Cruising spinnaker, tack point.

[Steve McGill]

I have assembled all of the required parts to finally begin flying my cruising "A" Spinnaker.

My question that I still have after reading the Tech notes and all the related posts is where/how do
should I attach the tack at the bow. I have the original Hood 915 roller furling and the original undersized anchor rollers.

Thanks


Steve M.

[Ron Hill]

Steve : For your year boat (same as my 1988) I'd recommend that you make a short 1/8" wire penant out of 7/19 wire (about 2' long).  Press a loop in each end with small thimbles and sewage each end secure. Attach one end to the tack of the sail with a snap shackle and the other end THRU one of the double pins on on your short bow roll. 
I actually have my tack end thru a pulley so I can raise and lower the tack hight from the cockpit.  My penant is short about 1 foot long with the pulley at the top end.
A thought.   

[jkar]

Steve,

I made a 24" carbonfiber "sprit", removed one anchor roller and used the bolt to fasten in its place.  I put a block out 12" and run the tack line back to the port cabin top winch for adjustability.  With the lead out 12" it allows the chute to articulate around to windward and deeper angles can be achieved.  Not to mention inside or outside gybes are a breeze.  I am in the process of building a new one and you are welcome to this one for the price of shipping.  I will be taking it off in about 4 weeks and can ship then.  If interested, let me know.

[tonywright]

I recommend the ATN tacker, see http://www.atninc.com/tacker.html

I used this with no problems on my previous boat. It allows good adjustment of the tack height while the spinnaker is up.

Tony

[sailmed]

I'd love to see some pix of the carbon fiber "sprit", if you can post any.
ps:  Have used the ATN tacker previously on my Tartan 34C and had good results, too.

Thanks

[Rick Johnson]

This is my solution....

[Jeff_McKinney]

Rick,

Great photo! I use the ATN Tacker and have the same block and shackle hanging on the metal loop of the bow-roller. I'll give your approach some thought, but would be concerned about chafing the tack downhaul against the jib furling drum.

[Rick Johnson]

I'm worried about that also!  I was thinking of using a cable "pig-tail" like Ron suggested.

[Robert Mann]

Got my FX asymmetrical flying over labor day for the first time.  Did it without the ATN tacker, because we left it at home!!  I hooked a block to the U bail that sits over the anchor for the tack downhaul.  But I need to change this as the anchor is a hazard during gybing and tends to get fouled with the tackline.  Does anyone have a good picture of a pigtail set up and do you use a shockcord to keep it from "collapsing" during tacks and gybes?

[tonywright]

I would like to know what you use at the stern to attach turning blocks for the spinnaker sheets, and where you attach them. My last boat had a rail with slots, making it easy to attach a snatch block close to the stern. Not clear to me what to use when you add a spinnaker to a MKII.

Thanks

Tony

[Robert Mann]

Tony
I found some stainless clamps (Harken I think) at WM that I attached to the stanchions behind the main winches.  The most forward of the stern stanchions onto which the safety lines terminate.  These clamps go around the pole and are secured by 2 small screws and nuts (which I will replace with self lockers).  They have a 0.25" - 0.385" hole into which I attached a regular Harken block.  The clamps can be located about 4 - 6" up the stanchion so the block doesn't bang on the gel coat when they are not in use.  I ran the sheets outside everything and back through said blocks and to the main winches.  I ran the tack downhaul straight back across the deck and through an empty clutch on the stb side.  The sheets and blocks seemed to wok fine but the downhaul needs work. 

[Ted Pounds]

I don't think those stanchions are meant to take the kind of load a spinn sheet can generate.   On my MK I  I replaced one of the bolts in each aft cleat with an eye-bolt and attached the blocks to those.  To keep them off the deck I used becket blocks and ran a piece of shock-cord from the beckets to the rear stanchions.  I'm not sure that would work on a MK II, but, if it can be made to work, the stern cleats are much sturdier attachment points.  Just a few thoughts....

[tonywright]

Robert, I have used your approach to bring the furling line further aft, using a Harken ratchet block. I can now comfortably furl or unfurl from behind the wheel. But as Ted says, I would want a stronger attachment point for the spinnaker sheet blocks. Using the aft cleats sounds like a good approach. Anyone else using these, or have folks put in a reinforced eye pad or similar?  What does a factory spinnaker option look like? Anyone got one?

Tony