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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Drifter v Spinnaker

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bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1739 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/19/2010 : 18:53:19

Over the past couple of years, from time to time, I get tempted to purchase a spinnaker for those lighter wind days. In my previous sailing life many years (dare I say decades) ago my favorite light wind sail was a drifter. With hank on sails it was standard routine to drop and change sails. But that was before roller furlers.

I have seen some reference to drifters that can be used on boats with furlers that are flown like spinnakers: without using the furler system or changing head sails. Does anyone with a 25 have such a sail and if so how do you like it and how difficult is it to fly is single handed? And is it worth it or really should you go the route of a spinnaker instead (I know they are meant for different purposes, but . . . )

Any input is appreciated.

Peter Bigelow
C-25 TR/FK #2092 Limerick
Rowayton, Ct
Port Captain: Rowayton/Norwalk/Darien CT

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Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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769 Posts

Response Posted - 06/20/2010 : 09:09:48

Hi Peter,
The answer to your question depends a little bit on if you mean a symmetrical spinnaker with pole, topping lift, fore guy, et al; or an assymetrical spinnaker that doesn't need all that extra gear. And, while the assymetrical spinnaker is a great reaching sail (slightly above broad reach to broad reach, even with a dousing sock - it still requires someone to go onto the foreward onto the foredeck to deploy and douse the "cruising chute".
I have both an assymetrical spinnaker and a drifter for Snickerdoodle. Out of 65 to 70 days sailing each year, I probably use the spinnaker 5 or 6 times; but use the drifter 12 to 18 days. The drifter - since it's a gennoa jib cut sail - is much more versitile for all around sailing. My drifter is made of 1.5 oz spinnaker cloth. So, it sets well in any breeze above one knot or so. I take the drifter in if the breeze gets above 7 knots and switch to the #1 (150%) genny.
The difficulty with your roller furler is that the drum gets in the way for securing the drifter's tack corner. A simple solution is to rig a bridle that is secured to your bow mooring cleats and forms in inverted "Y" that is just slightly higher than the drum. Set the drifter "flying" (no hanks). Remember, this is a light breeze sail - so simple halyard tension will keep the luff about where you want it. Use a jib halyard to hoist the drifter if you have one - otherwise, a spinnaker halyard will work; but there will be some chafe at the head of the sail where it contacts the forestay.
My drifter is a 155% gennoa cut jib (no PHRF penalty) that sails well on all points of sail. I use lightweight (4mm) sheets so that the weight of the sheet doesn't affect sail shape.
Good luck.
Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

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John Russell
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Response Posted - 06/20/2010 : 09:42:14

Bill, I've always thought that na assymetrical spinnaker and a drifter were simply different names for the same sail. Obviously, I've missed something. How are they different?

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Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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Response Posted - 06/21/2010 : 08:55:15

Hi John,
Generally speaking, the two sails are very different - although both are used mainly in lighter breezes.
A drifter is a lightweight gennoa jib - almost always at least 155% or larger. I've seen 'em as big as 170%. These sails are triangular sails that may or may not hank to a forestay. Mine does with lightweight nylon snap/straps. Skippers with roller furlers don't hank the drifter to the forestay - and most often just set the sail flying - without the luff secured to anything other than the head (halyard) and tack (short pendant or bridle). The sail "fabric" is light weight and will fill in breezes even as low as 1 knot. Mine is made of 1.5 oz spinnaker cloth (rip stop nylon). Other fabrics that I've seen are 2 oz dacron and various lightweight laminates. A close friend of mine with a Ranger 8.5 has a drifter (the manufacturer calls it a "light") made of 1 oz mylar. That sail has such a large roach that the sail has three battens to support the extra material.

To sail a drifter is just like sailing a genoa (overlapping) jib. The sail's sheets are rove through lead blocks and then to primary winches. Tacking the sail is exactly the same with the drifter crossing from one side of the boat to the other through the fore triangle (deck/mast/forestay). Jibing is also just the same as with a genny. The drifter can be poled out with a whisker pole (just like you'd do with a genny) for wind 'n wing downwind runs. The only real disadvantage to performance comes when the wind exceeds about 7 knots. Fabric versions (dacron or spinnaker cloth) start to stretch and will not point as the did before in lighter breezes. Otherwise, the drifter is just a big, very lightweight jib.

An assymetrical spinnaker is a "horse of a different color" all together. The assymetrical spinnaker (sometimes called a kite, assym, cruising chute, flasher, etc) is a very large sail (mine is was cut to 180% relative size), and primarily a downwind sail that is flown ahead of the forestay. The material that is most often used for this sail is .75 oz spinnaker cloth (rip stop nylon) The shape of this sail is not symmetrical. The luff edge is longer than the leech edge. (Symmetrical spinnakers have both "vertical" edges cut to the same length.

To rig the assymetrical spinnaker most skippers have a 5 to 6 foot long pendant secured to the stem fitting in front of the forestay and to the tack corner of the sail (some skippers - me included - make this pendant adjustable so that we can shorten the pendant length [tighten the luff] for close reaching and make the pendant longer [allow the tack to rise vertically for broad reaching). The halyard is rigged ahead and usually above of the forestay to eliminate the chance of chafe at the head of the sail. Sheets (about twice the boat's length) are run from the clew corner to turning blocks mounted on the aft corners of the boat. The sheets need to be both in front of the forestay AND in front of the tack pendant.

It is almost impossible to tack the boat with this sail unless there's someone on the foredeck to help manage the flogging sail. I've heard that some skippers do pull the clew corner through the fore triangle - but if the sail is rigged properly, there would certainly be a lot of chafe near the sail's head since the sail now is pulled down and under the forestay.

Jibing though is a breeze. To jibe, simply release the loaded sheet and turn the bow of the boat under the sail (which the wind has now billowed out in front of the forestay like a huge flag). As the boat's bow passes under the sail, begin to sheet in on the new loaded side. This is honestly an easy thing to do - and with a little practice all your friends will be impressed with your sail handling skills.

Because of the huge size of this sail, dousing (taking it down) is tough unless you have a dousing sock (sometimes called a chute scoop, flasher stasher, etc.). With the sock though, dousing is easy. Simply pull the sock's downhaul line and the nylon sock pulls down and completely contains the sail. Now it's a simple matter to lower the sail to the deck and then the sail and it's sock into it's "turtle" sail bag.

The assymetrical spinnaker is a great sail for beam to broad reaching. With an adjustable tack pendant, you can even point almost to a close reach - so some upwind capability is possible. But, I think that most skippers will use this sail almost always on downwind angles.

So, two very different sails. Both nice to have in the inventory... but you'll probably use the drifter more if you live in a part of the country where there are persisten summer high pressure systems with their accompanying light breezes.

Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839
BTW: If you have both of these sails and want to sail on a downwind run, you can rig both at the same time. The drifter on a whisker pole out to one side and the drifter catching the breeze off the jib on the other side. Here's a link to a photo of me (this website's Gallery) doing just this. Notice that I don't have the main hoisted at all. Just the two headsails. The person who took the photo was on a 33 footer that I was easily passing with a breeze of about 3 to 4 knots.
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/photo/snickd2.jpg

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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3444 Posts

Response Posted - 06/21/2010 : 09:15:56

Thanks, Bill.

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bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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1739 Posts

Response Posted - 06/21/2010 : 09:55:59

Bill:

Thanks for the excellent explanation. Regarding the drifter secured to the cleat via bridal, how well does that perform when tacking?

Based on my past experience the drifet would make more sense. I fly a 135 head sail most of the time and am looking for an easier way to fly more convas, basically in light wind conditions.

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Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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USA
769 Posts

Response Posted - 06/21/2010 : 20:48:10

Hi John,
You shouldn't notice any measurable difference when tacking. The biggest thing to remember is when ordering that you get the luff length correct since the tack corner will be higher than if the tack were secured directly to the stem fitting.
Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.