly 'lost' her spinnaker. I would guess that they had tried to gybe the spinnaker but lost both its guy and its sheet with the result that it flew out horizontally ahead of the boat from her masthead. Having lost both lines, they seemed totally unable in the fresh breeze to recapture them and get the spinnaker down. I then saw a second yacht get into exactly the same predicament.
Assuming that stopper knots on spinnaker guys and sheets are not a good idea, if you do lose these lines, what is the best way to drop the spinnaker? If you simply run out the halyard, the the sail just flies out further from the boat.
Fortunately, to date I have never been in this predicament, but what is the recommended course of action to recover (undamaged) the 'chute?
Assuming that stopper knots on spinnaker guys and sheets are not a good idea, if you do lose these lines, what is the best way to drop the spinnaker? If you simply run out the halyard, the the sail just flies out further from the boat.
Fortunately, to date I have never been in this predicament, but what is the recommended course of action to recover (undamaged) the 'chute?